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You’ve probably heard the old joke about how to tell if you’re talking to an extroverted engineer (answer: they look at your shoes when they talk to you). Although the punchline is a caricature, even some of the largest companies in the world essentially do the same thing when it comes to technology marketing. Whether they’re writing web copy, brochures or even social media posts, they shy away from directly addressing the reader. You can easily spot timid writing like this by looking for the word “customers”, which often shows up in phrases such as:
“Customers” is merely one of the most common examples. You’ll also find similarly vague and impersonal terms like “clients”, “stakeholders” and “decision makers” cropping up pretty regularly. The problem with this approach is not just that it’s the written equivalent of staring at somebody’s shoes (yours or the customer’s). It also sends an unspoken message to the reader that you’re talking about someone else — even if they’re already buying from you. This matters in marketing because whenever you make a sale, even if you’re providing a multimillion-dollar solution to an international conglomerate, you ultimately won’t sell it to “customers”, “stakeholders” or even “decision makers”. You’ll sell to people. And more often than not, the final decision comes down to one person. Shouldn’t you be writing for that person?
Marketing copy is often seen as something that needs to appeal to a mass audience, and it’s not hard to see why. After all, it’s often sent to hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. Yet the experience is very different when seen from the perspective of your target audience. They don’t consider themselves as part of a crowd, but as a unique individual who’s the leading character of their own story. When your message hits their email inbox, physical mailbox or is handed to them by a sales representative, there are two possible outcomes:
Although this decision happens in a split second, you can significantly increase your chances of the first outcome by making the reader feel like you’re having a one-on-one conversation with them. This holds true whether the reader is someone who makes final purchasing decisions or a low-ranking junior employee of someone on the committee who makes buying suggestions to executives higher up the food chain. In short, no matter the size of your mailing list, each message you send needs to read as if it was written specifically for the person who receives it. Because whether they realize it or not, that’s the experience each of your potential buyers wants to have. Here’s how to make your words “look them in the eyes”, metaphorically speaking:
Let’s wrap this post up by applying just the first two of these strategies to the examples from the beginning of this article. We’ll change “customers” to “you” and delete all the words that suggest navel-gazing:
Although none of these phrases are likely to win major awards, they’ve gone from staring at the floor to looking you in the eyes with just a few small changes. The result is copy that feels more personal while conveying a greater collective sense of confidence and credibility. Applying these strategies can quickly make your own copy stronger without a great deal of effort. For even better results, consider calling a talented, award-winning agency in Dayton that specializes in boosting the success of B2B technology organizations like yours.
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