4 Ways to Make Your B2B Content More Dynamic
It’s a long day on the job, and writing content for your B2B content marketing blog is just one more item on the checklist. But if you find the creation of your content boring, how can you expect your readers to be any more interested than you?
By cleaning up your writing and going the extra mile to find the spark in every post, your blog can become a captivating source of content that potential B2B customers will love to read.
In this post, we’ll take you by the hand and lead you through the wonderful world of dynamic B2B content. At the end of our journey, you should feel well equipped to write engaging posts of your own.
1. Write Short, Clear Sentences
Here is a bit of writing trivia for you: in Germany, there’s a bit of a running gag between the great writers. They pride themselves on begin able to write single sentences that span many pages, all while maintaining proper grammar and meaning. This is possible because of the way the German language works. However, English simply doesn’t function this way – so write concisely at all times.
Not every sentence needs to be fewer than six words, but concision is key. If you make each phrase the same length it becomes boring to read, so make intentional decisions to structure the flow of a paragraph. Turn short sentences into a superpower.
Concise writing takes practice. Here are a few tips to help you develop the skill:
- Start your sentences with a subject.
- Use active verbs.
- Get rid of adverbs and reduce your adjectives.
- Use the shortest form of the word.
- Use the shortest form of the phrase.
- Keep your sentences within 25–30 words.
- Keep your paragraphs to 250–300 words.
- Don’t refer back to previous writing in your post; start each section fresh.
- Explain only one idea per post.
- Avoid extraneous ideas.
The beauty of a blog is that you can expound on your ideas over time. Each post should focus on one specific topic, and writing concisely helps you successfully achieve this.
2. Use Power Words
Certain types of words trigger emotions, which is important, because emotions are a huge sales-driving factor.
The use of power words is one way to provoke these emotional triggers. To give you an idea, here are a few examples of power words to show you exactly what we mean:
- Boost
- Energize
- Overcome
- Burned
- Punish
- Uncensored
- Controversial
- Endorsed
- Agony
- Courage
All these words are heavy hitters when used effectively. But how can you avoid lackluster content without overselling what you have to say?
Including powerful words in your content only works if the underlying message holds value. You can’t expect to get results from stirring words without giving them context. Ensure your post passes muster by writing an initial draft to get your ideas out all together, then edit with vigor. Break out the thesaurus if you must.
Here’s how to write an energized post that rewards its reader with an emotional thrill:
- Remove filler words.
- Avoid long colloquial expressions.
- Don’t nominalize verbs and adjectives.
- Remove prepositions by using noun modifiers.
Check out this resource for examples to learn more about following through on each of these tips.
3. Tell a Story
Stories engage us. Like power words, they trigger an emotional response and engage our brains more than a sterile bullet point list. A story has the ability to simplify complex ideas. This allows you to connect with your customers’ emotions, while giving them valuable information about your business.
There are many stories available to you if you know where to look. Here are a few story opportunities waiting right under your nose:
- Your product’s impact on a customer.
- A personal adventure your customers can relate to.
- Anecdotes about the founding of your company.
- How your business creatively handled a recent problem.
There are four stages that every compelling business story requires to be effective. Include each of these stages to produce a complete story arc that won’t disappoint your readers:
- Establish a situation.
- Bring the conflict to a climax.
- Conclude with a resolution.
- Make a call to action.
[Tweet “As a business, the most important element of your story is the call to action.”]
When you finish reading a fairytale, you are presented with the moral of the story. The moral of your business stories should always relate back to a problem you solve with your products and services.
4. Include Relevant Images
With the rise of beautiful, commercial-free stock image collections, it can be tempting to throw in random stock images just because you can.
However, Nielson reports that “users pay attention to information-carrying images that show content that’s relevant to the task at hand. And users ignore purely decorative images that don’t add real content to the page.” It is also worth noting that humans are wired to remember photos of other people.
This tells us a few things:
- Use real photos of your business whenever possible.
- Include pictures of your employees and customers.
- Don’t forget to write captions – people read captions 300% more often than the rest of your blog post copy.
Bonus: Add a Variety of Media
If your post still isn’t where you want it to be, spice it up by including a variety of media.
There are many forms of media that WordPress makes easy to include in your posts. Here are a few different formats, and how to embed them in WordPress:
- Paste in a YouTube or Vimeo URL to embed video in your post. WordPress automatically translates the link into an embed for you.
- Audio is about as easy – simply paste a link to any Spotify track. To add a SoundCloud track, follow these instructions.
- Don’t limit your images to photography. You can create infographics and illustrations with free tools like Canva, or get your point across with screenshots and animated GIFs when images don’t do the trick.
- Presentations aren’t limited to office meetings and Keynote speakers. Create and embed slides with plugins like Slideshow or Fluid Responsive Slideshow. You can also embed presentations hosted on LinkedIn’s SlideShare.
Conclusion
If writing your B2B content feels like a chore, chances are good the resulting blog posts will have the same effect on your readers. Do not let yourself be fooled into thinking that B2B content must be dry and lifeless.
By following these tips, you’ll produce interesting and informative posts your visitors love to read:
- Write short, clear sentences.
- Use power words.
- Tell a story.
- Include real images of people.
- Add a variety of media.
What strategies are most helpful to keep your B2B content engaging? We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section below!