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What has, during 2012, changed for B2B copywriters? Check out this presentation to find out. Find our kinetic typography video - as mentioned in this SlideCast - here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LnbXy3OrnU
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2012: A YEAR OF CHANGE FOR B2B COPYWRITERSA View from the Copywriting Trenches
We’re Radix Communications
(pleased to meet you)
We write marketing
content for lots of top B2B technology
brands
like Basware, Canonical, Marketo,
Oracle, Spirent and Vodafone
Overview
• In the beginning of 2012• Fragmentation of content formats• Content programmes• The effect of smartphones and tablets• The rise in visual content• Google Panda’s legacy• Predictions for 2013
white papers
e-newsletters
case studies
ebooks
At the start of 2012, our clients mainly wanted four things
These traditional formats are still popular…
64% of B2B marketers believe case studies to be
effective1
73% of respondents to an Optify survey said white papers are
an effective marketing tactic2
2B2B Content Marketing Trends – 2012 Survey Results, via MarketingProfs - Holger Schulze for Optify, 2012
12013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks , Budgets and Trends – Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs, 2012
Let’s talk about the big five
But we’ve also seen lots of changes
1. Content formats began to fragment…
Overall, B2B content marketers used 12 tactics in
2012, up from 8 in 20113
3 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks , Budgets and Trends, North America, Content Marketing Institute /Marketing Profs, 2012
2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks , Budgets and Trends, North America – Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs, 2012
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
18%
17%
14%
11%
10%
9%
5% 3%
3%
2%2%
2%2%
2%
Case
Stu
dies
Blog
s
Soci
al M
edia
Info
grap
hics
eNew
slette
rs
eBoo
ks
Data
shee
ts
Vide
o Sc
ripts
eZin
es
Adve
rtor
ials
Broc
hure
s
Wor
kshe
ets
Whi
te P
aper
s
Chec
klist
s
In 2012 we wrote a huge range of content
These charts are comparing the popularity of comparable tactics from CMI/MarketingProfs respondents (as shown in the previous slide) and the types of content Radix has produced in 2012.
18%
11%
10%
9%11%
3%
14%
17%
3% 2%
Radix Communications
13%
7%
12%
6%
14%4%7%
15%
12%
11%
CMI MP
blog post
branded content tools
case studies
ebooks
enewsletters
ezines
infographics
social media
video
whitepapers
2. Orchestrated programmes of content
Our clients and other brands
are now -
These programmes
are more heavily
focused on buying stages.engaging in
long, orchestrated programmes of content.
Many of these campaigns have
focused on a thought
leadership approach.
Thought leadership is everywhere
“Thought leadership used to lurk in white papers and opinion articles. It’s now becoming much
more accessible through video, webinars, SlideShares, podcasts, tweetchats and hundreds
of other formats that present knowledge and expertise in an engaging and interactive way.”
Fiona Campbell-Howes, MD, Radix Communications
PR and thought leadership
“With content marketing integrated to a media relations campaign, vendors can demonstrate
their relevance, share their story and showcase what is unique about them in a much more open way, which is great to communicate and engage
with all audiences, the press included”
Hazel Butters, CEO, Prompt Communications
Keeping an eye on leads – key to content
According to one survey, 11% of
respondents use an automated lead
nurturing programme and 30% use an internal/CRM
system
But 60% of the respondents did not use a lead
scoring system4
4 B2B Lead Generation & Content Marketing Survey 2012, emedia, 2012
Radix feels that companies are
missing an opportunity here
3. Mobile became impossible to ignore
Decision-makers are increasingly engaging with
brands via smartphones and tablets
Content marketers are
having to rethink the style and
format of their content
“In this world, marketing content now really needs to stand out (and look good on a small screen), as it has to compete
for attention with a constant and fast-flowing stream of status updates, news, meeting requests, sports scores,
dinner invitations, pictures of babies and YouTube videos of cats on skateboards ”
Matt Godfrey, Account Director, Radix Communications
For Radix, the adaptation of
content to mobile has seen many
changes, including…
Whatever the reader will see first has to be as compelling as possible,
meaning
And the design of eBooks and infographics, increasingly, need to look
good on tabletsLinkedIn titles & the first lines
of Facebook posts have to
be snappy
4. Graphical content came to the fore
5 B2B Content Marketing Trends – 2012 Survey Results, via MarketingProfs - Holger Schulze for Optify, 2012
43% of B2B marketers now see graphical
content as “the most effective
content format”, up from 28% in
20115
Some of our favourites from 2012 include…
The Copywriting Infographic by ABC Copywriting
ABC Copywriting
History’s most influential people, ranked by Wikipedia reach by Macro Connections, MIT
Media Lab
Via Wired
How did the increase in visual content affect us?
“A big shift to more visual and interactive content, away from lengthy opinion pieces and white papers. Marketers want to make content easier to digest and more engaging, as well as
easier to share on social platforms”
Matt Godfrey, Account Director, Radix Communications
From January to May 2012, we
wrote copy for 0 infographics
Now, infographics make up over 20%
of our monthly content work
(That’s around 7 infographics per month)
Here’s just one example…
Why the shift to visual content?
“Marketers are beginning to understand that it’s a busy world out there, and attention spans are getting shorter”
Andy Walker, Founder, Rame Marketing
We experimented with our own visual content
As well as writing video scripts for
clients, we created our first, in-house video
It taught us a lot about video production
5. Google Panda’s continuing legacy…
High quality, original, written
content now ranks higher than low-quality, keyword-stuffed content
Panda’s sustained impact on copywriting
“In 2012 we wrote fewer e-newsletters and more blog posts – as the trend shifts away from outbound
marketing towards inbound. Google’s Panda Update, which favoured websites with high-quality, original content, may be behind the increase in corporate
blogging”
Fiona Campbell-Howes, MD, Radix Communications
So there should be more of this…
“Time and effort is needed here. Someone in your organisation needs the time and
responsibility to sit down and create great content or manage the creation process
via third party writers”
Stephen Croome, Econsultancy Blog, February 2012
And maybe less of this…
A generous £6.89 per article
That’s a lot of articles
the sort of thing the Panda frowns upon
PREDICTIONS FOR 2013What will the trenches look like next year?
Where might marketers go wrong in 2013?
“Not setting objectives or measuring the performance of individual pieces of content and
content marketing campaigns. How can you know what’s working if you don’t measure its impact?”
Fiona Campbell-Howes, MD, Radix Communications
To the metrics focused will go the spoils
“2013 will also see more companies understanding the breadth of channels open for content marketing and the
resulting significance of measurement. This is brilliant thing about content marketing today - you can see what is working, try new things, test audiences and see the
response, count the number of leads. If content is king, analytics is queen”
Hazel Butters, CEO, Prompt Communications
B2B brands will still need engaging content
“Companies that think a blog post a day will boost their search ranking, so that’s all taken care of then, will find they’re left behind by companies that are creating content people actually like and
share”
Matt Godfrey, Account Director, Radix Communications
Rise of the content brand
“Simply producing great content is no longer enough to get it noticed and digested. That’s why the best content companies will be focused on building a
content brand. Ultimately it’s a great content brand that will say to prospects you won’t be wasting your
time with our work.”
Neil Stoneman, Account Director, Velocity Partners
Looking to 2013
Increases in inbound
marketing.
Content that’s shorter and
sweeter.
Visual content moving beyond
infographics.
Content will gain more ground in 2013
90% of respondents to an eConsultancy survey say content
marketing will become even more important in 20136
6 Content Marketing Survey Report, eConsultancy with Outbrain, 2012
Thanks to our contributors
Hazel Butters, Prompt Communications
Andy Walker, Rame Marketing
Neil Stoneman, Velocity Partners
Fiona Campbell-Howes, Radix Communications
Matt Godfrey, Radix Communications
Sources
2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks , Budgets and Trends, North America – Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs, 2012
B2B Content Marketing Trends – 2012 Survey Results, via MarketingProfs - Holger Schulze for Optify, 2012
B2B Lead Generation & Content Marketing Survey 2012, emedia, 2012
Stephen Croome, Econsultancy Blog, 2012
Content Marketing Survey Report, eConsultancy with Outbrain, 2012
About us
Radix is a copywriting agency for the content marketing era. We work with in-house and agency-side marketers to develop programmes of content that guide customers through every stage of the buying process.
We specialise in the B2B technology sector, with expertise in enterprise hardware and software, networking, electronics and industrial automation.
In 2012 we've worked with innovative companies large and small, including Adaptive Planning, AtTask, Canonical, GOSS Interactive, Oracle and Spirent. And we've had the pleasure of working with some of the UK's top B2B marketing agencies, including Marketing Options International, Velocity and Volume.
Radix Communications
