This Kind of Buyer Has Two Brains. Your Copy Needs to Talk to Both.
Determining copy length and talking to the split-personalities of certain buyers is not a guessing game. Discover the tried-and-true structure for winning at both below.
If you’ve ever been frustrated after sending out an email that flopped instead of selling, you’re not alone.
But often, it’s not about the writing, necessarily, or whether it wasn’t clever or cute enough (those last two things don’t generally help anyway).
Sometimes, a sales email comes down to talking to all the personalities mixed up into a single buyer mind.
One of my favorite teachers on the topic, Steve Slaunwhite, breaks it down below. And then as a bonus he throws in some thoughts on how long different types of copy should be (that question we all dread, yeah?).
Enjoy!
Cheers to your writing success,
Mindy McHorse
Executive Editor, Barefoot Writer Magazine
Writing to Both Sides of the Business Buyer’s “Split Personality” and Deciding Copy Length
By Steve Slaunwhite
A while back, I received a call from an in-house writer at a training company. She was obviously frustrated. An email she had written to promote a management seminar had failed miserably. Time was running out before the event date. She needed answers fast. So she asked if I would help her out.
Once I read her promotion, I immediately recognized the problem. Although it was a well-crafted piece of copywriting, it appealed to only one side of her target audience’s “split personality.”
Fortunately, it was a simple fix. I advised her on what changes needed to be made. She rewrote the copy and, as a result, her follow-up email brought in the registrations needed.
Split personality? Let me explain …
As you may already know, there are important differences between writing effective copy for the Business-to-Business (B2B) vs. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) markets. But the one difference most copywriters miss is the need to address the often conflicting interests of the business buyer.
Or, how I like to put it, her “split personality.”
You see, there’s a tug-of-war that goes on in the business buyer’s mind when making a purchasing decision. On one hand, she must consider the needs of the business. On the other hand, she has personal needs, concerns, and interests, too.
Usually, the result is a compromise.
That’s why you’ll see an expensive marble table in a boardroom, even though the company doesn’t really need something so extravagant. The VP just likes it.
So, when writing any type of marketing piece for the Business-to-Business market — an email, letter, press release, web page, white paper — you need to take the business buyer’s split personality into account.
How do you do that?
First, you must talk about the business needs. Business buyers act on behalf of a company. You need to highlight how the product or service you’re writing about will help the business reduce costs, increase sales, avoid liabilities, gain a competitive advantage, improve quality, boost productivity, or accelerate cash flow.
Then, you need to address the personal needs. Business buyers are individuals. So you must explain how your product or service will save them time, make their jobs easier, help them look good to their superiors, get them promoted, advance their careers, or get them home in time for dinner!
Say you’re writing a sales brochure for a new brand of industrial forklift. From a business standpoint, it has everything a company wants: safety features that reduce the risk of injuries, long service life for a low annual cost of ownership, and it runs on propane to comply with clean air regulations.
But it’s the plant manager your brochure copy needs to convince.
And he’s not so sure about these “new” forklifts. What if the learning curve is steep and creates havoc on his production schedule? What if these trucks don’t perform well and he gets blamed? How quickly can he get technical support should he need it?
Can you see what a mistake it would be not to address these issues in your copy? No matter how compelling your business case is, if you don’t talk about the personal needs of the business buyer, your marketing piece is doomed.
Should Your B2B Copy Be Long or Short?
Once you know to address both the business and the personal needs of the business buyer, the next step is to address the length of your copy.
Imagine that a client has contacted you to discuss a potential copywriting job. His company is about to launch an exciting new industrial gizmo, and he needs a product brochure written.
No problem so far.
Then, during the discussion, the client throws you a curve ball. He unexpectedly asks, “Oh, by the way … what size of brochure do you recommend? A two-page ‘sell sheet’? Or a longer four-panel brochure?”
The client is assuming that, since you’re writing the copy, you’ll know how much room you’ll need.
So, how do you answer his question?
The good news is, you don’t have to guess. There are specific questions you can ask that will help you determine how long your B2B copy needs to be, whether you’re tasked with writing a brochure, web page, white paper, or advertisement.
In fact, even if the client doesn’t ask, you need to ask yourself these questions before you begin to craft your B2B marketing piece.
1) “Is it a standard format?”
Many B2B marketing pieces have a standard format that influences how much copy you have to work with. For example, a press release to announce a new B2B product is typically no more than a page or two in length. So, the word count will fall somewhere between 400 and 1,000. A Google AdWords advertisement is severely restricted in word count — just 85 characters in total. (Including spaces!)
2) “Is the size and/or layout carved in stone?”
Sometimes you don’t have much of a choice. The size, shape, and even the basic layout of the B2B marketing piece are already completed. Your job is to write copy that fits. This isn’t the ideal situation. But it happens. For example, you might get asked to write a case study that fits a pre-existing two-page template. If your copy runs over, you’ll be asked to trim it back.
3) “What action are you asking the business buyer to take?”
If the purpose of the marketing piece is to generate a lead — persuading the business buyer to request a free white paper, for example — then you may not need much copy. After all, no money is changing hands. However, if you’re asking for an order, it’s going to take a lot more words to convince the business buyer to sign his name to a company purchase order.
4) “How emotionally involving is the buying decision?”
How much of the buying decision is emotional rather than practical? Purchasing a new photocopier for the office is a practical decision for most business people, usually requiring just a persuasive explanation of the features and benefits. But an executive team-building retreat at some exotic locale would require longer, more descriptive copy.
5) “How dependent is the prospect on the copy?”
How much is the business buyer dependent on your copy to get all the facts and information he needs to make a purchasing decision? If you want to motivate someone to order a $950 software program with your direct-mail letter, you may need several pages to make a convincing argument. However, if the prospect is shopping for a new stapler online, then a one- or two-paragraph product description may be all that’s required to win the sale.
6) “How expensive is the product or service?”
The rule of thumb is: The bigger the price tag, the longer the copy. If you’re promoting a one-day seminar for $99, you may be able to get away with a four-panel brochure. But you’ll need a lot more copy to convince a sales manager to invest $3,500 in a weekend professional development bootcamp.
7) “Is there any brand power?”
How well-known is the product or service you’re promoting? If you’re writing an email campaign to sell subscriptions for Forbes magazine, you may not need a lot of copy. People are already familiar with and trust that publication. However, if the company or product is unfamiliar to the reader, you will have some credibility building to do. And that will take more words.
8) “Is the product part of a high-interest topic?”
If business buyers are highly interested or enthusiastic about the topic your product or service represents, then they will read a lot of copy. For example, a warehouse manager who is under pressure to reduce workplace accidents (and the liabilities associated with them) will be highly motivated to read about a new workplace safety program.
Determining copy length is not a perfect science. But these eight questions will help. If all else fails, follow this well-known tip: “Write until your copy does the job. And then stop typing.”
And remember: when writing copy for the Business-to-Business market, it’s not all business. It’s personal, too. Appeal to both sides of the business buyer’s split personality, and your copy will be more effective — and your client or boss will be more pleased — as a result.