Businesses are always looking for ways to increase their customer base. You, as a writer, can help them do that through marketing content, blog posts, and even social media activities. But, you need to understand actionable analytics first.

Naturally, writing relevant B2B content involves knowing about the business you’re writing for – from the company’s voice to the products and services offered to their target client’s profile. Being able to capture these elements in a way that’s pithy, focused, low-hype and fact-based will set you on the road to being a good B2B copywriter.  One way that has proven effective for writers time and again has been understanding analytical data points that provide insights on targeting customers. While such data might not be incorporated into your content directly, it can certainly help tailor it.  Below are a few of the most critical actionable analytics that are helpful to know.

Cost of Customer Acquisition
This metric details precisely what the company is spending on marketing resources to acquire a single customer, and where the majority of those dollars are concentrated. It can reveal what channels are most cost-effective in generating sales, and how the importance of certain channels might shift over time. This allows you to focus your content on those areas that are the most relevant. For example, if social media is crucial for generating awareness of the business’s services, it might be beneficial to focus your style and execution on ways that play well in that space, such as small bite-sized blurbs, interactive elements, calls to action, and content that can unfold like a story over several posts.

Customer Lifetime Value
Also known as CLV, this metric measures a customer’s mean value by the income they generate for the business over their life-cycle as a customer. It not only demonstrates how profitable the business is over time, but whether customer satisfaction and retention are at suitably high levels to sustain current operations. It’s calculated by dividing a business’s total customer revenue by the total number of customers. If CLV is relatively low, it may mean that customers aren’t being retained for long enough periods. This might be because content is not being tailored to the right customer or that the expectations being set by the content don’t match the realities. Effective customer-based engagement can result in higher CLV.

Funnel Conversion Rates
FCR is all about understanding the journey a customer takes, from first learning about the business through advertising, to finally buying in. A detailed look at the funnel can reveal deficiencies in marketing and sales tools. Sales teams need copywriters who can better target high-quality leads. Moreover, using historical data as a point of reference helps determine if the revised copy is working. And, it’s useful to not only understand the broader funnel, but also the rate at which each marketing channel converts leads into customers.

Closing Percentage
This might be one of the single most valuable metric. It measures how many leads actually become paying customers. A simple formula for calculating the closing percentage will help provide answers. Divide the number of deals closed by the number of deals proposed and multiply by 100. If the closing percentage is low, it often means content has been ineffective in addressing customer needs. Feedback from customers on specifically where messaging could be improved will lead to copy that better targets problem areas.

Median Deal Size
Not only is it important to attract new customers, but also to attract the right customers. Is the copy conveying a strong value of the company’s products to potential customers who will spend the money? Understanding the desired median deal size of the business will help you tailor content that attracts that level of customer. Moreover, adjusting the messaging based on such feedback over time should produce measurable results that can be tracked. An effective messaging strategy will naturally coincide with a gradual increase in the median size of the company’s sales.

This information is more accessible than you might think. You can ask for this data from your client’s marketing and/or finance departments. Mid- to large-sized firms will often employ a Head of Marketing Analytics, or other comparable point person. And, while smaller firms may only have a few of these answers – just enough to get you going – you can use the conversation as an opportunity to enlighten them on those areas they should be paying more attention to in the future.

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Mark Heidelberger began writing professionally in 2009 and has since had more than 1,200 articles published online and in print. He specializes in travel, entertainment, finance, tech and business-related content. His work has appeared in a diverse array of publications, including USA Today, AZ Central, Houston Chronicle, LA Examiner, The Nest Woman, Livestrong, Dollar Stretcher and the Global Business Centers blog. He served as a literary manager for eight years and has also ghostwritten or rewritten numerous feature film screenplays.

 

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

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33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters

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I understand the challenges your characters face, their triumphs, their hopes and their fears, because I've lived them. I work with people who have varying degrees of blindness every day, so I've seen every challenge, every situation you could imagine.

Let me share my knowledge to improve your writing. You can create blind characters that readers will fall in love with.

~Stephanie Green

 

So, You Wanna Be a Ghostwriter - How To Make Money Writing Without a Byline

Many freelance writers find it difficult to break into the publishing world. What they don't know, however, is that there's a faster and easier way to see their words in print. It's called ghostwriting, and it's an extremely lucrative, fun, and challenging career.

But how do you get started as a ghostwriter? How do you find new clients who will pay you to write their material? How do you charge? And what kind of contracts do you need to succeed? All these questions and more are answered in So, You Wanna Be a Ghostwriter...How to Make Money Writing Without a Byline.

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