Does Your Marketing Content Need a Translator?

For the past year and a half, I’ve been writing a lot of content for technology companies. One thing I learned right out of the gates is that the industry as a whole does an awful job explaining new products and approaches to IT management.

Take the concept of software-defined networking. This particular topic made my brain hurt.

Not because it’s incredibly difficult to grasp, but because I couldn’t find a simple explanation of what the hell it is.

Basically, software-defined networking makes it possible for an IT manager to centrally manage and configure all network devices (switches, routers, etc.) instead of configuring each one individually.

It separates control functionality from the individual hardware, which is why it’s called software-defined networking.

Some definitions talked about “decoupling control from hardware” or “abstracting the data plane from the control plane.”

Decoupling? Abstracting? Those definitions are abstract, thank you very little.

After researching and writing about this concept several times, I finally get it. I get the value of it.

I figured it out because it was my job as a content writer.

But if I’m the CEO of a large enterprise looking for a more efficient way to manage my IT environment, it’s not my job to figure it out. It’s the job of the manufacturer or solution provider to make it easy to understand.

Granted, the target audience is probably IT managers who are more knowledgeable about this subject matter than the average CEO.

But if you approach content with that mindset, it means you’re trusting the IT managers of all of your potential clients to translate your gibberish to senior management so the purchase gets approved.

That’s a major gamble. Why not just write your marketing content in laymen’s terms?

It’s not like the IT managers will get all offended and say to themselves, “Jeez, I can’t believe they used such simplistic language. It’s so beneath me.”

If you think that sounds like an assumption on my part, it’s not. A  Content Marketing Institute blog post  discussed a study by NN Group that showed how simplified language can deliver better results.

Jargon, big words and convoluted sentences make the brain work harder, whether you’re a PhD or you can’t spell PhD.

The study analyzed the performance of a pharmaceutical website when it was rewritten to an eighth-grade reading level.

For low-literacy readers, the success rate improved from 46 percent to 82 percent. For high-literacy readers, the success rate improved from 68 percent to 98 percent.

This approach doesn’t just apply to technology and pharmaceutical companies, complex concepts, and industry jargon.

Even if the products and services you offer are relatively straightforward, the value of those products and services – and the value of your company – probably aren’t so obvious.

Using empty marketing clichés (highest quality, knowledgeable staff, best service, blah blah) to convey the value of what you do is just as bad as using overly complex language.

It might even be worse. Complex language can at least be translated into something of value. Marketing clichés are a dead end.

Various research studies say anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of the average purchasing decision is made before someone even contacts you.

It’s difficult for someone to justify a purchase, emotionally or logically, if your marketing content doesn’t clearly explain how someone will benefit from that purchase.

Above all else, keep it simple. Read it out loud. If you wouldn’t use a word in a real conversation, or a sentence makes you run out of breath, don’t use them in your marketing content.

And if you can’t validate marketing clichés with explanations that are specific, useful and relevant, it’s time to sit down and figure out exactly why someone should do business with you.

People won’t pay for something if they need a translator to help them figure out why it’s worth their money.