Yesterday, a friend told me she was headed for Paris. “What?! When?!” I said with amazement, thinking wistfully of my own June trip to Cannes, canceled weeks (eons) ago. “Soon,” she laughed. “I think if I say it, I’m going to wish it into existence.”
When travel isn’t possible, our imagination rises to replace it (often aided by Netflix). Here are four effective B2B marketing communication tactics—swiped from my decade-plus career spent writing about cities, islands, and other far-flung destinations.
1. Appeal to the senses.
Wringing hot sand with your toes. The crisp crunch of sea salt, breaking up a velvety expanse of dark chocolate. The fresh smell of a waterfall in early spring.
You have five senses, maybe six. There’s no rule to say you can’t rouse some or all of these in your reader—even in a piece of down-to-earth b2b copywriting. Innovative ways of saying things trigger new associations for your brand—capturing audience attention and making it stick. Here are a few examples:
Example 1: AI
Like harnessing 10,000 clever hands to your computer, AI accomplishes ordinary tasks at lightning speed, and with blinding precision.
Example 2: Insurance
It’s Sunday, 1pm. The sun is gleaming, and you’ve driven with your family to your most beloved brunch spot, hiking trail, shopping mall. Your spouse says something hysterical, and your kid spit out her gum laughing. This day is brilliant—and it will fuel your bond for years to come.
Yes, but how much have you protected this memory? Of course, you’ve got insurance—for your car, health, home, business, life. But if push came to shove (and we hope it doesn’t), your current policies may fall egregiously short.
We’re XY Insurance Company, and we work hard to make sure our clients are adequately and affordably covered. We’ve been the top choice for personal and business insurance in ABC County for 50+ years—for good reason.
Insurance is a rich enabler for life’s greatest pleasures and possibilities. Without it, you couldn’t walk out your front door—much less start a business or have a child. You’d be putting everything on the line.
At XY, we’re well aware of this massive responsibility. And we’d be happy to show you that getting sufficient coverage doesn’t have to mean a dramatic increase to your current premium. Etc.
Create tactile, tangible, and sensory content—and help your audience feel, smell, and taste your value…not just read about it.
2. Demonstrate—then explain.
Remember the funnel introduction? For the uninitiated, this is a widely taught way of writing intros that starts with a sweeping statement—then narrows things down line by line, until you’re left with a (relatively contained) thesis. Later, once you get into your points, you might feather in an example or two…but not till waaaaay down, maybe on page six.
That’s fine. It’s also like serving dessert by unfolding a tablecloth, then presenting a spatula, followed by forks, napkins, a pie plate…all in slow succession. By the time you roll out the pie, your dinner guests have dozed off.
That’s why an effective copywriting vendor turns this structure on its head. After all, the whole world gravitates toward a story, a living example, some healthy dialogue. Uttered right, “once upon a time” can hypnotize even the squirmiest child.
For your brand, this means populating big-picture ideas with powerful, relatable examples.
3. Create a storyline—and outline a clear takeaway.
Which article would you click on first:
- Fiji by Jean Tang
- Fiji: A Honeymooner’s Story of Land and Sea
- Fiji: The 15 Things You Must Know Before You Go
If you said #1—cool! But you’d probably be in the minority.
All content creators rely on story as a tool for engagement. In the realm of travel writing, this includes pithy anecdotes, memoir-style musings, and narratives about amazing meals (and the cooks that made them).
For you, it might be time to take customers on a journey, inviting them to strange and enticing lands (where your solutions sit). Let your imagination run free.
4. Keep them entertained.
Your audience is everything, and above all—at any time but especially now—they are looking to be engaged. Our inner travel writer would take this a few steps further, and advise us to throw in a pinch of fun and half-cup of delight.
Whatever your cause, use your words to give people a little reprieve from the current events—even just for a moment.
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Now more than ever, your words can bring you closer to those you seek to serve. Use them to transport, excite, and connect with your audience—building relationships that last long after this crisis has passed, and clearing a path toward future success.
If you’re in need of carefully crafted copy in this time of uncertainty, MarketSmiths can help. Tell us about your copywriting needs.
