Copywriting exists in many different niches. There are words printed to support individuals, others crafted to persuade potential customers, and then there are the meticulous paragraphs written for the eyes of businesses needing your help.
All are wound together by a simple similarity – they are words created with a particular purpose and for a specific audience – and the latter, we refer to as B2B copywriting. So, for writers and marketing professionals looking to peak the interests of the businesses in their industry, here are our top tips for crafting copy for a B2B audience and ten great B2B copywriting examples to inspire you on your way.
What is B2B Copywriting?
B2B copywriting defines content creation for businesses that sell to other businesses. B2B brands you have probably heard of include Google, Microsoft, Hootsuite, and Monday.com. These businesses sell products that other businesses will likely use and benefit from. More often than not, these products are important investments, tools and third-party services that require a little more persuasion before a business willingly hands over the cash. This is where good business-to-business copywriting comes in.
B2B copywriting is all about saying the right things in the right way to achieve the right result. The preconceived opinion on B2B copywriting is that it’s full of jargon and a complete snooze-fest. But this opinion is pretty outdated. Even though this type of copywriting helps sell products and services to another business, it’s important to remember there is a person – or multiple people – sitting behind the brand on the receiving end and therefore, every communication matters.
What’s the Difference Between B2C and B2B Copywriting?
B2C and B2B copywriting use distinct approaches to engage their target audiences. And although both of these approaches differ, both involve persuasive writing, expert storytelling and clear brand values. B2C copywriting thrives on creating memorable brand experiences, often leveraging social media, influencer strategies, and emotional triggers. In contrast, B2B copywriting relies on data-driven insights, industry awareness, and case studies to demonstrate credibility and ROI. Where B2C copywriting appeals to the consumer’s emotions and their impulse buying trigger, B2B writing prioritises information and rational decision-making.
How to Write Good B2B Copy?
The best B2B copy is specific, clear and customer-focused; it tells a high-quality brand story that will make a target audience stop and listen. The Content Marketing Institute notes that 85% of B2B marketers cite higher quality and more efficient content as one factor contributing to increased marketing success. Good B2B copy is essential if you want to drive conversions, and here are our top tips for crafting great words for your B2B audience.
Targeting Your Audience
When you think of B2B, it’s easy to forget that your audience is anything but a single person. Whether you’re writing a detailed service page for your website or a personal email to a company’s marketing manager, your copy needs to be direct. Pinpoint the decision-makers behind the businesses in your target market. Those are the people you should be speaking to in your marketing communications. You’ll find more success and achieve more conversions in your B2B copywriting if you can identify that specific person and speak to the individual instead of trying – and ultimately failing – to address a crowd.
As we would recommend in B2C copywriting, you must create a customer persona that pinpoints this individual. Not only do they help make your audience address targeted, but they also mean any good copywriter will find it easier to write for your brand with clear intentions. Start by using LinkedIn to find the kind of people likely to be on the receiving end of your marketing efforts. Look at their profiles, see what their movements are and who and what they’re interacting with online. LinkedIn is great because it doesn’t just show you what people post, it lets you know what they respond to as well.
You can start developing your persona with this good chunk of research in your arsenal. The key here is to be really specific. Avoid glossing over the surface of who this person is and dig deep into why they are who they are. Where do they live? Who do they spend their home life with? Do they have pets? Do they enjoy education? How do they spend their money? Are they budget-conscious? What do they value? Why do they value those things? Are they logical or spontaneous? Do they devour detail? How do they use social media? Ask yourself these questions and more to help you develop a good customer persona.
Determining Your Brand’s Identity
Your brand is the shop window to your business. Does it look tempting enough to have a peak inside? Or do customers walk on by feeling flat and a little disappointed?
Your brand’s identity plays a significant role in differentiating your business from every other similar offering on the market. And a good brand identity builds brand awareness. Take Monzo, for example. The online bank ditched formal and mundane for a personality and digital footprint that consistently gets people talking. And why? Because it makes banking simple. Monzo’s marketing communication is straightforward, concise and personable. The bank speaks to consumers as if they are humans because, well, they are.
Monzo even goes as far as publishing its tone of voice guidelines on its website to ensure its accountable to the guidelines made when it launched. Monzo states: “We’ve opened this up to the world as well (hello world! 🌍) because we want to be held up to the lofty standards we set ourselves here. We believe in everything we’ve said, so if you see us falling short then please let us know.”
Monzo knows that every word matters because – in its own words – the words they ‘put on screen and paper are one of the most important ways we have of showing people what [they] stand for’. Take a leaf out of Monzo’s book and nail your brand identity. From visuals to the words on the page, write clear guidelines on how you expect your brand to show up in its marketing material. If straightforward communications lead to trust, then confusion leads to people backing away from your brand with fear in their eyes. Don’t strive for the latter.
Getting Your Content Goals Right and Making Them Work
I’m going to jump to conclusions here and suggest that nine times out of ten, your marketing efforts are striving towards some sort of exchange with your target customers. Now, the exchange can be a whole host of things. The obvious? Products or services for money. And another just as important? Value for information – and by the latter, we mean great content, exciting lead magnets and virtual webinars that brands give their customers for free in exchange for information about them (emails, survey answers, etc.). Exchange is important because you can’t expect to post a product online and watch the sales floodgates open. When building a loyal customer base, especially in B2B copywriting, you must be prepared to give, give, and give some more before you take.
This idea can be implemented into your copywriting with clear content goals and a roadmap to success that ensures you get there. A to B isn’t a two-step plan, it’s a journey that requires meticulous planning and intentional detail.
Let’s say your content goal is to sell your services to X number of new customers every month. One social media posts won’t cut it. You need to nurture your leads and hold their hands through every stage of the marketing funnel until they’re convinced they can trust you enough to hand their money over. How can you do this? Provide insightful, educational and personal content at every step of the buyer’s journey that pushes customers in the right direction. Free trials, case studies, informative stats and clear results are just a few examples of what you must consider in your B2B writing.
Becoming an Industry Expert
This step is all about authority. And in content marketing, authority goes hand in hand with consistency. Knowing your goals is just one single step towards great business-to-business copywriting. You’ll struggle to reach your final destination when you have little knowledge of the road ahead. The same goes when you’re not on top of the industry know-how. You need to be an expert in your field to gain trust and loyalty. And the best way to stay on top of the happenings of your industry is to consume everything. Read, learn and put it into action. Start with other creators, webinars, news articles and podcasts. Trends move like clockwork, and you’ll need good knowledge of the tide to catch the best waves.
Values First, Process Second: Your Brand Story
You have to face the fact that you and your customer will probably care about different things. While the effectiveness of your product sits at the front of your mind for you, your customer is going to be far more interested in the value they receive from your business. This means that, in a roundabout way, you can leave out the specific details and technical jargon of what you do in initial marketing conversations and keep them for when customers are further down the marketing funnel.
When you focus on your process without addressing your customers’ challenges, you don’t address the value your brand can bring. Therefore, you need to tell your brand story to attract new customers. A brand story, as told by Echo Stories, is a ‘cohesive narrative that encompasses the facts and feelings that are created by your brand.’ Your product, price, history, values, location and personal experiences shape your brand story, and you should pull on all of these things when writing. In B2B marketing, customers want to know why they should choose your product, and the answer lies way beyond a simple specification list or description.
10 B2B Copywriting Examples to Inspire Your Own Writing
Adobe
Your business’s branding is incredibly important, and consistency across all of your marketing communications ensures a strong, memorable brand. However, I’m sure most creatives or marketers feel frustrated when branding guidelines aren’t consistent. Adobe feeds into this customer pain point with this banner found on its website. And to top it off – and provide an extra slice of value – Adobe offers a video tutorial to show you how to make the most of its services. Not only does it solve a common problem felt by brands, it also shows you exactly how to get the job done with a helping hand from its services.
WeWork
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, working remotely has become the new norm. But despite this, remote companies have still looked for means of collaborative working, which means the need for an office still exists. But business owners know that paying for a permanent base for their staff comes with high running costs, which are especially hard to meet when businesses are small and in their first few years. This is where WeWork comes in. In this B2B copywriting example, WeWork’s problem-solving benefits are displayed proudly on its website. WeWork prioritises the value of its hireable workspaces over the specifics of how to hire them to draw in potential customers and appeal to the emotions of business owners in need of a place to bring their team together.
Mailchimp
This email marketing platform is all about data-driven proof when it communicates why it’s the best in the game. There are a lot of platforms that do similar things out there, so for Mailchimp, standing out is integral. The platform drives success through its easy-to-use functions and large following that has stuck with the brand since day one. When you think of email marketing, Mailchimp is front of mind, and it’s thanks to marketing like this that makes signing up with the app so persuasive. And Mailchimp has got a point. Who wouldn’t want results like these? This B2B copywriting example shows the effectiveness of including statistics.
Monzo
Keeping on top of accounts is a boring old task, but one that is – for obvious reasons – essential for business success. Money is why most of us are in the game, and taking care of it should be simple. Monzo leaves mundane banking jargon behind with its simple, no-fuss copy that makes opening a business bank account sound easy. It uses concise sentences and avoids any fluff. It’s straight to the point and easy to navigate – perfect for someone just entering the world of self-employment.
Shopify
When businesses first start out, upfront costs can be pretty terrifying. The thought of parting with large sums of cash or getting tied into a 12-month contract when there’s no guarantee your business will work can be enough for some to abandon ship. Shopify has listened to these commitment-phobe individuals and created the tempting offer of ‘try before you really buy’ to their services. This B2B copywriting example is really effective. Who wouldn’t want to build their dream business for just £1 a month? The platform promises a lot, but it’s up to you to use the free trial to see if they can actually deliver.
Canva
Some of us just aren’t natural-born designers – but that’s okay. With tools like Canva, teams can take boring, lifeless content and turn it into engaging graphics with the help of their detailed suite of tools, templates and design hacks. And in this B2B copywriting example, Canva spells out its easy, fuss-free process to help businesses design faster and better. Canva addresses the problem and provides an answer in a short paragraph that accompanies a video walkthrough of some of its tools. Canva knows its audience is searching for something that saves time, and its concise explanation ensures no moment is wasted between stumbling across its site and signing up.
Notion
Notion speaks directly to its customers with its brand story, which is accessible, relatable and honest. Notion humanises its brand by using the first-person narrative, and you feel as if you’re conversing with someone who can truly empathise with you as you learn more about the notion story. Notion knows the benefits of having everything in one place, and with its handy desktop and mobile device app, you can make it happen. We can really take a lesson from Notion’s book here when it comes to storytelling, and it’s a great example of B2B copywriting that will happily inspire your own.
Slack
For remote teams and hybrid workers, Slack advertises itself as a virtual business HQ for every business. Created with businesses in mind, Slack prides itself on its connectivity and multiple functions, which it makes known on its website. The software company keep it to the point in this website banner – why overcomplicate things when the software is so easy to use? It has set a precedent from the get-go, and gets five stars from us for doing so.
WeTransfer
In this B2B copywriting example, WeTransfer shows that it isn’t just a productivity tool; it’s a brand doing its bit to help people worldwide. The file-transfer app wears its values proudly on its chest; it has the creative industry in mind with everything it does. From streamlining the creative process by helping artists send large files anywhere in the world to donating a portion of its profits to help the creatives using its products. WeTransfer gives back while giving value – and it tell us this with confidence. It’s proud of what it does and knows what it’s doing. What’s not to love?
WordPress
And last but not least, we have WordPress. WordPress is one of the world’s biggest blog-based website hosting platforms – and it’s the accessible approach to publishing great words that entices brands. WordPress’s products and mission go hand in hand with its straightforward website design and content approach. It avoids jargon and confusing website design terms and ensures that anyone can read and understand itscopy. It’s a great B2B copywriting example of ensuring your actions match your words.
Need a hand with your B2B copywriting?
We hope we inspired you with plenty of B2B copywriting examples. Business-to-business copywriting doesn’t have to be boring, and we hope we have proven this with our short guide. But we know crafting great copy for your audience is harder than it looks. That’s where we come in.
Our team has been crafting compelling copy since before the iPhone (yep, we’ve been around for a while!), and we know a thing or two about how to make it resonate with audiences and drive results. We won’t subject you to robotic copy (or AI-generated copy, on that note), and we won’t send you to sleep with words that hold no value. You can trust us with your copywriting and marketing communications. It’s what we are here for. For more information, get in touch – we’d love to help.