B2B content needs a human heart, not a robot brain

The B2B world is deafening. Every brand is shouting, trying to get noticed by the same busy people. It's easy to think shouting louder is the answer; making more and more content, faster and faster.

That's where your freelance partners come in. Not just someone to fill a page. Someone who can find the "human truth" in your business. Not a product's features.

Tech B2B copy needs to be about how products make someone feel. And the fear buyers have of falling behind, their relief when a problem is finally solved, or the pride of a team that's crushing it because they have the right tools.

It's that real, simple emotion that connects one person to another, even when they're talking about something as straight as enterprise software.

A good freelance copywriter knows how to find that feeling. They've spent years learning to listen, asking the right questions, and turning jargon into a story people relate to. A dry topic with life breathed into it, is something people actually remember.

What about AI? It’s a huge deal. It can speed things up, help with research, and get first drafts down quickly. But it's a shiny wrapper that makes everything look neat. It’s a tool.

But the human truth? That emotional core? The spark of creativity that makes someone read something and think, "Yes, that's exactly me"? That comes from the life experiences of your creative partner; their ability to get what the audience is feeling and connect with them on a real level. AI can't do that. Not yet, anyway.

So, as you work with your freelance creative teams, think of AI as a sidekick, not the hero. It’s there to help get things done, but the real magic; the connection that makes your brand stand out in a crowded space? That's the job for the real people you trust to bring your ideas to life.

Finding the right answer doesn’t always mean taking the shortest route

Remember that moment on Countdown with the numbers game that flummoxed Carole? Sometimes, a contestant will take a convoluted mathematical journey, full of additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions that appear unnecessarily complex. You start thinking, "Where are they even going with this?" It looks like they're taking the longest route possible.

Yet, against all odds, they nail it and arrive at the target number.

Often, those more complex journeys lead to a really clever solution, something you wouldn't have thought of straight away.

That's how my brain works with a creative brief. You give me the goal and the message, and my first thoughts might not be the most obvious ones. I might explore a few different angles, play around with some less conventional ideas. It might look like I'm not going for the direct hit right away.

But honestly, there's a reason for it. Those little mental detours help me see things differently. They let me uncover ideas that are a bit more unexpected, a bit more… right for what clients and their customers actually need to achieve. It's about digging deeper than the surface level.

So, if it seems like I'm not jumping straight to the most obvious concept, it’s because I’m working through the numbers in my own way. I might take a slightly longer route, explore a few different combinations, but the final answer will be the one that hits the target perfectly.

You'll get a concept that works, even if the journey to get there wasn't the most straightforward one.

Trust that we'll land on something great, every time.

"Plot twist!" Redundancy, getting past it, and going again.

at the end of january, After serving almost four years at my last agency and delivering 80+ integrated campaign ideas, several hundred killer headlines, four copywriter hires, dozens of internal initiatives and delighting global marketing divisions of leading tech vendors, I found myself redundant. Shit. What now?

Well, there’s no time for feeling sorry for myself, or taking things personally. It is what it is, and that’s that.

My first act, (after screaming “Plot twist”) was to post on LinkedIn that, while redundancy sucks, I’m optimistic that it’s just a blip and actively seeking opportunities to support marketers, business owners, and contacts in the copy community.

Wow, what a response.

Several thousand views, dozens of kind messages and many many shares later, I’ve been contacted by recruiters asking for my CV, talent acquistion heads asking about my latest experience, agencies in need of freelance support to deliver campaign assets, and other copywriters looking to pass overflow work to me.

I hasn’t felt much like a blip, so far. And although the dream role with my name on it, is still out there, I’m in a pretty good place.

My Art Director partner, Nick Cremin, was let go on the same day, and we’re hoping our years of experience in delivering concept ideas, writing and designing campaign assets, managing and mentoring teams of creatives, and raising creative standards will lead to some offers in the near future.

Here’s a glimpse of our portfolio:

If you’re looking for a senior B2B team that puts creativity before churn, ideas before channels, and emotive storytelling before selling, we should talk.

People say the nicest things

Sometimes I ask myself what others think of me. Am I a good mentor? How well do I work, in a team? Are colleagues confident when I present creative work? Do I inspire other creatives around me? Fortunately, the people I get to work with, all help to build my skills and give me the chance to do the same for them.

Here are a few nice things people have said…

From the Cottage to the Garden

MOI, the B2B agency I work for, is all about championing the ‘different’ our people bring and how they use it to create change―for good―in B2B. In EMEA, as Associate Creative Director, my background is certainly different.

You see, B2B isn’t the only career I’ve had. I worked in clothing retail, in the West End of London, for a few years. Then I spent a couple of summers DJing in the mid-90s. And before becoming a copywriter in 2005, I sold computer hardware, software, and tech services.

All of which taught me a lot about selling, knowing my audience, understanding how tech makes people’s lives better, and presenting to clients. This unique combination of experiences has helped me succeed as a copywriter. And I share this ‘different’ with my Copy Team members and the wider Creative Department.

“I’ve been a salesman most of my working life. So, writing to sell comes naturally to me.” ​​​

Understanding my ‘why’ in life.

Going through the MOI insights training has given me a clearer understanding of my ‘why’. And my Insights profile shows me to be, by nature, a Supporter/Inspirer. That explains a lot. It’s exactly why I love working with teams and individuals and being a part of something bigger than just my role. I aim to be known as someone who supports and inspires colleagues and clients. ​​​​​​​

Being at MOI is quite a journey!

I was originally recruited as a senior copywriter to work with a colleague, who’d recently graduated from the MOI Academy and worked alongside several freelance copywriters. But as I was asked to build an internal copy team, as Head of Copy, I soon recruited three more writers. Fast forward nine months, and I’m now Associate Creative Director, working closely with our Creative Director, Head of Design, and Senior Art Director, on campaign concepts and activations,

MOI ’s Copy Team members are all great copywriters; and between them, they produce every type of campaign asset you can think of: emails, video scripts, eBooks, campaign landing pages, solutions websites, insights papers, and how-to guides, and across all social platforms, and types of events.

​​​​​​​I’m particularly proud of how they’ve all developed over the past couple of years. I meet with the team every morning, in a virtual huddle, to make sure everyone has what they need for the day. I hold 1-2-1s every week to make sure they’re on top of their work streams, to keep an eye on their wellbeing, and to find out how I can help them stay on track with their KPIs and hit their goals.

We also hold a monthly team meeting, where we all get the chance to ‘grade’ the last month in terms of fulfilment, satisfaction, enjoyment and so on. ​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​We all share our favourite piece of work from the previous month and talk about what went into producing it. And we take it in turns to set a monthly writing challenge for the whole team, which is designed to stretch our creative thinking—it’s great fun but with a serious idea behind it.

I believe that in B2B, every client has a story to tell. That’s why understanding a brand’s tone of voice and developing a messaging framework is so important. It’s like building out characters in a book or play and deciding how they sound.

MOI uses storytelling to engage B2B buyers and draw them into campaign content on an emotional level, using empathy, and sometimes humour. Then it’s about convincing them to part with their budgets, on a rational level, using logic. And we bring these two elements together in all our copy.

It's not all work, work, work.

I’m lucky to have a large garden and I love spending time on my flowers, shrubs, trees, and an adopted family of foxes. I grow fruit and veg too, and that takes a lot of care. And of course, there’s football.

“I’m a season ticket holder at Fulham and love meeting up with family and friends at Craven Cottage, my spiritual home, to support the team. Come on you whites!”

Think before you speak: your content strategy matters.

In today’s ultra-competitive business world, content is everywhere we look.

So, to make stronger connections with their target audience, brands must have a clearly defined content strategy.

Because audiences look for content to help make a purchase decision, or passively consume it as entertainment it’s necessary for brands to know what to say, who to say it to, when and how.

So, how should a content strategy look? Here are a few steps to consider.

Set your goals, your purpose and your outcomes.

You need to know your audience. Ask yourself: who are you trying to reach? What do you want them to know, think or feel? What do they need? How and where do they consume media?

You also need to decide what success will look like for any content-driven campaign. Ask yourself: what financial returns do you expect on your investment? Or what net promoter scores do you want?

Define your tone of voice.

You need to decide how your brand speaks to different audiences, and how it behaves across different channels. When defining your tone of voice (TOV), you should focus on the characteristics of your brand; how you explain the value of your products and services, and how you engage with real consumers.

If you’re unsure how to define your brand’s TOV, try using Voicebox, it’s a super simple method that will help nail your tone.

Be consistent.

To make sure your message resonates with every audience across every channel, you need to be a consistent through every asset. This helps keep your content aligned to your brand, product, or service.

Evaluate everything.

You need a set of principles that help make sure all your content aligns to your brand and continues to put out the right messages. Evaluating your content means you can adapt it if you need to, helping manage your reputation and protect your brand identity.

Build content pillars.

These support your strategy across multiple channels, such as eBooks, blog posts, infographics, videos, emails, social media posts, and more. And let you cover all your content bases, delivering the right message to the right audience, at the right time.

Set your schedule.

Releasing your content at the right time will give you the best results. So, you need to create a calendar for publishing each of your pillars. This prevents over-delivery of content into each channel.

What it means to you.

It’s all about creating meaningful, manageable and sustainable content that reaches your audience, attracts more target customers and builds trust in your brand. It’s no surprise that developing an effective strategy has become a top priority for marketing teams and the agencies they partner with.

Got a question or suggestion for other points a content strategy should include?

Share with your comment - I’d like to hear what you think.