I have found two significant mistakes in most marketing content published today. These two mistakes subliminally cast doubt on whether your product meets the target market needs and can be found in much of the technology products content for either b2b or consumer markets. Whenever I edit client’s contents, I immediately search out these mistakes.
The first mistake is in using the word ‘will.’ For example, “the XYZ widget will provide better results.” This seems like a perfectly reasonable statement to make; however, follow my reasoning. This is a futuristic statement. Does your product not do this today? Let’s make this statement with a little more back bone. “The XYZ widget provides better results.” A simple change that makes your statement a more forceful. Notice that I did not say that “The XYZ widget will provide better results.” There are occasions where the word ‘will’ can and should be used; however, these occasions should be few and far between.
The second mistake is in using the phrase “…was designed to…” This one actually makes me crazy and is used in almost every piece of content for high tech products. This makes one question whether the product does the job. Going back to the previous example: “The XYZ widget was designed to provide better results. This statement merely states that the engineers designed the widget to provide better results; however, it also makes one ask if the engineer was successful. ” Again, let’s be a little more forceful, “The XYZ widget provides better results.”
These are just two simple suggestions that provide more forceful content. Notice that I did not say …will provide… or …was designed to provide…
For other helpful hints, see my blog on “Marketing Content: Reaching Beyond the Noise” or simply give me a call or send me an email. MazzaMarketing can provide the assistance for high impact marketing content.
Ed Mazza Marketing and Communications Consulting Blog 