MarCom and the technical writer or why do people keep calling me a liar?

By Maryse de la Giroday

It happens all the time. I mention that I write marketing collateral and the technical writer I'm talking to backs away. He or she then confesses that they can't write that kind of thing because accuracy and honesty are important to them. You can imagine my delight at having someone imply, yet one more time, that I'm a liar.

The belief that marketing communications means writing something that is untruthful and inaccurate is one of the great stumbling blocks for technical writers who are asked to write collateral. I know because I started out as a technical writer.

Before I start talking about the whys and wherefores of marketing communications, I should define the term. Basically, marketing communications is any communication that supports sales and marketing efforts.

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You can fit a lot into that description. Everything from preparing a tradeshow booth to designing a website to developing an ad to writing a brochure and more can be called marketing communications. (In fact, I was surprised to learn, after *Judith Ramey's talk, that usability can be used as a tool in the practice of marketing communication.)

In its very simplest form, you're trying to get your product noticed because you want people to buy it. The word buy is an absolute key to marketing communications. I mention it because it can be surprisingly easy to forget the main purpose for the collateral.

There's a famous example (for those old enough to remember the ads) of forgetting your purpose. A coffee company produced an ad that featured a couple that have a romantic meeting when the woman knocks on her neighbor’s door to borrow coffee. The story and the actors were so engaging that the company developed their romance over a series of ads.

On one level, it was a success, but the campaign is cited as a failure in marketing texts because while people remembered the ads hardly anyone remembered the brand of coffee being advertised.

There's another aspect to the coffee story. It's about marketing to consumers while I want to focus on business-to-business marketing. Assuming that most of you are working for advanced technology companies, it follows that you will be directing your marketing efforts to other businesses. While I will draw from material on consumer marketing, there are substantial differences between marketing to consumers and marketing to businesses.

Contrast this process with purchasing a toaster or a car. Costs are generally a lot less; fewer people are involved in the decision-making process; the purchase cycle is much shorter; and installation and training (if either is necessary) are your concern. If you make a mistake, you can usually return or resell the purchase easily.

Now, consider two notions. First, even as a technical writer most of the marketing collateral you've been exposed to has been aimed at the individual consumer. Second, realize that most marketing teams have been trained to sell consumer products and that the majority of marketing texts and industry journals are focused on the individual consumer rather than the business-to-business market.

Think about the implications and, in the meantime, I'll be writing up the next article, which will delve further into the mystique of marketing communications for advanced technology.

(Maryse de la Giroday is Principal of FrogHeart Communications and a senior member of the Canada West Coast Chapter. Reprinted with permission from the August issue of Coastlines, the newsletter of Canada West Coast chapter of STC. This article may have gone through minor editorial changes in compliance to Indus editorial standards.)

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