'The best training we've ever had'

The shared standard starts with the briefing process and foundation. Establishing a brief template that requires every piece of content to answer the same foundational questions – who is the reader, what do they need to know or feel differently, what is the single most important point, what proof points are essential – provides strategic focus that improves quality.

A content foundation – with key messages and tone of voice – then provide a baseline to ensure consistent alignment with the strategic direction all content needs to take.

Training that produces lasting improvement is built around the team's own content and audiences. Reviewing real pieces the team has produced, identifying specific patterns that are holding back quality, and practising the rewrite on content that matters to the team creates muscle memory.

This is why Gunning Marketing's approach to copywriting training uses examples from the client's own website and channels. For instance, following a bespoke copywriting workshop we delivered for 30 communications professionals at the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), Head of Communications Janice McKee commented: 'Several team members have told me it's the best training they've ever had. The tools you provided were really practical, and I'm looking forward to seeing some great copy from them in the coming weeks and months.' Copywriting training for the West Midlands Combined Authority produced similar feedback: 'I picked up lots of new tricks and ways of working that can be translated into business as usual.'

Look for a trainer with genuine B2B content experience. B2B content has specific requirements – understanding complex propositions, writing for multiple stakeholders in a buying process, connecting content to commercial outcomes – that generic writing training doesn't address.

Also ask about how the training handles the AI question. In 2026, a copywriting training programme that doesn't address how team members should work alongside AI tools is missing a significant part of the picture. The most effective approach – developing the skills to brief AI tools effectively, to evaluate and edit AI-generated drafts, and to identify where human writing is essential rather than optional – requires the same foundational skills as writing well from scratch. A trainer who understands both copywriting craft and AI's role in content production is considerably more useful than one who addresses either in isolation.

Established courses from industry bodies and standalone training companies have real value – they can provide professional accreditation and a broad framework for marketing thinking. What they don't provide is the ability to write compellingly in your brand voice, for your specific audiences, on your specific content types. A copywriting course built around generic examples teaches principles that participants then have to translate back into their real work, a gap that slows down behaviour change and often means the learning doesn't fully transfer.

Bespoke training closes that gap. When the examples used in training are the team's own homepage, case studies, LinkedIn posts, and the like, participants leave with immediately applicable skills rather than principles they need to figure out how to apply.

In practice, the most effective model for many B2B marketing teams combines both. Training builds the internal foundations – the persuasive writing skills, the editorial judgement, the ability to evaluate and edit drafts effectively. External resources handle the content that requires specialist depth or exceptional quality: a whitepaper, a product launch, a flagship thought leadership piece. The internal team and the external partner develop a working relationship where each makes the other more effective.

A further option is the fractional content leadership model – where an external specialist operates as an embedded Head of Content or Content Director, providing strategic direction and quality oversight while building internal capability over time. This gives junior team members the professional development benefits of working alongside a senior practitioner on real projects, rather than applying training in isolation. Gunning Marketing has provided this model for a range of clients, training internal content writers while handling the high-value production and providing the editorial standard against which the team's own work is calibrated.

The decision ultimately comes down to what the business needs to be true in 2 years. If the answer is 'a capable in-house content team,' training is essential. If the answer is 'consistently excellent content regardless of who produces it,' an ongoing external partnership may be more reliable. If the answer is both, the combination model is worth the investment in relationship-building.

Follow-through after the training matters, too. A practical toolkit – a brief template, a quality checklist – gives participants something to refer back to when they're writing under pressure 3 weeks later. That anchor helps embed the behavioural change.

The most durable results come from training that's reinforced by the working environment. If the team's line manager briefs to the same standard that was taught, if the review process checks against the same criteria, and if the external content partner the team works with models the same approach – the new behaviour becomes the new normal rather than an extra effort. Gunning Marketing designs training with this reinforcement in mind: the tools provided are the same tools used in our live client work, and the standard taught is the standard we apply.