This article was first published September 18, 2007 on the Tatum Marketing blog
Everyday languages – English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, whatever – are not the only language challenges in technology marketing. Technical jargon can kill a conversation just as quickly. And, it’s much more difficult to avoid.
Every industry & every function – even marketing – has its own jargon. I am reminded of this each time a client asks me to explain PPC (pay-per-click advertising) or positioning or some other term I throw around without thinking. I’m thankful that those clients bothered to ask and I shutter to think of the ones who have no idea what I was talking about.
So, this post is as much a reminder for me and it is for you.
Technology is a complex sale not only because we are selling complex products and services; but also because it often involves so many different “buyers” – including users, engineers, IT specialists, purchasing agents and management. The technical words and acronyms that you use daily may be meaningful to the people in some of these groups, but I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be meaningful to all of them.
And if they don’t understand what you’re saying, they’re not going to be very motivated to do whatever it is you want them to do.
As marketing people, business owners or product developers, we can’t assume that everyone understands the words that are so familiar to us. Getting to know the various buyers who contribute to your prospects’ purchase decision and communicating to each in their own “language” is a great way to improve marketing effectiveness.
Sales people usually have a pretty good idea of who the various participants are. When we take on a new client, this is the first place I turn to learn about the buyers. Then we can determine who gets which message and what “language” we should speak.
This is also one of many good reasons for using professional copywriters. They will – or should – protect you from falling into the technical jargon trap.
Keep in mind that “technical” jargon is not restricted to scientific or computing terms such as Gb/s, bandwidth, redundancies or SOAP feeds. They may be management terms such as ROI, 6 sigma, MBO, or QMI. Or financial terms such as P-E ratio, ROA, deferred income and indirect spend. And of course we marketing people have the aforementioned PPC & positioning plus SEO, SEM, CPM and messaging. And this is by no means an exhaustive list.
As technology marketers we walk a fine line between showing that we know what we’re talking about and confusing the heck out of everyone.
To ensure that your marketing is effective, it’s important to speak your buyers’ language. And it’s just as important not to speak too much of your own. One of the best ways to do this is to run your copy by real customers or prospects. If you don’t have any of those yet, try your neighbor, your partner, your child or your mother. If they understand it, chances are good your prospect will too.
Technorati Tags: technology marketing, communication, marketing strategy, sales
Everyday languages – English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, whatever – are not the only language challenges in technology marketing. Technical jargon can kill a conversation just as quickly. And, it’s much more difficult to avoid.
Every industry & every function – even marketing – has its own jargon. I am reminded of this each time a client asks me to explain PPC (pay-per-click advertising) or positioning or some other term I throw around without thinking. I’m thankful that those clients bothered to ask and I shutter to think of the ones who have no idea what I was talking about.
So, this post is as much a reminder for me and it is for you.
Technology is a complex sale not only because we are selling complex products and services; but also because it often involves so many different “buyers” – including users, engineers, IT specialists, purchasing agents and management. The technical words and acronyms that you use daily may be meaningful to the people in some of these groups, but I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be meaningful to all of them.
And if they don’t understand what you’re saying, they’re not going to be very motivated to do whatever it is you want them to do.
As marketing people, business owners or product developers, we can’t assume that everyone understands the words that are so familiar to us. Getting to know the various buyers who contribute to your prospects’ purchase decision and communicating to each in their own “language” is a great way to improve marketing effectiveness.
Sales people usually have a pretty good idea of who the various participants are. When we take on a new client, this is the first place I turn to learn about the buyers. Then we can determine who gets which message and what “language” we should speak.
This is also one of many good reasons for using professional copywriters. They will – or should – protect you from falling into the technical jargon trap.
Keep in mind that “technical” jargon is not restricted to scientific or computing terms such as Gb/s, bandwidth, redundancies or SOAP feeds. They may be management terms such as ROI, 6 sigma, MBO, or QMI. Or financial terms such as P-E ratio, ROA, deferred income and indirect spend. And of course we marketing people have the aforementioned PPC & positioning plus SEO, SEM, CPM and messaging. And this is by no means an exhaustive list.
As technology marketers we walk a fine line between showing that we know what we’re talking about and confusing the heck out of everyone.
To ensure that your marketing is effective, it’s important to speak your buyers’ language. And it’s just as important not to speak too much of your own. One of the best ways to do this is to run your copy by real customers or prospects. If you don’t have any of those yet, try your neighbor, your partner, your child or your mother. If they understand it, chances are good your prospect will too.
Tue, Nov 3, 2009
Strategy, Traffic
Written by: Susan Tatum