Getting out B2B content in a timely manner comes with two typical problems. And I see both sides.
Side one speaks to the writer’s need for solid input, clear messaging, personas and their pain points, specific goals of the asset, and so on. That takes time. It’s often even more time-consuming due to slowdowns out of the control of those who construct that input. Sometimes it’s because new features need more time in development or testing, or the market or business drivers change in an unexpected way. New opportunities need attention and resources need to be shifted in support of them. I totally get that.
If, as a writer, I believed in a single way of working – bide my time and wait – the song of the day might be The Long and Winding Road. That wait can be a time-saver for writers who prefer not to try to make sense of sketchy input. But it also diminishes what writers can bring to the process. We want you to lean on us as teammates.
Side two is “let’s get going and figure out the gaps as we go.” Incomplete input is not ideal, but it’s one of our realities as B2B writers. I find it both stressful and exciting. It forces me be on my game, so to speak, coming up with ideas, thinking far beyond a marketing brief. It calls on more creativity. I like to think that some of my best ideas came from this territory. I think more like a marketing professional and a customer, and ponder big ideas. The downside is that a lot of those ideas are off-base. They might not tie to higher level marketing messages. This means that content development jumps right over that critical middle part of developing content. If I committed to this approach, Van Halen’s Jump would be the song of the day.
So, is there a middle ground? Yes! There is now. Generative AI has the potential to change us and solve these decades-old problems. It works for us and with us to do research, give us fodder for concepts and help eliminate ideas that don’t really work. It fills in the gaps of a very human-centered process, leaving the creativity and unique marketing messages to humans, and being that helper who fills in the gaps we don’t have enough time for.
Song of the Day, Let's Work Together, Canned Heat
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