Top 4 tips to make your B2B content less boring

B2B websites do not have the jazziest of reputations. If there's anything out there that will make you doubt your grasp on your native tongue, it is the dense forest of words that greet you on most B2B websites.

It's like one of those bad dreams where you have to re-do your exams and you're frantically trying to decipher what's on the page. Wake up from your sweaty dream! This sad, neglected, evil twin of copywriting is not a total lost cause!

Try my top 4 tips and you could well be on your way to business-to-business writing glory (don't worry, the bar is quite low).

Tip #1 You are not a robot, and neither are your customers

There are lots of things to remember when writing for the B2B market – but I think the main thing is that, although you are writing to appeal to another business, you are ultimately talking to another human.

Yes, there may be multiple people in the buying chain (all with different agendas), but you can guarantee they all want a problem solved, don’t want to wade through loads of content to find the answer, and want it all written in plain English.

Picture your customer – the one with the pain you can make better, and the problems you can solve. In person, you wouldn’t talk to them like a robot with stuffy, complex sentences full of jargon, so don’t do it online. Write in a conversational way, and if you’re feeling brave, add a bit of (very light) humour.

Talk like an actual nice human, and you’re halfway to making your B2B content less boring.

Tip #2 Nobody cares about your company, write about something else

Don’t waste your visitor’s time with reams of text, endless waffle about ‘The company blah was founded in 1899’. Get to the point. What is in it for them? What are the benefits for the consumer? Move on from blathering on about the company and move towards what problems you can solve, what agony you can make better. Make the text 100% about the customer.

1. Ask yourself “So what?”, every time you write something. This is a good way to drill down to the benefits of what you’re offering.

2. Delete the words ‘innovative’ and ‘solutions’ and see what you’re left with.

3. Skip all the boring ‘We were founded two hundred years ago by men with beards’ rubbish – nobody cares.

Tip #3 Your customer has two heads

This brings me swiftly on to tip #3. You may be writing with another human being in mind, but they are still at work. It’s your job to appeal to both their business brain, and their own personal demands.

Your content is going to have to focus on both logic and emotion. This roughly translates into features and benefits, which is different from the consumer market which just focuses on benefits and ‘picture the scene’ type scenarios. Your reader needs to know all the product specifics, but also that it is quick to install and has the best customer support.

Yes, they want to save the company money (even if it’s just to make them look good), but they also want to go home on time (and not have to stay late training their staff).

Tip #4 Make your boring industry fit for social media

One of the main ways to get people to your website, aside from excellent SEO, is click-throughs from social media. LinkedIn is the go-to social platform for B2B but consider other platforms as well.

But my product is boring! Nobody cares!

This may be true, but it doesn’t matter. You aren’t on social media to plug your product – this is not a direct marketing channel, broadcasting dull pictures of your industrial process.

Think very carefully – is there anything interesting about your product? Anything at all? Is there a round-about human story there? Brainstorm it – there’ll be something.

Don’t make the mistake of using these platforms as a broadcasting station though. Social platforms are, well, social. Interact, relationship build, engage. Use platforms, such as Twitter (and if you have a potential for visual content, Instagram), to build your human side.

Forget the stuffy go-to for B2B companies – jargon and uptight language isn’t a quick way to appear professional. Use light humour, a bit of personality and start building your digital brand. Don’t use these platforms to sell – B2B selling is a lengthy and content-rich process, so it is unlikely anyone is going to buy your product off the back of a tweet anyway.