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From Reads to Leads is a newsletter for B2B tech founders and marketing leaders whose marketing isn’t working. It’s about positioning, messaging, content strategy, operations, and results. If this was sent to you, subscribe here so you don't miss the next email.
In today's newsletter:
We usually run content strategy for our clients. But this one client has their own CMO and marketing team. We're just writers.
Fine by us. Fewer meetings, still good money.
Then we get this brief: "TinyML on Rust: Building Ultra-Efficient AI for Edge IoT Devices in 2025."
The SEO agency found “search volume” for the “TinyML Rust” keyword. The content manager approved it. The brief was delivered. So we wrote the piece. 2,967 words.
Then their tech expert read the draft and left us a comment:
"Rust is not a popular technology in this area yet, and it is not ready for production."
In other words, the topic was wrong from the beginning. But we wrote it anyway.
Every time we write technical nonsense because Semrush said so, we reinforce the worst stereotype:
Writers are just the people who make words sound nice.
Writers default to being executors. We take the brief, follow the prompt, hit the word count. And then blame SEO teams and business owners for pushing us into writing SEO junk no one wants to read.
We convince ourselves it’s the marketers and SEO specialists who force us to “stick to the brief,” even when the brief is misaligned with what readers actually need.
Ask any content agency, and they’ll say something like: “Our clients trust the SEO teams for content decisions, not us.”
And honestly?
They’re making a rational choice.
SEO teams show up with dashboards. Writers show up with... word counts? Style guides? "It reads better this way"?
If you want to understand why writers never get leverage, just watch what most of them actually do:
And then they wonder why nobody lets them lead.
A few weeks ago, a client sent me their new website design in Figma. We'd written the copy. He knew something was off with the design, but felt exhausted arguing with the designers. He couldn't do it anymore.
I'm not a designer. But I opened Figma.
The contrast was awful. Text nobody could read. Tiny light fonts on light green backgrounds. The kind of design that wins awards and loses customers.
I tried diplomacy first. Calls. Figma comments. Nothing.
So I ran Stark Contrast and Accessibility Checker on their designs. Failed every test. WCAG violations everywhere.
I dropped the report in Figma with one comment: "This fails accessibility standards. If you still want to go with this design, it won't do anything good for the business."
After several battles, they redesigned the entire site.
I won the argument. I'm not even a designer.
But when it comes to writing?
Writers accept garbage SEO briefs without leaving a single uncomfortable comment and are still asking if they can suggest a different headline.
Writers stay small because they refuse to lead.
Study the freaking positioning, ICP, and value prop. If a client doesn't have these, tell them. Repeatedly. "Who exactly buys this?" "What problem do we solve that competitors don't?" Keep asking until they give you answers. You can't write strategic content for a company that doesn't know what it does.
Attend SEO meetings and ask uncomfortable questions. "Why this keyword over that one?" "What's the commercial intent here?" "Show me a competitor who ranked for this and got customers from it." They'll hate you. The client will respect you. Guess which one matters for your career.
Offer your own strategy when something isn't working. See that blog getting 10K visits and zero leads? Say something. Propose a different approach. Own the outcomes. Yes, it's scary. Yes, you might fail. But that's how you become someone worth listening to.
Learn SEO and distribution tactics, then develop your own POV. You can't fight SEO teams if you don't understand SEO. Learn it. Then form opinions about when it's wrong. "High search volume doesn't matter if the intent is informational and we need buyers." Just say it.
Create your own case studies. Get access to Google Analytics. Look at how your content performs. Not just traffic. Conversions. Time on page. Where people go next. Build your own proof that your approach works. Stop letting SEO teams own all the numbers.
Written by someone who doesn't understand the topic. Approved by someone who trusts tools more than expertise.
You know what most of you will do? Write it and complain on LinkedIn.
But maybe, just maybe, 10% of you will push back. With actual business reasoning.
That moment decides if you're a writer or a marketer.
Still thinking about that Rust TinyML article. We should have pushed back harder. Next time we will.
Kateryna
P.S. If we aren't connected already, follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. If you like this newsletter, please refer your friends.
P.P.S. Need help with quality content? Zmistify your content with Zmist & Copy
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