Writing for an audience of consumers usually calls for a light, easy tone that speaks to the customer's emotions and uses everyday language. Writing business-to-business, or B2B, content requires a completely different angle. You still want to connect with your readers and offer them solutions to their problems, but you have to approach your audience professionally, and align your solutions with the needs of a business rather than an individual.
1. Who is Your Audience
When writing B2B content, it's even more important to know who your audience will be. If you're writing for upper-level decision makers, you might want to take a different approach than if you're writing for lower-level information gatherers who may be building a case to take to the decision makers. It's also helpful to know if you're writing for potential end-users who will care about specific features, financial departments who will want cost analyses, or technical departments who will care about implementation needs.
2. Setting the Tone
Although there's room for conversational pieces, B2B content always requires a professional tone. You also want to use the same vocabulary that is used in the industry to avoid looking like an outsider or appearing to "talk down" to your audience. For example, if you're writing for a legal audience, you'll want to be familiar with words like "adjudicate," "complainant," and "disclose," rather than their plain-English counterparts.
You also want to be sure to use business terms instead of household terms. For example, if you're talking about helping a company reduce it's overhead by investing in a solution, talk about energy costs rather than electric bills or landscaping needs rather than lawn care.
It's also important to approach the topic from the correct angle. Whereas B2C content usually appeals to the emotions of the reader in hopes of inspiring action, B2B content is usually more successful when approached in a more logical manner. Business purchases and decisions happen slowly, and only after a great deal of information has been gathered. Successful B2B copy answers questions and provides information without pulling at the heartstrings.
3. Be Useful
Now that you know who you're trying to reach and you've got the right language and tone ready, knowing what information B2B audiences are looking for will help you create the right content that gets the desired results. Here's a few ideas of the types of subjects that usually do well in the B2B setting:
- Industry Trends. What are industry consumers doing, are prices up, are costs down, are ideas getting stale?
- What's New. Breaking news, new products or procedures, new gadgets and software - along with why these breakthroughs are important (or unimportant).
- Problem Solving Guides. Rather than presenting a bunch of products, topics that revolve around common problems are more relatable.
- Cost Analysis. The B2B market is always going to be concerned with costs. Providing an analysis of the cost of a particular solution can help decision makers decide to invest.
4. Mistakes to Avoid
As in any business setting, there are a few topics and discussions that are better left at home. First, avoid joining in any controversial conversations. Even if it seems that everyone in the buying cycle would be aligned with whichever side you choose, if you get on the wrong side of just one person, your message could be lost. Stay away from politics and religious conversations unless it's something that directly impacts the company you're writing for, and even then walk softly.
Don't Forget: You're Still Talking to People
After thoroughly changing gears to move from B2C content to B2B content, you might feel like you're writing to a brick building rather than real people. Don't forget that behind ideas like "decision makers" and "financial advisors," there are actual people holding these positions. You still must keep your tone and language professional and on-point, but never let go of that human factor, and your content will be successful.
