Writing is poetry, regardless of what type of piece you are creating.  With the onslaught of content marketing, and the push to be SEO-optimized, some of that seems to have been lost in translation.

Writing should evoke an emotion. But all too often, marketers create content that they think will resonate with their audience, just to find that they missed the mark.

What’s the reason for your content marketing?

In the beginning, it was a race to get content online, content that was keyword-stuffed for better search results or content that announced the latest and greatest product development.  Now it’s content that uses long-tail search strings or content that promotes thought leadership.

What about content that moves the reader?

Is this too lofty…too esoteric…a goal in business-to-business marketing?  We don’t think so, because even though it may not be a ‘touchy-feely’ emotion, there’s no doubt that emotion is used when making important business decisions. A recent research report from Rice University noted that ‘passing moods and deep emotions are both integral to the quality of our [business] decisions.” (The Hidden Role of Emotion in Decision Making)

Is your writing merely smoke and mirrors?

So, content written as thinly-veiled “marketing speak” with the real objective of promoting your own company’s agenda is losing its luster. Today’s savvy B2B customers are able to look past the screen and see the puppet master pulling the strings. And the search engines themselves have advanced algorithms that are less interested in keywords than they are in the applicability, relevancy and popularity of those words and phrases. As digital marketing guru Neil Patel states in a very informative post on SEO (SEO Copywriting: How to Write Content for People and Optimize for Google)

 “Your content needs to accomplish two goals: first, appeal to the end-user (customers, clients, prospects, readers, etc.) and second, solve a particular problem.” 

Would your writing win a staring contest?

A recent interview on NPR’s Morning Edition highlighted Rodney Crowell, a Grammy-winning country music singer and songwriter.  Although his writing is more a mix of song lyrics, poetry and some good old-fashioned Texas honkytonk, one message he conveyed truly resonated with this audience member.

When discussing his come-uppins’ as a young songwriter in Nashville, Crowell shared his experience of presenting new lyrics to Guy Clark, a Texas country singer described by the New York Times as “a king of the Texas troubadours”:

Crowell recalls of Clark, “He’d say, ‘OK you’ve got a new song? Don’t play it. Just say it to me and look me in the eye.’ You’d be surprised how quickly you learn whether your language is really solid, because if you’ve got a really weak line in the narrative, you’re gonna wanna avert your gaze when you’re staring at a pair of eyes like that.”

How relevant is that?  What salesperson hasn’t been on the opposing end of ‘a pair of eyes like that’, whether it’s a new prospect who hasn’t been ‘convinced enough’ yet or an existing customer who is always a bit more discerning than the rest? Or how about a customer that has presented you with a new challenge and is waiting to hear how you will solve it?

Your message needs to speak to your customer, not at them.

Substance defines good content

Content marketing has moved from being a buzzword to having a subset of buzzwords that it can call its own: storytelling, narrative, consumption, branded content.  Sound familiar?

But keep in mind, the main intent—the true nature—of content is that it means something.  It isn’t just creative editing of the story you want told.  Look at some of the content you’ve produced lately.  Are there areas where your language may have slipped into a carefully-masked, pat on the back, versus truly valuable information that will benefit the reader?

Your purpose as a company is to help your customer, so your message should reflect your customer’s needs. Convey the depth of your solution to your customer and think outside the norm when it comes to benefits. What differentiates your company from the competition? Words like “reliability”, “safety”, “efficiency” can be accurate, but if everyone is claiming the same thing, you’re not explaining your true purpose, your true value.

Think about your favorite song or poem.  Why does it stick with you?  What emotion do you feel?  Does it transport you to a different place?

Know how your writing will resonate

And isn’t that the end game for most customers, to be taken to a place where their business runs better, where efficiencies are optimized, where costs are reduced, and business problems are solved?

That’s what good writing does. It elevates you beyond where you are to the place you want to be.

Writing is poetic, and there’s definitely room for emotion in B2B marketing. So, the next time you create a piece of content, read it out loud—maybe even in front of somebody—and think about the story you’re telling in relation to the message you want to convey.