Is Your Marketing Content Going Over Your Audience’s Head?

One of my clients is a Kansas-based manufacturer of trailer hitches and towing equipment. They recently introduced a live chat feature on their website that allows customers to get instant answers to their questions.

The company also uses some of the questions as inspiration for blog posts. Very smart.

One unexpected revelation was the general level of towing-related knowledge among website visitors. The company was surprised to find that the vast majority of questions being asked were very basic.

In other words, they thought their customers knew more than they actually did.

A few months ago, I wrote website content for a local New Jersey business. They were having trouble with their web designer, who was unresponsive and had been dragging his feet.

I asked the business owner if she would be able to update the site on her own. After all, you don’t want to rely on an unresponsive foot-dragger when you want to make an update.

I asked if it was a WordPress site. Her response?

“What’s WordPress?”

Both cases made me wonder how much marketing content is going over the audience’s head because the audience isn’t quite as knowledgeable as previously thought.

Or assumed.

It’s easy to make the mistake of assuming certain terms are part of the vernacular and certain topics are universally understood.

This is all too common when you’re too close to your industry, your company and your product.

To a lot of people, those terms and topics are completely foreign. What you consider common knowledge could be meaningless industry jargon to your audience.

But this post isn’t about industry jargon.

I think everyone agrees that industry-specific terminology is best saved for boardrooms and seminars. The best way to communicate with your audience is to use relatable, everyday language.

This post is more about incorrectly assuming your audience has a certain level of knowledge, not knowing your audience as well as you think , and losing sight of their needs.

Marketing content should bridge knowledge gaps, not expose them.

I write a lot of content for information technology (IT) companies. Various cloud-related services and platforms are often part of the conversation.

Some of these companies target small businesses that are lucky if they have one employee designated as “the IT guy” who puts out fires and keeps the network from crashing.

Here’s the thing I’ve learned about the cloud. Most small business owners know it exists, but they have no idea what it is or how it works.

Some people actually believe the cloud is some kind of computer program that floats through the air like the white, fluffy masses of moisture above our Earth.

If one of these providers was to publish a blog post that introduces their audience to some breakthrough cloud-based storage platform, that’s great. The company blog is a valuable educational tool.

But there should also be an easy-to-find blog post, web page, or FAQ on the company website that provides foundational information that bridges the knowledge gap.

In this case, it would be helpful to offer a basic explanation of cloud computing and cloud-based services. You may even be able to accomplish this in one paragraph within the blog post.

Another example is the concept of responsive design. When I discuss website content writing with a client, I always ask them if their website is or will be responsive.

As important as responsive design is, I’d say about half of them have never heard of the term.

Needless to say, if you’re a developer or designer offering responsive design, it’s a good idea to provide an explanation of what it is and why it’s important.

Aspiring thought leaders beware…

Everyone seems to want to rise above the deluge of marketing content by being the next thought leader or visionary, capable of shaping conversations about groundbreaking topics and issues.

There’s nothing wrong with that – as long as you realize that your audience, in most cases, doesn’t care if you’re a thought leader or visionary. They just want solutions to their problems.

So be groundbreaking. Be visionary. Talk about advanced topics. Educate your audience.

Just don’t forget about what your audience is hoping to gain by reading your content. And be sure to account for any gaps between their level of knowledge and your level of knowledge.

Otherwise, your marketing content could come off like an inside joke that frustrates and potentially embarrasses those who don’t get it.