The Hidden Dangers of Using Jargon, Example 2

Early on in my copywriting career, I went to a meeting with a prospective new client. Small software firm. We talked project goals, audience, and so on.

Then my contact (the VP of sales) said, “And make sure to note that we conform to best practices.”

I stopped. “What do you mean?”

I honestly had no idea. I thought he’d explain.

Instead he replied, “Huh?”

I asked again. “What do you mean by ‘best practices?’ Can you describe some of them for me?”

Now I admit, I was fishing here. I didn’t even know what the phrase meant. Apparently, neither did they. He couldn’t give me an answer!

They just expected me to recognize and know the term “best practices.” Jargon alert!

The Danger in Using Best Practices: Assumption

Like this client, if you use “best practices” in your content, you’re assuming. Assuming the reader knows exactly what you mean. So you don’t have to specify your actual practices.

See why it’s a dangerous assumption? There’s no guarantee the reader will know what you mean. You’ve left a hole in their user experience.

What Does “Best Practices” Mean Anyway?

Exactly what ARE “best practices?” I still can’t find a clear example. Best I could locate was a series of infographics in Google. The most common ‘practices’ there were:

• Find the medium between price, customer service and convenience
• Stay on top of (our) industry
• Confidence in our product
• Make customers happy

News flash. EVERYONE wants to abide by *those* practices!

Nobody wants to have anything less than “best practices.” So why do we use the term? It’s become so universal it barely has meaning. Whatever meaning there was has been flooded away by its rampant overuse in business content.

My thought is that businesses only use it out of fear. Fear of someone out there thinking they’re NOT the best in ALL their practices! Gasp!

No. It’s just jargon now.

Time for an alternative.

The Alternative to Jargon: Clarify Your Actual Practices

Instead of sticking jargon like “best practices” into your content, try this:
Clarify your actual day-to-day practices. Split the whole idea out by industry.

You wouldn’t expect a software development firm to have the same practices as an auto parts manufacturer, would you?

A few industries do this already. Creating practices unique to their products and their standards. This Quora answer by Greg Lindahl is a good illustration of practices for software deployment.

I’d even suggest adopting a new, more specific term. Like, “X Industry Business Guidelines” or “X Corp. Operating Policies.”

That way you have to write things out. Be clear in what your readers (and clients) should expect.

Accountability, folks. It starts in your content. Not in jargon like “best practices.”

I’ll expand on this idea in a later post. Maybe write up a set of guidelines…for making guidelines. (Very meta, huh?)

What would be on your ‘industry business guidelines’ list?

One thing B2B companies don’t always focus on (and should) is discussion forums.

I don’t mean starting your own forum (though that’s a great way to provide support and customer service).

I mean getting involved in other forums where your audience gathers. On their own.

For instance, IT forums like these:
ServerFault
SuperUser

There’s a content marketing tactic you can use here.

Use Forums for Content Marketing? How?

If you develop software (on any platform), you can be sure users are discussing it on forums like these. What’s important to remember is that these are third-party forums. Places you don’t control.
On reading that, your instinct might be to charge in & vehemently tout the virtues of your product.

Don’t do that.

Instead, try the following approach. It helps you from a content marketing standpoint. AND you can use it to create Clear Content.

1. Register on a forum your audience uses. Look up topics that deal with your software. See what people are saying.




2. Don’t interact until you’re sure you understand what they’re talking about. And DON’T rush in trying to sell your product. That’s a great way to drive them – and others – away.
   • Why others? Because if you do that, you create a record. A record that you use pushy sales tactics. Doesn’t matter what your goal was; that’s how it’ll be seen. And remember, this is a place you don’t control.
3. Say a few people post about using X feature in their businesses. Maybe the current version has trouble transferring information between user levels. People will naturally ask fellow users what they do about it.




4. Right here is an opportunity for you. You can do 2 things:
   • One, use this feedback to fix the problem people have with your software.
   • Two, establish yourself as a helpful company with relevant content.
5. THIS is when you post. It’s time to become a helpful resource.
   Post a reply to the latest relevant topic saying:
   “Guys, thanks for the feedback. I’m Brad Wilson at Software Company. I’ve made note to address the issue in a future version. Would you guys tell me anything else like with this we could improve in the software?”
   
   See how people respond. Take notes.




6. Then, speak to the commenters directly (most forums have Private Message functions). Ask them, “Can we quote you in future content addressing this issue?” 9 times out of 10 they’ll say, “Sure!” Get their first name and an email (only).




7. Now you have a topic for a new webpage, blog post or FAQ entry. Wherever this content will benefit your full audience the most.
   Here’s one example. A short blog post.

We know about an issue with the information transfer feature in Version 4. When you try to transfer information between user levels, only 75% of the information transfers successfully.

This is a problem discovered by Chris and other users. Here’s a potential workaround for everyone:

1. Create a blank user account, Mr. X. Assign it to power-user level.
2. Transfer information to Mr. X’s user account.
3. Change Mr. X’s user level to administrator.
4. Complete the transfer.
5. Change Mr. X back to power-user level.

We’ll have this problem fixed in our next patch. Expect it in 3 weeks.

(Feel free to use this content on your site. Please link to mine though!)

Voila! Clear Content, Direct from Fellow Humans

Now, this doesn’t sound like very promotional messaging does it? It sounds more like you’re admitting you screwed something up. (Oh no!)

Wait, wait. That’s not actually what happens.

What you’re saying is, “We realize nothing’s perfect. We’re human too. We’re responding to the needs of our audience. And this is how we prove it.”

You can’t BUY that kind of marketing value.

People will see you are being helpful. Being a resource. Being human.
What’s more, now that you established yourself on the forum, you can keep interacting. It’s a very one-on-one kind of marketing. Takes time (don’t expect quick ROI).

But you’re creating Clear Content. You’re establishing yourself as an authority AND as a helpful resource. How’s that for content marketing?

Can you think of another way to adapt this tactic? How else could forums help you create content? Think it over.

A lot of the web content out there is too fat. Overstuffed, failing to persuade, droning on and on…

And I think I know why. (Well, ONE of the reasons.)

Some of it comes from our school days. When we were kids, you had a word requirement for essays, right? It stuck with us. We equate “longer page” with “better page.”

But it’s not the case. All Clear(er) Content has to do is address the need of the person reading it. That’s it. Anything else you add is fluff, filler. The extra words you stuffed into the essay to meet the word requirement.

(Not to say longer content isn’t effective. It definitely is! Giving lots of content is GOOD when the content is informative, relevant–and doesn’t mince words.)

Think of it like giving a speech. Chances are if you had to give a speech, you wouldn’t waste any words. You’d get to the point, back it up, and then finish.

Do the same with your web content too. Here’s some ideas as to how.

1) Dangling Words = Shorten the Paragraph

Ever seen a word or two dangling at the end of a paragraph? (Shrink your editor’s window so it looks like the website will.) Edit the paragraph’s sentences until the dangling word isn’t dangling anymore.

2) Secondary Point? Remove It

Doesn’t matter if you’re writing an email, a webpage or a white paper. One piece of content, one topic discussed. If you’re talking about more than one thing, split the content accordingly.

As the Star Wars pilot said, “Stay on target!”

3) Cut Down to Half. Then Another 25%

There’s a usability maxim: Once you’re done writing content, take out half the words. Then do it again. You’re left with what matters. I prefer to cut by half, then a quarter. Feels easier and goes faster.
Couple ways to go about this:

• Drop as many adverbs as you can. (Remember, ending in “ly”). “I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me.” – Mark Twain
• Any sentence you can’t read aloud in one breath? Cut it in half.
  “The way people work has changed dramatically as new tools and technology challenge the traditional rules of how and when people can do their jobs.”
  VS.
  “Work isn’t 9-to-5 in the office anymore.”
• Read each paragraph. Does it directly relate to the main point? Yes? It stays. No? It goes.

4) Never Use a Paragraph When a Sentence Will Do

Resist the urge to “surround” a point with verbiage. It doesn’t help make things clearer. (The opposite is often true.)

Wait.  Won’t This Hurt SEO?

Not really. You’re sticking to 1 topic, where the real focus should be. Remember, humans have to read this for it to be effective. Make it clear for THEM first.

Editing is more than just trimming out words. There’s a lot more factors involved. Editing however becomes much easier (and faster) with lean, clear content.

What’s the last piece of “fat” content you came across?

I received a newsletter this morning from Diana Huff.  In it was a great new article titled, “The Three Biggest Mistakes Companies Make with Regard to B2B Websites.”

If it was any closer of a fit with my new “Clear Content” theme, I’d have to argue with her about authorship!

Two mistakes she calls out are Poor Messaging and Lack of Content.  Both of which are superb overarching points about content clarity (especially in B2B).

Take it from one of our industry’s best – flubbed messaging doesn’t help you distinguish yourselves.  And a lack of what she calls “bread and butter content” (I often use “main pages” myself) strands your site visitors in a web-based desert.

(The third mistake?  Well, you’ll have to go read the article to find out!  Click the title above.)

So you’ve finished a piece of content. Now comes the testing, right? You need to know a few things.
Is it engaging?
Is the SEO taken care of?
Eye-catching headlines/subhead?
Is the darn thing even readable?

Copywriters like me go through this all the time. We use a bunch of tests and tools to polish up our content. To make it “social-ready” (if that’s even a word yet).

Recently I started using the HubSpot Grader. The site has apps for “grading” websites, blogs, press releases, Twitter and Facebook, FourSquare…even one for books!

These Graders examine live content for marketing effectiveness. That’s great for websites, blogs, etc. But what if you want to grade a piece of content that isn’t live yet?

Here’s where you thank me. I worked out a (sneaky) way to test content before it’s posted.

Test Content Before Posting with the Press Release Grader

The secret is Hubspot’s Press Release Grader. It works by direct input. So you can paste in any copy you want – a webpage, a case study, whatever.

Just copy and paste, enter your company name and URL (or those of your client) and hit Generate Report.

NOTE: Obviously it’s geared toward elements of a press release. It wants to see an “About” section, contact information, etc. Some of the results may not apply to your content. But the rest will give you an idea of how social-ready the content is now.

How to Measure Social Readiness with Grader Results

Pay attention to these sections on the results page:

1. General Statistics. Word count, link count and a readability grade. (If higher than 9th grade, edit.)
2. Content Suggestions. Pay attention the “company link” subhead. It might say, “This press release does not seem to contain a link to www.yourURL.com.” That means you haven’t linked to your/the client’s website yet.
3. Link Analysis. How many links have you added? Do they have clear link text? Will the positioning help you or hurt you?
4. Word Cloud. My favorite. A visual representation of the most frequent words. You should see your key terms loud and clear in this cloud. If not, edit and re-grade.

Pretty decent way of checking how social-ready your next webpage is, huh? And the best part is that all the graders are free. Another tool to add to the Web writer’s ensemble!