[Book Review] Ann Handley's Not-To-Be-Missed Guide to Better Marketing Writing

Source:  John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Ann Handley's new book, Everybody Writes:  Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2022), was released last month, just in time for astute marketers to add it to their wish list for the upcoming holidays.

Even better, you should just go ahead and buy Everybody Writes for yourself and use the holiday season to read and digest the many valuable insights the book contains. That way, you can start applying Ann's principles to improve your writing at the beginning of the new year.

Ann Handley is well known and highly respected in the marketing community. She is the Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, a marketing training and education company, and a frequent speaker at marketing industry events. In short, Ann knows whereof she speaks (and writes).

Everybody Writes is a second edition; the first edition was published in 2014. But the new Everybody Writes is, well, new in many ways. Ann Handley says she went into preparing the updated edition thinking that it would take "maybe 10 minutes," that she would, "Run the vacuum and puff the throw pillows and spritz some Febreze around the pages . . ."

Instead, the update took six months, and Ann says she "also built an addition on the back. Replaced the draftiest windows. Installed a bouncy house in the yard . . ."

Early in the book, Ann makes two points that provide the rationale for Everybody Writes. First, she argues that effective marketing requires good marketing content, and good marketing content requires good writing - regardless of the format the marketing content takes.

The proliferation of marketing channels and content formats, and the nearly ubiquitous embrace of content marketing have put extreme pressures on marketers to feed the content beast. Unfortunately, this incessant demand for content often results in the production of content that isn't very good.

Ann describes this problem in unambiguous terms:  "We are a planet of publishers, yet many of us are polluting the pool with content rubbish. We are all creators, yet many of us are squandering the opportunity we have to communicate directly with those we care most about reaching."

Ann's second point is that writing is a craft that can be learned. Therefore, any marketer can improve his or her writing skills by "working the right muscles." She writes, "You can learn to be a better writer - the same way you can learn algebra or Excel formulas or playing the ukulele. You need only a little knowledge, a lot of consistent effort, and good habits."

What's In the Book

Everybody Writes contains an introduction, 91 chapters and a section devoted to content tools. You read that right . . . 91 chapters. Ann chose to share her advice with readers in bite-sized portions. The shortest chapters don't fill even one full page, and most are only two to four pages long.

This approach makes Everybody Writes extremely reader-friendly. You can read the book in small increments without losing your way.

Ann organized the 91 tapas-sized chapters in six thematic parts.

• Part I contains Ann's rules for how to write better and "hate writing less."
• Part II discusses some basic rules of grammar and usage.
• Part III focuses on the importance and use of brand voice.
• Part IV digs into the importance and value of brand stories.
• Part V spells out Ann's rules for effective and ethical publishing.
• Part VI contains Ann's suggestions for how to create 20 common types of marketing content.

Part VII of the book contains descriptions of several content tools that can help marketing writers produce better work more efficiently.

You can use Amazon's "Look inside" function to view the complete table of contents of Everybody Writes.

My Favorite Parts

It should be evident by now that I'm a big fan of Everybody Writes. With this book, Ann Handley has created a resource that can help any marketer become a better writer. In addition, the book is easy to read, and Ann's effervescent personality shows in every page.

Everybody Writes is packed with valuable insights and suggestions from cover to cover, but two specific parts of the book stand out for me.

Chapter 7 describes the Writing GPS, a 17-step process that Ann recommends marketers use when creating "longer" content pieces. As the name suggests, Ann says you should view your writing process as a kind of global positioning system that will get you where you need to go.

Ann explains that seven of the steps in the Writing GPS framework are the "required minimum" for writing content. These are steps that most content writers already use in some form. The other ten steps "add magic and adventure to a basic journey." She writes, "We need a framework that goes beyond the basics so that you can see where a little extra effort or attention can make the magic happen."

My other favorite part of Everybody Writes is the description of "content tools" that Ann provides at the end of the book. These tools include writing tools, editing tools and word finders among others. I was already familiar with some of these tools, but several were entirely new to me. I've already experimented with some of these new-to-me tools, and I can tell they will be extremely useful.

A Final Word

When I'm creating the early drafts of any significant piece of content, I prefer to write by hand in a comfortable chair with a dictionary, a thesaurus and a copy of The Elements of Style within easy reach. From now on, I'm adding Everybody Writes to my small library of arms-length writing aids.

An Extra "Pinch" of Human Effort Will Boost Demand Gen Results

Powerful marketing technologies enable B2B marketers to automate many communications with customers and prospects. But a "pinch" of additional human effort applied at the right time and place can boost demand generation results just like a tablespoon of bourbon elevates the taste of a Thanksgiving pecan pie.

There's no longer any doubt that technology has reshaped the practice of B2B marketing. Over the past two decades, the number of marketing technology tools has grown at an astounding rate, as Scott Brinker's annual marketing technology landscape graphics have clearly documented.

The capabilities of marketing technologies have also dramatically improved. With today's technology tools, B2B marketers can deliver marketing messages in a wide variety of formats, manage messaging in multiple communication channels, and automate many of their interactions with customers and prospects.

But despite the impressive capabilities of today's marketing technology applications, there are several "inflection points" in your relationship with a customer or prospect where hands-on human involvement can have a big impact on results. These inflection points are moments in your relationship with a customer or prospect when there is a ripe opportunity to move the relationship to a higher level.

One of these inflection points is when you are seeking to have the first person-to-person conversation with a potential buyer. Numerous studies have shown that many business buyers prefer to conduct early-stage research and information gathering on their own, and to delay conversations with vendor reps until later in their decision-making process. Overcoming this reluctance is challenging, but a relatively small dose of human involvement will increase your odds of success.

To illustrate how easy it can be to add a dash of human involvement, consider this example.

Below is the text of an email I recently received from a business development representative with a sales technology company. I received this message after I attended one of the company's webinars. I've altered the message to conceal the real names of the company and the BDR.

"David,

Thanks for attending our webinar with Jones & Company, 'The Secret Sauce for a High-Performing Sales Organization.'

Hopefully, you enjoyed the webinar - John and Joe had some great insights on . . .

• The current state and challenges of sales enablement in the age of the modern business buyer
• Why a buyer-centric sales enablement approach is vital for an organization's revenue growth
• How the right software can accelerate sales enablement efforts and help win more deals

Would love to get your feedback from the webinar.

Are you available this Friday for a quick 15 minute chat?

Best,

Roger Smith"

I suspect the company used its marketing automation software to send this email to everyone who attended the webinar.

This isn't a bad follow-up message. It's concise and not overly promotional. But it didn't convince me to reply and schedule a telephone conversation. (Note:  The webinar itself was quite good. I didn't decide not to schedule the call because of a bad webinar experience.)

What Roger failed to do in this message is show me that he know some basic things about me and my business and suggest why a telephone conversation could be worthwhile.

If Roger had spent two or three minutes scanning my LinkedIn profile, he would have been able to get a basic understanding of what I do. My profile also contains links to the 188 articles I've published at LinkedIn. If Roger had spent another five minutes scanning the titles of those articles, he could have obtained a pretty good understanding of my professional focus.

With this information, Roger could have easily added a short paragraph to the email that would have made me more inclined to schedule a telephone conversation. Something like this immediately after the bullet points:

"I see from your LinkedIn profile that you work with B2B companies to develop marketing strategies and marketing content. I also noticed that you've written several articles about improving marketing and sales productivity. I'd like to get your thoughts about the role that sales enablement technology plays in improving sales productivity."

This approach would have demonstrated that Roger had made an effort to get to know me and my business, and the suggested topic of the telephone conversation fits with my work.

Some readers may be thinking:  "There's no way we can have our business development reps spend even this much time on every prospect." That's not what I'm recommending. This approach should be reserved for prospects whose engagement with your company suggests that they may be ready to move the relationship to a higher level.

Such as prospects who have registered for and attended a webinar.

The important point here is that a small investment in hands-on human involvement, when strategically used, can produce a significant impact on demand generation results.

Image courtesy of Thomas Brueckner via Flickr (CC).

Why You Need More Than One Go-To-Market Strategy

The stereotypical view we have of B2B commerce is that it involves expensive and/or complex products or services, large buying groups and long buying cycles. But in reality, most B2B companies earn substantial revenue and profit from other types of sales. So, unless your company is an outlier, you need more than one go-to-market strategy in order to maximize revenue growth.

For nearly two decades, most of the research and other published content about B2B marketing has focused on "high consideration" purchases that involve multiple decision makers, complex decision-making processes and lengthy buying cycles.

For example, in the 2022 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey by Demand Gen Report:

• Fifty-nine percent of the respondents said their average buying group consists of four or more people, and 23% said it consists of seven or more people.
• More than half (55%) of the respondents said the length of their buying cycle has increased somewhat or increased significantly compared to the previous year.

In an earlier survey of sellers by Forrester, 94% of the respondents said they sell to buying groups of three or more people, and 38% said they sell to groups of ten or more people.

The reality is, high consideration purchases with large buying groups and long buying cycles don't represent all (or even most) B2B commerce. Many B2B purchases are routine, with buying decisions being made fairly quickly. In a 2021 survey of "industrial buyers" by Thomas, more than half (53%) of the respondents said they typically make buying decisions in less than a month.

While we don't have much current data about the distribution of B2B purchases across various types of buying scenarios, it's likely that substantial dollars are associated with scenarios that don't fit the high consideration stereotype.

The important point here is that many B2B companies derive significant revenue from more than one buying scenario. It's equally important to recognize that different buying scenarios require different go-to-market strategies to produce maximum success. Therefore, identifying the buying scenarios that are relevant for your company should be an integral part of your go-to-market planning.

The Buying Context Dictates the Buying Process

The characteristics of a B2B buying process are largely determined by the context in which a potential purchase is considered, and the dominant factor in the buying decision context is usually how much risk the potential buyers perceive is associated with the prospective purchase. The following diagram illustrates this relationship.

The top box in the diagram contains several factors that define the context in which a potential purchase will be evaluated. The common denominator across all these factors is that they will capture the level of risk the buyers associate with the prospective purchase.

For example, buyers will perceive a higher level of risk if they aren't familiar with a product or service, or if the acquisition and implementation of the product or service will require major internal changes.

The bottom box in the diagram describes the major attributes of the buying process. These include the size and composition of the buying group, the length of the buying cycle, the volume and nature of the activities performed in the buying process, and the use of formal procurement processes.

As the perceived risk associated with a purchase increases, buyers will take steps to mitigate that risk, and those steps largely dictate the attributes of the buying process that's used. As a result, the buying process used for an expensive and/or complex product or service, or for a purchase that will require major internal changes will usually involve several decision makers, include substantial research activities, and require a significant amount of time to finish.

In contrast, when a potential purchase has a low level of perceived risk, buyers will typically use a decision-making process that involves fewer people and less research, and they will make the buying decision faster.

Buying Scenarios That Don't Fit the Stereotype Now Matter More

The importance of buying scenarios that don't fit the high consideration stereotype can be seen in the expanding role of B2B e-commerce and, more specifically, in the rapid growth of online B2B marketplaces.

Online B2B marketplaces have become the fastest growing segment of a rapidly growing B2B e-commerce market. In 2021, B2B marketplace sales grew 7.3 times faster than overall B2B e-commerce sales.

Research has also shown that marketplaces and other e-commerce channels are no longer just for low-ticket purchases. In a 2021 survey by McKinsey, over three-fourths (77%) of business buyers said they are willing to spend $50,000 or more on a single purchase made via an e-commerce channel or other remote interactions, and over one-third (35%) are willing to spend $500,000 or more.

The bottom line is, you need a go-to-market strategy for all of the buying scenarios that can potentially produce significant revenue for your company.

Top image courtesy of Willi Heidelbach via Flickr (CC).

[Research Round-Up] An Updated Look at B2B Content Marketing by CMI and MarketingProfs

Source:  Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs

(This month's Research Round-Up reviews some of the major findings from the latest content marketing survey by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. This research has been conducted annually for 13 years, and it provides valuable perspectives on B2B content marketing trends and practices.)

The Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs published the findings of their latest B2B content marketing survey a couple of weeks ago. The B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends:  Insights for 2023 report is based on data from 925 survey respondents. All respondents were affiliated with B2B or hybrid B2B/B2C companies, and all were involved in the content marketing efforts of their organization.

Respondents were drawn from a range of industries, company sizes and job roles.* Half of the respondents were concentrated in two industries - technology/IT/software/hardware and agencies (content marketing, advertising, digital, PR, etc.). In terms of company size, nearly half (47%) of the respondents were with companies having fewer than 100 employees. The survey was in the field during July 2022.

Here are some of the important findings from the new survey.

The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

The COVID-19 pandemic drove a step-change in the importance of content marketing at virtually all B2B companies. Throughout most of 2020 and 2021, in-person B2B marketing events were almost nonexistent, and business shutdowns and work from home policies made it impossible for companies to meet face to face with their customers and prospects.

As the pandemic has ebbed, it appears that the importance of content marketing has actually increased. Seventy-one percent of the respondents in the CMI/MarketingProfs survey said content marketing had become more important to their organization over the year preceding the survey.

A High Level of Success with Content Marketing Remains Elusive

Many marketers are still finding it difficult to achieve a high level of success with content marketing. Only 29% of the survey respondents said their content marketing efforts are extremely or very successful. Another 56% rated their content marketing efforts as moderately successful.

Marketers are Optimistic About Future Spending

Half of the respondents in the survey expect their content marketing budget to increase next year, and another 38% expect it to stay the same as in 2022. Fourteen percent expect their budget next year to increase by more than 9%, and 36% expect an increase of 1% to 9%.

These results echo the findings of the September 2022 edition of The CMO Survey. In that research, respondents said they expect their marketing budget to increase 8.8% (on average) over the 12 months following the survey.

Recent actions by the U.S. Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy in an effort to combat decades-high inflation have triggered rising fears that the U.S. economy will fall into a recession later this year or in 2023. Under these circumstances, marketers' expectations for increased budgets next year may be overly optimistic.

Maximizing the Benefits of Marketing Technology is Challenging

Having and using the right technology tools has become vital for effective content marketing, but the CMI/MarketingProfs survey revealed that most marketers have more work to do to maximize the potential benefits of marketing technologies.

Only 28% of the survey respondents said they have the right technology tools in place to effectively manage content marketing in their organization. Thirty percent of the respondents said they haven't acquired the right technology tools, and another 31% said they have the right technology but aren't using it to its full potential.

Recent research by Gartner produced similar results. In Gartner's 2022 Marketing Technology Survey, respondents reported that they are utilizing only 42% of the capabilities of their overall marketing technology "stack." This was down from 58% in the 2020 edition of the survey.

The CMI/MarketingProfs survey report argues that many B2B companies don't have the right marketing technologies - or aren't fully using what they have - because they built their tech stacks without first developing a sound strategy. There's little doubt that this has happened numerous times.

But marketers may also be underutilizing their technology tools because they are changing tools frequently and thus are often in the process of learning new technology applications. In the Martech Replacement Survey 2021 by MarTech, two-thirds (67%) of the survey respondents said they had replaced a marketing technology application in the year preceding the survey.

Most Companies are Measuring Content Performance, but Challenges Still Exist

Eighty-one percent of the respondents in the CMI/MarketingProfs survey said their company measures content performance. That was up from 75% in the 2021 edition of the survey. When asked what metrics they rely on most when evaluating content performance, the top three metrics identified were:

1. Conversions (70% of respondents)
2. Quality of leads (60%)
3. Website engagement (57%)

The survey also asked participants about the challenges they face with measuring content performance. Four challenges were most frequently identified by survey respondents:

1. Difficulty integrating/correlating data across multiple platforms (48% of respondents)
2. Lack of organizational goal-setting KPIs to measure against (45%)
3. Difficulty tying performance back to our goals (43%)
4. Difficulty extracting insights from data (42%)

***

The annual research by CMI and MarketingProfs has provided valuable insights regarding content marketing trends and practices for the past 13 years. I recommend that you take the time to review the full survey report.

*CMI and MarketingProfs do not state that this survey is based on a representative sample of a specified target population (e.g. "B2B content marketers"). Therefore, the survey results may not reflect the views or practices of the overall population. In other words, the survey results can't be "projected" to the larger population.