It's a good question to ask your clients. Does your marketing content speak the language of your customer?
I recently read a story recounted by Stoney deGeyter, the President of Pole Position Marketing. He was on a flight and noticed a sign on the lavatory door that read “Lavatory is INOP”. Stoney was puzzled, but he made the assumption that INOP meant “inoperative”.
Did the airline staff do a good job of communicating with their customers? A sign saying “out of order” would have been more appropriate. An even better solution would have been a sign that explained the situation and offered a solution:
“Out of order. Please use the restroom at the front of the plane.”
Whoever wrote the sign was speaking “airline language”, not the language of the customers.
If you've ever been in conversation with a customer and noticed a glazed look come over his eyes, or a frown of confusion, chances are you weren't speaking his language.
Here are some tips for helping your clients create effective marketing content:
1. Know your customer
What is the company mission statement? Do they have a product or service that is their “secret sauce”? What are their biggest challenges?
You’ve been hired to provide a solution to one or more of those challenges. Your marketing content needs to convey your strengths to your target market in language that they understand and relate to.
2. Look for cultural clues
I worked for a company where the book Our Iceberg is Melting was required reading. It’s a story about a group of penguins who discover that their home iceberg is melting and they must find an immediate solution. Discussions about the individual characters in the book were a part of our corporate culture.
Does your customer have an inside joke or story that is part of the company culture?
3. Learn their industry
Some ways to learn your customers industries and familiarize yourself with their language:
- Read blogs.
- Check out their competitors websites.
- Attend industry events and networking groups specific to their industry.
- Follow industry experts on Twitter.
- Join LinkedIn groups and other forums used by people in their industry.
4. Listen more than you talk
In the best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen Covey explains that most people aren’t actually listening, but instead are rehearsing in our minds what we're going to say next. What you need to do with your customers is listen more than you talk. * Give the speaker your undivided attention and, as Dr. Covey says "seek first to understand".
- Take notes. Write down the phrases and industry jargon that they use.
- Recap and ask for clarity as needed throughout the conversation.
- Don't be afraid to ask for clarification. "What does that acronym stand for?"
- Repeat back to them what they're telling you so that you can make sure you're interpreting it correctly. "Just so that I can make sure I've got this right, is this what you meant by....?"
5. Keep it simple
Don’t try to dazzle your customers with your brilliance by tossing out acronyms and industry jargon (yours, not theirs). In most cases, you’ll end up leaving them dazed and confused.
Chris Brogan, author and social media guru, puts it very bluntly:
“People don’t need to hear all the blah-di-blah under the hood, at least not right off. They need for you to speak their language first. If they sell burgers, they need to know that you can get more people to buy burgers.”
6. Request an informational interview
Spend a morning with the customer's front-line staff or a member of their middle-management. Ask them what their challenges are. Take good notes. Remember that you’re there to gather information.
7. Listen closely for idioms
I read an article that discussed the writing of British author Nancy Mitford. Mitford grew up as a member of the “minor aristocracy” in Great Britain and wrote satirical essays and novels about the class differences in speech.
In The Pursuit of Love, she tells a story about a young girl who goes to boarding school and struggles with adjusting to the unique phrases and words that are specific to the upper class. She had to learn to say note-paper instead of writing-paper, and mirror instead of looking-glass.
Is your marketing content saying "mirror" when your customer is saying "looking-glass"?
As a marketing agency, you know that learning to speak the language of the customer takes a little effort, but it’s time well spent. Remember that when it comes to marketing content, your client needs to speak to their customers, not themselves.
