Savvy B2B Marketing

Wendy

Mixing up the message - 

When I first starting teaching tech writing people thought that because there were so many font choices available you should use them. What you ended up getting was information that was distracting and amatuerish. 

Same school of thought now goes for online material, just because you *can* use animation or music or polls or any of a hundred other "attention grabbing" gadgets doesn't mean that you should. 

Less is more and clean lines are always considered classic. 

Kate

What is it you do again?

I get very frustrated when I visit a website and I have to really dig to find out what a company even does. The FIRST thing a customer should see on your website is a statement of what you do and why you do it better than anybody else. "Providing elegant solutions that solve real-world business challenges and drive measurable ROI." Is not a sentence that belongs anywhere on your home page.

Stephanie

Tripping over jargon

As we've talked about before on the Savvy blog, it's a huge mistake to get wrapped up in your industry and product jargon. The problem with this approach is that:

1) Many of the terms are meaningless on their own

2) You end up sounding like every other solution provider out there using the same terms

3) Few people can understand what you do/offer.

To Kate's point, you should be able to describe what you do in simple language that anyone outside of your industry can understand.

Michele

Thinking you are talking to a business instead of a person

Similar to what my other Savvy sisters have said, one of my biggest pet peeves is when a website or other content is written for a company, not for the actual people who can benefit from your product or solution.

One way I often think about this: would you want be bored reading what you write? If so, it's definietly time to make your writing more conversational. Keep thinigs simple, and avoid jargon at all costs!

Jamie

Details, people, details.

I heartily agree with my Savvy Sisters on all points raised. My contribution to the cranky critics conversation is the importance of paying attention to the details. Whether it's making sure all your copy is properly proofread (please, we beg you), or putting a spit and polish on even lowly pages like error messages, these details matter. The best impression can be marred by the smallest thing - don't let the little things trip you up.