The Hidden Dangers of Using Jargon, Example 4

Last week the Content Strategy Google Group (of which I’m a member) discussed the term “thought leadership.”

Everyone in the group (and most people reading this) pegged ‘Thought Leader’ as jargon. Even a client rejected it for a category header.

“My problem is everyone in my industry (other than us) seems to use that term, so my firm is rejecting that outright.”

So, what should they use instead?
Some group members proposed alternatives, like:

• Knowledge Center
• Reader Resources
• [Subject] White Papers
• Our Publications (I kind of like this one)

Then the conversation swung toward Thought Leadership’s underlying problem: The implications you make if you use the term ‘thought leader.’

Has Anyone Ever Done Business with a “Thought Follower”?

When used, Thought Leadership claims a hierarchical position. Namely, the top.

But nobody claims a “thought follower” position, do they? Of course not. No one would.

Well, we can’t ALL be Thought Leaders. What do we do?

“Thought Leader” as a jargon term tries to claim the high ground. Like everyone else. So the classification goes flat. Being a Thought Leader among thousands is kind of useless, isn’t it?

In the group discussion, one person pointed out that this whole thing is meaningless. Why? Because readers aren’t interested in these kinds of classifications.

At all.

They just want to find information on a specific topic.

Which is the only thing that really matters. Are you able to deliver information on that topic? If yes, then you don’t become a thought leader to the reader.
You become a resource.

Be a Resource Instead of a Thought Leader

If “Thought Leadership” implies a hierarchy that doesn’t really exist, how should we classify ourselves? What will the reader respond to?

If you have the information they’re looking for on a topic, you become a resource to them. So, aim for that!

Try being a resource instead. It’s more specific, and more valuable. For example, you could be:

“A resource for financial management software for HR consultancies.”

This fosters more of a collaborative space online, not an arbitrary hierarchy. Resources share information & audience attention with other resources, instead of competing for every last second.

One resource aids another. One website sends traffic to others. People find more and more information as they go – noting the businesses that PROVIDE those resources.

Readers don’t look for thought leaders. They look for specific resources.

Do YOU go looking for thought leaders? I don’t. I look for information from Kristina Halvorson (for Content Strategy), or John Jantsch (for B2B marketing), or Brian Clark (for Web writing techniques & Internet marketing strategies) or Steve Slaunwhite (for the business of copywriting).

Because these people have made resources of their websites. And by extension, their businesses. Last I checked, none of them are hurting either!

There’s no high ground in the term “thought leader.” Readers don’t care. They DO care about good resources. Look at social media – people share resources all the time, every day. Isn’t that a more powerful marketing approach than using jargon?

Look at your content. Ask yourself: “Is this something the reader can use? How? When?” If your content answers those questions, you have the makings of a resource.

What could your business be a resource for? A product you made? A specific audience? A region?

(DISCLAIMER: I wrote this post as a comment on the CS group discussion. These opinions are my own and are NOT intended as a reflection of the group. It was a great discussion!)

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.

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!

Smart organizations take the time to produce valuable content, and market it consistently. (Some of them hire me, so I know they’re smart!)

However, I often run across organizations (B2B and sometimes B2i) who misjudge what to write in certain content locations. These content spots are either not seen as valuable, or seen as the sole chance to say EVERYTHING about your product/service.

Obviously both approaches lead to problems. An undervalued content spot is:

• Left blank
• Filled up with corporate-speak
• Given only a meaningless filler sentence or two, OR
• Becomes the home to a single lonely URL with no explanation.

An overvalued content spot has too much text crammed in. People try to stuff 3 different messages into 200 characters. Er…no.

Below are three such content spots. I’ve included a Common (bad) Use that you shouldn’t do, and a Best Use (an approach that benefits your site – and maybe your brand too).

1. Descriptions on Local Search Engine Listings

Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Local. All give you a small space to write about your business.
Common (Bad) Use: Often left blank or home to meaningless filler. Sometimes crammed with keywords (big mistake).
Best Use: Write a small paragraph that gives a high-level overview of your business. Use keywords sparingly. Search engines prefer you use Categories for that.

2. Meta Description Text

This is the short paragraph underneath URLs in search engine results pages. It’s what searchers read before clicking a URL.
Common (Bad) Use: Jammed full of keywords and/or corporate-speak.
Best Use: Ask yourself, “If I read this, how would I know this is the place for getting the product/service I want?” Answer that and you’re two steps from solid description text.

3. Social Media Description Paragraphs

Think Twitter Intro blurbs, the Facebook “Info” tab, and the LinkedIn Profile Introduction.
Common (Bad) Use: Meaningless filler or corporate-speak. Twitter descriptions often have a lonely URL.
Best Use: A short message about what you do. Be as specific as you can. Aim to use just over half of the available space.

Did I miss any? What’s a content spot you’ve seen that organizations overlook (or overvalue)? Post it in a comment. Or tweet it to me at @blueferret.

Earlier today @Medwii, a student in France, followed me on Twitter. He asked me a simple question:

“@blueferret I guess you are an experienced CW. I’m currently studying in France and looking for a CW internship. Got no book, any advices?”

(I do love when people call me ‘experienced.’)

I started to write out a reply for him, pointing him to some books and blogs. Then I realized I was writing way too much for a couple tweets.

Besides, a few more people might like this information. I’ll blog about it instead!

So Medwii, because you asked, I’ve compiled three big resources to help you out here. This is information I’ve used to educate myself on copywriting and writing for the Web over the years.

1. Copywriting Books

The Well-Fed Writer Series
My own introduction to the copywriting field.

Bob Bly’s Publications Page
Bob is one of the legends. He has a legion of copywriting and related books/ebooks on his site. Writing, marketing, you name it (and then some).

Jonathan Kranz’s “Writing Copy for Dummies”
Do NOT let the “Dummies” label fool you on this one. It’s as sharp as an unexpected tack on your seat.

Mike Stelzner’s “Writing White Papers”
Mike is a whirlwind of writing-related activity. He hosts online seminars, huge business summits, etc. He’s billed as “the White Paper Writer.” (Nearly) Everything I know about writing white papers came from this guy.

“How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer”
This ebook covers the business side of freelancing: getting leads, managing clients, building up your brand. It’s worth ten times its weight in bytes.

2. Follow Professional Copywriters/Content Writers on Social Media

The veterans are out there on social media. That’s a veritable goldmine when it comes to up-to-date copywriting knowledge. Here’s the “best of the best” on Twitter:
@BobBly
@copyblogger
@LauraMcNeil
@MenWithPens
@Mike_Stelzner
@nickusborne
@steveslaunwhite
@blueferret
(Hey, had to work myself in here somewhere!)

3. Read Copywriting/Web Writing Blogs

There are a ton of excellent writing blogs out there. I couldn’t hope to put them all down here, so I’ll just list a few I check regularly.

Write to Done
Men With Pens
Junta42 Blog
CopyBlogger
The Writing White Papers Blog
Social Media Examiner (Great place to keep up on using social media)
“50 Open Courses for Web Writers”
(This one has a bunch of links to online courses intended to help you work up writing chops. VERY useful as an introductory resource.)

4. Read Up on Content Strategy

Content Strategy is a newer subtopic in the Web writing/marketing field. It’s gaining attention as companies realize they need to manage their content in order to get the most value out of it. If you’re interested in helping them do that, here’s a few places to bone up on it.

“Content Strategy for the Web” by Kristina Halvorson (book)
“The Discipline of Content Strategy” (Blog post)
The Brain Traffic Blog
“Content Strategy: A Reading Guide”
The Content Strategy Group – LinkedIn.com

Best of luck @Medwii! Hope all this helps you out.

Any more copywriting/writing for the Web resources you’d like to add? Post it in the comments. I’ll update as needed.