Marketing and the Challenge of Insider Language
Insider Language
I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a friend whose organization has spent a lot of money on a fancy interactive website & an outreach marketing campaign. I had a quick look at the homepage of the website from the point of view of someone who is coming to it fresh. The language on the homepage made sense to me because I know the organization, but if I didn’t, it wouldn’t have grabbed me – or maybe even made sense.
This is a challenge that I have frequently seen working with clients, and even in marketing Open Box’s services. When we spend time with a group of people who share our purpose & language, we very quickly develop our own jargon or ‘insider language’. In our company, we tend to talk internally in technical terms because we know what they mean & they are precise and clear to us. But when I talk to people outside our company, I have to adapt my language for people who may not know or care about the technical details.
Insider Language Excludes Those We Want to Reach
For many of our clients, this is a real challenge. When we spend time with people who share our terminology and our understanding of it, we can lose the sense of how exclusive that language can be. If marketing copy is developed using that internal language, it may be as clear as day to those in the know, but very murky to people outside. In which case, it won’t do its job.
If I come to you and say that I can help you develop your systems, does that appeal to you? Or if I ask what database you’re using to record your sales, do you care? Or does it make you feel maybe a little overwhelmed or ignorant if you don’t know what the database is? If that’s the case, then I have closed down the communication. Whereas if I ask if you’re getting the information you need to make informed business decisions, then we can start to talk in a way that matters.
Marketing in Words that Communicate
When developing a website or marketing materials, it’s very important to do four things:
- If you work with a professional company, make sure the people you are working with are ready and able to challenge you on the use of insider language
- Always have the copy reviewed by someone who knows nothing about your industry and is not part of your organization, then find out if any of your words confused them or shut down the communication
- Learn what resonates with your target market – don’t assume that what gets you excited will also excite them – ask, test and try different phrases and look for the resonance that opens up the communication vs what shuts them out.
- Always remember that your audience is reading your material with the key question “Why Should I Care?” – make it easy for them to immediately find the answer to this question, and you will have bought the right to invite them into a relationship.
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