ARTICLES
WHY WRITE WHEN NOBODY READS?
TELL ME WHAT I DON'T KNOW!
YOUR MOTHER WAS RIGHT
ARE YOU TALKING TO YOURSELF?
WHAT ARE YOUR ADS REALLY SAYING?
ARE YOU A LEADER OR A FOLLOWER?
WHY ENGLISH TEACHERS DESPISE COPYWRITERS
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(This article appeared in the August 1999 issue of The Business 2 Business Marketer, published by the Business Marketing Association)
Some time back, a local church asserted that my children's elementary school was a purveyor of "outcome-based education" - a bugaboo for many - and was said to be organizing a public protest. The superintendent quickly scheduled a parent meeting to distance the school from the unpopular approach.
During the discussion, he said something like, "They think we have OBE because we use cross-pollinated peer facilitative instruction." In my characteristically reserved fashion, I spouted, "Now just what the heck does that mean?"
He bristled, "It means students help one another learn."
I politely responded, "Then why the Sam Hill don't you just say that?" Never missing an opportunity to do some educating of my own, I explained that jargon only confuses people, and when people don't understand your jargon, they create their own meanings - rarely positive ones.
So what does this have to do with business-to-business marketing? A lot. I've been writing copy for the better part of two decades, and I've seen a lot of companies waste a lot of time and ad space talking to themselves. They may not intend to leave the rest of us out, but they do a pretty good job of it.
Point A to Point B.
Without delving into academic theories, let's agree that the objective of marketing communications is to convey information from a company to an audience of some sort. Could be a prospect, could be a customer, could be an employee, could even be Wall Street.
To reach that audience, the information must be relevant and understandable. It doesn't hurt if it's interesting or entertaining, too. Sound like common sense? I agree. Then why do so many companies fall short? I believe the biggest problem is that many executives are more worried about their peers' and bosses' opinions then they are about communicating with the real audiences.
Inner visions.
One of the most common forms of self-talk starts with vision-minded CEOs. The CEO caps off his annual exhortation to employees by announcing that the company will practice Discrete Quality Pinpointing. He likes the term; after all, he created it himself (with the help of his administrative assistant's trusty thesaurus).
He tells his inner circle of big cheeses that under DQP, every aspect of the company's processes will be analyzed individually to ensure quality. The cheeses embrace the concept and disperse it throughout the company with the fervor of apostles.
Two weeks later, a product manager tells the ad agency's account team that the focus of the new brochure should be that the company is DQP-driven. Never mind that the account team has never heard of the term. Never mind that customers and prospects won't get it, either. The product manager insists that DQP is in common use. Everyone she knows is talking about it.
Mass hysteria.
A similar form appears on a broader scale with the publication of each management guru's new book. You can tell which executives digested Peter Drucker's latest from the language in their annual reports. Nothing against Drucker or Peters or Covey - it's just the way that so many executives ape their words. Even worse, some parrot the terms while missing the messages behind them.
Like a mouse traveling through a snake's digestive tract, the words find their way from plans to memos to brochures and ads. Frustrated copywriters everywhere would fall before my feet if I could only come up with a new phrase for "our company has a commitment to excellence and a dedication to quality."
Most of those words simply come across as empty platitudes. Would you believe a used-car dealer who pleaded "Trust me?" Then why should a prospect take you at your word? Oh sure, we know that your company has integrity, practices quality, and is made up of darned nice people, but simply cloaking that in a trendy phrase isn't going to convince anyone.
What's important?
Many so-called "customer" newsletters are hotbeds of self-talk. Instead of sharing information customers will find useful, these birdcage liners simply shovel out the company line.
I once received an assignment to rescue a doomed newsletter for companies providing towing services to a motor club's members. Our random mini-survey of the mailing list was enlightening. "I don't read that rag. It's nothing but PR for your company and junk about which executive is getting promoted." So what would you rather read? "Look, I'm trying to make a buck. Tell me how I can do a better job of running my business."
We did just that, by focusing on successful ways their peers addressed personnel, equipment, marketing, and other issues. Instead of putting the motor club at the center, we put the readers there. And because we stopped talking to ourselves, that near-death newsletter became healthy enough to attract outside advertising.
Comfort levels.
Imagine what would happen if the average math professor found himself lecturing to kindergartners. His words about chaos theory would fly over the group's heads and the room would revert to real chaos. Now put one of your company's engineers across the table from one of your product's end-users. The gulf isn't nearly as wide as that between our professor and the tots, but it might as well be.
One of the most challenging tasks facing those who create marketing materials is putting them in language that's right for the reader. That doesn't necessarily mean dumbing them down; it means that information should be presented at a level and in words that are comfortable for the audience.
Too often, key people within companies (engineers are a familiar example) demand that copy contain their profession's verbiage. If the reader doesn't understand it? He's just not as intelligent. Of course, if he doesn't understand it, he can't - and won't - read it. So what's the point of running the ad or printing the brochure?
Effective copy requires that the reader understands your message. If it's going to be informative, it has to excite, to motivate, to overcome inertia - but it can't do any of those things if it comes across as a foreign language.
In their eyes.
The next time one of your company's new ads, brochures, or direct mail letters crosses your desk for approval, read it more carefully than usual. Put yourself in the position of your target audience. Does it address their needs? Does it offer solutions to their problems? Or does it make your organization sound like an assembly of egomaniacs?
If you make a conscious effort to stop talking to yourself, you're going to do a much better job of talking to the people who really matter to your business. And you'll bask in the knowledge that they're talking about you.
Article copyright 1999 Scott Flood All Rights Reserved
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