Want to increase your email open rate, white paper download rate, or registrations at your next speaking gig? Create a catchy title by turning the problem you solve on its head.

The contrarian approach gives readers an ironic break from the direct approach they are used to. It’s a very effective technique in marketing content strategy, and especially effective in B2B, where we’re all expected to be serious and straightforward.

I enjoyed this post by Chas Cooper, guest blogging on the Savvy B2B Marketing blog: “What Marketers Can Learn from Storytellers.” He recommends using the good guy/bad guy approach, and the cliffhanger, to surprise the reader and catch attention. The technique is great for case studies, which can get into a rut with the standby Problem-Action-Result formula.

We titled a white paper for demand generator PointClear: “Why Your Salesforce Needs Fewer Leads.” This title turned heads, and increased the open rate on the email campaign. And today, I received an email leading to HubSpot’s blog post, “7 Reasons Social Media is Bad for Marketing.” The post really is about seven bad practices. There is something compelling about the dark side.

The largest pool of a B2B’s prospects is made up of people who are unaware of the solution to their problem. Surprising, storytelling content grabs their attention, and raises questions that the unaware buyers need to be asking.

Last week I met a B2B solopreneur who performs visual facilitation. She leads meetings and synthesizes group-think by illustrating discussions on a large mural, in real time. Julie's recent blog post is a perfect case study for B2B personas.

Julie describes the conundrum we all face, as marketers, to write with clarity and purpose while appealing to a diverse audience with multiple interests. But there's the wrinkle: that compelling temptation to satisfy as many people as possible in one stroke of the pen. That temptation makes writing weak.

A colleague asked me yesterday, "If we don't put all the business offerings on the home page of the web site, what about the people who might want any one of those services? Won't they pass us by?"

The answer is "yes." And that's what we want.

As Julie discovered, despite our temptations to appeal to the masses, we really only want one client--the client who gets our business, who sees the value in it (or has the aptitude to see it), and who will be a pleasure to do business with.

Julie doesn't want 10 clients asking for 10 offerings. She wants to clone the one client--her favorite client--with whom she really shines. That client is her persona. And now, Julie is writing to her, for her, as if that client were her only reader. (And the number of comments on her blog spiked on that post, incidentally.)

Are you listening, my reader?

Bonus track: this classic scene from the movie "City Slickers." One thing, just one thing.

The title of this blog post by Dianna Huff caught my attention: "DIY Marketing No Longer Cuts the Mustard." (DIY=do it yourself.) She makes a convincing case that the tools and techniques of marketing, like the computer-enhanced motors of cars, are no longer the domain of the shade tree mechanic. Marketing, done right, requires specialized skills.

Huff's article is aimed at "B2B mom and pop manufacturers;" small companies where owners and employees wear many hats, including marketing. Of course, larger B2B companies hire professionals who have the specialized skills that today's marketing tactics require. (Paul describes just a subset of those skills in this post.)

Or do they? I think the DIY temptation persists, even in larger companies.

Even when amazing skills are in-house, there's a fine line between doing it right and DIY. That's the line where outsourcing a task would have positive ROI. And finding that line can be tricky, for two reasons.

First, the tools for marketing are so easy to use--but so difficult to use well. Such is the blessing and the curse of web user interface. Google Analytics is a prime example. Even I can log in and see fascinating statistics and graphs. Even I could compose an impressive looking report of current usage. But do I know how to spot negative trends, or make recommendations on complex sites? Would I want to be in charge of analytics for a $100K campaign? No way--that's clear. Somewhere in the middle of these extremes, I'd be tempted to DIY when I shouldn't. And most executives supervising me would be happy to save the budget dollars by stretching my skills perhaps a bit too far.

Second, there's the objective point of view. Whether the effort is as strategic as a new brand design, or as tactical as developing SEO keywords, it is crucial to take the perspective of an outsider looking in. Even the most tenured marketing employees--in fact, especially the most tenured marketing employees--can only have an insider's perspective. They need outside guidance to do this work right. DIY does not cut the mustard.

I tell clients that marketing is a little bit like law and brain surgery: it's really difficult to do it well for yourself. Only an outsider can offer the most difficult, but valuable truths. Is the web site reaching the right audience? Is the content compelling? When you are the seller, it's difficult, sometimes impossible to think like the buyer--and this is what the marketing professional must do.
 

Every B2B marketer I talk to is on board with the concept of user personas to guide their web content strategy. Now our team is working with several clients to really drive this concept home, and apply personas more aggressively to the content they are creating. The results are paying off in content that truly speaks to the buyer.

What are personas, exactly? Personas are detailed profiles of your target buyers as human beings. Personas go much, much deeper than the usual B2B rundown of the target market--beyond industry, company size, and job title, to a personal profile like this:

"Richard is in his early forties and married.  He arrives at the office at 8:25 every morning after dropping the kids off at middle school. He drives a silver 2008 BMW 535d. He has been with the bank for thirteen years, starting in branch technology support. Richard is a stickler about details and accuracy. He counts his change from Starbucks. He frequently corrects other people's facts. His desk is clear every night before he goes home. He's the guy you want working on network security." That's just a start.

Web copy that generates leads starts with understanding the psychographics of the buyer: lifestyle, interests, and personality. With a psychographic persona like this one, we can set a tone for Richard by leading with statistics, citing sources, demonstrating attention to detail, and appealing to his risk-averse nature. The copy we write to reach Richard will be very different from the copy for Amanda, in her late twenties, in a relationship, bikes to work, and blogs about local theater--even though Richard and Amanda are part of the same biuying cycle.

Specificity like this is the key to a useful persona, because it allows us to write with emotion. Ardath Albee recently blogged, "Is Your B2B Marketing Content a Filter or a Vortex?" making a great case for specificity, stating: "If we get better at designing content to attract leads who are both a cultural and a buyer fit, then we save time sifting through the shale to find the gold." By selling that cultural fit, our content helps a tentative buyer to relate comfortably to the message, and an engaged buyer validate their decision. Then buyers can interact, self-select, and feel comfortable doing business with a company that understands their perspective.

Companies don't buy, people do, even in B2B. B2B buying decisions are based just as much on emotion as B2C. So while your competitors are reticent to waver from a business-like tone, gain an edge by digging a level deeper, getting specific, and aiming for that cultural fit.

Whether your copy grabs your buyer by the heart, by the throat, or by the wallet, they will feel connected--and one step closer to being your customer.