Why I Love B2B Writing

Richard Feynman, the physicist and Nobel laureate,  once said that if you can’t explain your subject to a child, then quite frankly, you don’t know your topic well enough. Not only is Feynman a personal hero of mine, but I also wholeheartedly agree with this insight.

Colleagues and fellow writers sometimes ask me why I choose to do so much writing in the business-to-business (B2B) space. They believe, that as a creative and a writer, I must find the work incredibly boring. In their minds, consumer content writing is more fun and sexy, and my writing about safety standards, consulting firms, and regulatory requirements all day long can only be pure hell.

What they don’t know, is a secret that I myself only discovered after writing in this space for a while. The secret I uncovered was that when you take the time to understand a complex or seemingly tedious subject and then find a way to make it accessible and easy to understand for its target audience, this is the ultimate creative challenge.

What could be more fulfilling than that?

The Magic Formula 

The truth is, if you research any subject matter deeply enough, it becomes fascinating. The trick then becomes to communicate that newfound understanding to the reader in a way that will address their questions, pain points, or information needs. 

Articles, blog posts, white papers, presentations, or newsletters—it doesn’t matter the format as long as you communicate the message and information in the right way

So let’s say we want to write a fantastic piece of b2b blog post or digital content. Where should we start?  I’ll go ahead and assume we all know to follow SEO best practices and that you have all your keyword clusters and on-page optimization tools loaded and ready to fire. Once these essential digital content ingredients are ready to go, here is my magic formula for quality business-to-business writing:  

Topic Research + User Intent + Strong Outline + Easy To Follow Copy = Magic

From Complexity to Clarity: Topic Research

The philosopher Thoreau said, ‘It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see.’ In business writing, where others may look on a topic as boring or indecipherable, the trick is to research and understand your subject matter well enough that you eventually see a clear, concise, and interesting way to unpack it and share it with others.

Before you begin your research, start with identifying your goals for a content piece.  What is your reader looking for? Do you need to educate, inform or persuade your audience? It helps if you build up an image in your head of the person who will be reading your work. 

Will it be a business owner, an industry professional, a worker? Make sure you have a clear idea of the person you are hoping to reach and what they need to get from reading your writing.

Make sure to explore all existing content. Your client should provide you with everything they currently have available on the topic or subject of your writing. These could be corporate websites, product specifications, company or competitor reports, brochures, presentations, or white papers.

This is a great start, but you may still need to do more digging. Try researching online for more relevant information, statistics, or data that can support or expand on the subject. This might be industry sector statistics, infographics, diagrams, sales figures, or anything that can provide a broader or clearer view of you topic.

As much as it pains me to say this being a writer and an introvert, sometimes nothing beats speaking to an actual person who can give you the insight or expert information you need to tackle your subject effectively. 

Often, going offline and fully analogue is exactly what the doctor ordered. By doing a site visit or speaking directly to stakeholders, you may develop a deeper understanding or discover new insights that help you write about your topic in a way that engages the audience even more. 

Whatever research you decide to do, just make sure you fully grasp your subject matter and check your facts. Because as Feynman said, if you don’t understand it, you can’t explain it. 

The Outline is the Recipe To Your B2B Writing

Mastering the art of a strong and effective outline is absolutely essential to great B2B content. A weak outline will make your writing confusing and hard to follow. 

Think of it like a cake recipe: important steps and processes need to be followed in sequence to achieve a successful and well-layered cake. In the same way, your approach needs to be systematic to explore complex business or technical topics.

 You must unpack one key element at a time, then add an additional layer by building on this element to create a richer, broader understanding of your topic as you go.

K.I.S.S: Why Obfuscation is for Dummies 

Keep it simple. Simple is not the same as easy. Sometimes, we find it easier to use bucketloads of industry jargon and high-brow, academic language in an attempt to sound like we know what we are talking about. 

But ultimately, this only obscures and confuses the message we are trying to deliver. You can use industry-specific terminology where necessary to build rapport and speak to your audience, but try keep your communication clear, concise, and jargon-free wherever possible. 

Long, rambling sentences that say the same thing three different may have worked for your college essays but now is the time to ditch them! If you’re using Artificial Intelligence to assist your research or writing process be mindful of the fact that AI loves long continuous sentences. 

For this reason, you will want to rewrite and edit a lot of content created with the help of AI tools. (to be clear, I am not against AI applications and tools. This technology is an absolute blessing when it comes to long-form b2b content)

By prioritizing clarity over complexity, you not only make your content more accessible but also foster stronger connections with your audience. Remember, the goal is to convey your message in a way that resonates and engages, rather than to impress with complicated language. 

The Rewards of B2B Content Creation

So what do we get out this process when all the elements come together? If the stars align and everything goes to plan, what you end up with is a well-crafted piece of business-to-business content that you can be proud of and brings your client joy. 

Keep in mind, your clients are most likely corporate, analytical types, so their joy may be muted comments of general approval, a paid invoice and more work. Good job, buddy!

By following this advice and this formula, you will have produced a quality piece of b2b writing that speaks to your client’s needs as well as to its intended audience. 

You will have faced and conquered one of the toughest creative writing challenges—taking a complex and seemingly mundane subject and transforming it into something informative, engaging, and easy to understand. 

I know Richard Feynman would be proud.