When Accelity signs a new client, the copy team has 30 days to learn their business, their industry, their customers, their voice and their style. To accomplish such a feat, we’ve developed a precise process that digs into the personality, style and voice of every company we work with.
From voice activities to buyer persona development, competitive research to SEO audits, content planning to style standards, we go beyond just understanding our clients’ business: we learn to truly communicate on their behalf.
What can you learn from our process? Even though you know your own business inside and out, it’s worthwhile to perform these “onboarding” activities internally. How you write has a huge impact on how your business is perceived, so be intentional.
Fortunately, when you’re writing for your own business you already have all of this knowledge. However, going through the activity is critical for helping you define your content strategy. Let’s look at some of the activities Accelity uses to learn to write for B2B SaaS companies in every industry—and which tips you can borrow for your own content marketing.
Brand personality and voice
You might instantly recognize that the sentence, “Our software is so crazy good, you’ll totally save a ton of time! 🤩” is either way too casual and peppy for your brand, or it’s just right! But if it isn’t perfect, then what is your brand’s personality?
Accelity works with all of our clients to perform activities to develop their brand personality standards. We have new clients look at a list of traits and pick three to seven that they feel best describes their brand. For example, a client’s list of brand traits might be expert, innovative, precise, intelligent and trusted.
Some of the other factors we look at when defining a brand’s personality are the brand’s mission, vision and/or core values. What is the company hoping to achieve? Some companies are looking to innovate new technologies for certain industries, while others are trying to make the world a better place in a very specific way. What the company values and wants to accomplish colors how we write copy.
Brand style
Often confused with brand personality, brand style is the translation of that personality into a specific style of writing for the company. Once we have the brand personality traits listed, we translate them into a brand style guide that copywriters use for writing blogs, offers, social posts, emails and more.
Here’s how the brand traits listed above translate into a brand writing style:
Expert:
Position the client as a leader in the industry who knows the power of their solution.-
- “We deliver valuable knowledge, experience and skills to our customers”
Innovative:
Position the solution and the brand as being new and unique to other solutions on the market.-
- “The status quo doesn’t interest us. We seek originality.”
Precise:
Arrive at your point quickly. Don’t be long-winded, and don’t be vague with your assertions.-
- “We appreciate accuracy and correctness above all.”
Intelligent:
Convey the client’s extensive knowledge of the industry, audience and solution.-
- “We are bright, clever and quick-witted.”
Trusted:
Tie any information about the product back to current industry events, news items and relevant statistics.-
- “We are credible, and people rely on us. We share accurate, timely, relevant information.”
While reading this you might think, “That list is great! I want my company to be all of those things too.” Of course, appearing intelligent and being trustworthy to your audience is important. But don’t forget that there are hundreds of options for your brand’s personality traits. Find those that are most important to your mission, your vision, and your customers. What do you want your brand to be primarily known for?
Some clients may decide that product ease-of-use is the top trait they want to convey; others want their audience to think that they are a super fun company to work with. Whatever you choose, you’ll be defining the primary direction of your copy.
Individual voice
In addition to creating marketing content for companies, we often write content on behalf of individuals such as social media posts or think pieces in industry publications. We lead these individuals in completing a voice activity to help capture their personal brand voice in their content.
Brand voice and individual voice are not the same. While a company may have a small team run by a well-known founder, the way we approach company posts and individual posts varies. For example, a CEO may be much bolder than the company voice, while the Director of Sales strives to be more helpful and available.
One of the most helpful tools for learning to write for another individual is to simply spend some time getting to know them. I know, not the answer you expected. This doesn’t have to be a long process, although the longer our engagement with a client, the easier this becomes.
When Accelity onboards a new client who needs content for specific individuals within the company, there are a few ways we go about getting to know them. First, every single activity listed above offers insight not just into the brand, but also into the people behind it. During every interview to learn the personality and style of our clients, we pay close attention to the members of the team, gaining insights into how they communicate. Their LinkedIn profiles, prior blogs or collateral they’ve written, and emails they’ve sent are icing on the cake to learn their voice.
Copywriting for B2B SaaS companies
Some companies come to us with thorough, complete brand guidelines that make it easy for our team to start writing. Others come to us very early in the formation process; they’re still working on their mission statement and brand values. Wherever a B2B SaaS company is in the process, we help them create a cohesive brand and copywriting strategy.
