Writing web content for a specialty audience is different from writing for the public. But it doesn’t need to be difficult. Understanding your audience is what it takes. Striking the right tone, making the best language choices, and incorporating your knowledge into a well-crafted SEO strategy, will help you create content that is valuable to specialists.

Most content written for the web is designed to reach a general audience. Making it more accessible to the masses can widen your reach. But what if you’re not trying to get to everyone?

If your audience is a specific profession, you’ll need a different strategy for content creation. Producing authoritative content marketing and thought leadership are essential elements of inbound marketing and lead generation, particularly when your target customer segment is a specialist or niche market. When writing for specialists, understanding your audience will be even more critical to correctly conveying your message. Not only must you know the ins and outs of the profession, but you should also be able to pinpoint audience priorities and pain points. If you speak to their needs, your audience will find your b2b content relevant and engaging.

Overall, there are a few things to keep in mind to maximise your b2b audience engagement. Pay attention to your tone of voice. Monitor your use of jargon and put your audience knowledge to work for you. It can drive a powerful SEO strategy, turning you into the go-to source your audience seeks out first for specialty content.

For much of your desired audience, the content you produce will be their first interaction with and perception of you. Below, we’ve outlined what you need to keep in mind to ensure your content is meaningful and impactful.

Better Understanding, Better Audience Engagement

While great writing is always key, the most important part of your content creation process isn’t word selection. It’s identifying and understanding your target audience. Achieving that goal, though, can be difficult.

Content marketing and social media marketing should be part of your digital marketing strategy. Your audience lives online, and the internet is a rapidly changing place. There’s a constant stream of new information, and that makes it difficult to know what’s current and what’s not. That includes new names, job titles, company changes, new locations – any details that surround their professional lives.

To maximise your impact, your buyer personas need to be built on the most up-to-date customer data. That means meeting your audience where they are. Engage them in online forums on topics that are germane to the profession. It’s an effective way to learn about their priorities and pain points – what’s most important and what drives their decision-making?

Be sure to leverage your social media presence. Typically, your social media marketing plan should centre on promoting more in-depth content. Using social media for marketing white papers, your latest research, fresh insights and webinars should be an important part of your go-to-market strategy for professional and expert audiences. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are ready-made platforms to draw your audience in for idea-sharing and in-depth discussions. Keep tabs on the topics and content formats that attract them. (As a quick note, researching your content competitors and how they engage your audience can be informative.)

Most importantly, pay attention to your audience’s level of professional expertise. Their experience will drive the level of your writing. You want to hit the right balance. If your content is too simple or too complicated, you’ll drive your audience away. Striking the right note can ensure you’ll reach the novice and more tenured professionals.  

To provide the most worthwhile content to attract their attention, weave actionable information and insights into your writing. Consider including these types of details when creating content:

• Tips that can help with daily (or frequent) problems

• Case studies that highlight poignant professional experiences

• Expert insights and strategies that offer useful guidance

• Informative anecdotes of professional experiences, when appropriate

Sometimes a professional services supplier to expert audiences can become part of—or even the voice of—that community. Surveying your readership and sharing the results can help your audience to understand benchmarks and priorities for their sector. You might conduct an in-depth industry survey of the impact on regulatory changes or development priorities for your niche. A summary article on your website could point to a downloadable white paper as ‘gated content’ for which people would provide their email address. This would help to build your mailing list, and make it possible for you to share insights and industry news in an email newsletter. You could then go on to begin to host panels in webinars and LinkedIn Live events. You might choose to host, sponsor or participate in specialist conferences.

The Importance of Striking the Right Tone of Voice

Your potential customers are active professionals, and they will be busy. Their time is valuable, and you must earn it. Consequently, make sure your content stands out from the crowd. Hitting the right tone of voice is the key to catching your audience’s eye and enticing them to linger.

Aim for the middle of the road when talking to your audience. Don’t be too general or too granular. You could easily lose their interest. Instead, target the average specialist – one who is knowledgeable but who has not hyper-focused on one area of the profession. A slightly mainstream approach will give you and your brand the most authentic and relatable voice.

To find the right tone, examine your mission and brand personality. What type of identity and market positioning do you want to reflect? Are you friendly and engaging? Detailed and authoritative? Decide what works best and stick with it. Your audience will notice and appreciate the consistency. In fact, one study showed 65 percent of audiences emotionally connect with brands – so, your words matter.

Language choices are also fundamental in how your audience sees you, and it’s an opportunity for you to shine. Be bold in your word choices. It will convey your confidence in the topics you tackle. But go beyond bold, professional, or knowledgeable. Add an extra layer to your writing that will help set you apart. Focus on being helpful, upbeat, and reliable. The more comfortable and engaging your style, the more faith and trust your audience will have in your content.

Threading the same tone of voice throughout all your content across all platforms can be difficult, depending on the topic. To help your writers, consider creating brand guidelines or a glossary that can help define your tone of voice. It can also highlight terms and tones they should avoid.

Balancing Jargon with Everyday Language

Nearly every specialty has its own vernacular. Given that you’re writing for these professionals, it can be tempting to rely heavily on industry jargon in your content creation. Keep in mind, though, even highly educated professionals are looking for easy-to-read blog posts.

So, it’s OK to incorporate the terminology. Using it can identify you as a trusted source and knowledgeable industry insider. But don’t make it the backbone of what you write.

Content clarity is vital, and there’s a good chance not everyone in the industry will know the same buzzwords. Remember, your audience will have varying levels of expertise. Your job is to produce content for the professional level they all share.

There will be times, though, when even industry experts might disagree on how and when to use certain terms. For example, the terms "remarketing" and "retargeting" mean two different things, but some people use them interchangeably. There's also some ambiguity about what brand equity means to brand strategists. If you use these types of terms, be sure you clearly explain how and why you're using them.

Concentrate on keeping your language clear, precise and concise. When it fits naturally, incorporate jargon into your writing. When necessary, to make sure all your readers are on the same page, include parenthetical information that provides thorough explanations. This is an effective way to explain complicated topics. Early-career professionals or those who haven’t focused on a single area of the profession will likely appreciate it.  

Of course, there will be times when using jargon and buzzwords is unavoidable or necessary. If you can, try to limit incorporating them to the most detailed, expert-level topics. Be sure any explanations you provide are written in a non-patronizing way. Otherwise, you risk alienating a significant portion of your audience.

In fact, this is another instance where a glossary can be helpful for your writers. Take the time to identify industry terms that can’t be easily simplified. Put together one or two alternative ways they can convey the same topics or meaning to your audience.

Above all else, remember that, even though you're writing for a specialist audience, your content still has the potential to reach the general public. You have a responsibility to craft your conclusions and take-away points in plain, simple language. This reduces the risk of misinterpretation and misuse of the information you provide. 

A World Health Organization report on cancer-causing substances highlights the importance of presenting your content clearly. The report published a list of carcinogenic substances, but it did not provide a corresponding level of risk. Smoking tobacco and consuming processed meats were grouped together in the report. With no context provided around the likelihood that a substance might cause cancer, the mainstream media published misleading articles that processed meat poses an equivalent cancer risk to smoking.

So, to avoid similar misunderstandings, keep each piece of content direct and simple.

Impact on SEO Strategy and Paid Advertising

Having a better understanding of the audience point-of-view and their needs can inform a better SEO and paid advertising strategy. Having more specific knowledge about their priorities and needs can drive augmented keyword research and keyword strategies. It’s also a good idea to research your competitors and dig into the keywords they use most frequently.

When it comes to targeting keywords, there are two things you should consider. It is always a good idea to include some general keywords to cast a wider net for your audience. But you must also make deliberate choices for the profession. It can be tempting to target high-volume keywords. Instead, concentrate on industry-specific keyword research that is connected to your content.

This strategy may not yield high traffic, but you’ll be much more likely to reach your intended audience. Keep track of which keywords trigger your audience. They can also provide valuable insights into their interests and help you plan your content creation.

What they respond to can clearly point you toward the type of content they want to see you produce. You can also use these details to optimise your existing content and plan what comes next. Be sure to include some evergreen content in your timelier writings. This is a great way to maximise your SEO standing.

Beyond targeted keywords, put your understanding of your audience’s priorities, points-of-view, and pain spots to work for you. Use that knowledge to engage industry thought leaders and influencers. Incorporate their insights and expertise into your content and SEO strategy. It can be a highly effective way to demonstrate your vast knowledge base.

Having a greater understanding and appreciation for your audience – and its segments – has another benefit. You are better equipped to target more than one type of decision-maker with your SEO, paid advertising, and pay-per-click strategies.

Conclusion

Great content is only valuable if it makes an impact on its intended audience. Yes, you can guess what might resonate with your readers. But investing time and energy into learning what matters most to them is a better idea. It will lead to more relevant content and engaging marketing campaigns. 

You’ll be most effective if you first build your core message around their needs and design a content strategy around it. Based on your audience understanding, include topics – and examples – that address their challenges and priorities. With a well-thought-out plan that provides content clarity, your readers and the lay public will easily view you as a reliable information source.