,

 

While recently critiquing a few marketing pieces for a client, I

was startled by a strange language style.

It wasn't that the words were vulgar. Or even that they were

wrong.

The problem was that I couldn't imagine the client using the

language in a conversation.

Remember, marketing is just an extension of a one-on-one

discussion. The only difference is -- depending on the medium

you use -- you're sharing an identical message with multiple

people.

Look at your last written marketing piece. Would you use the

with a prospect, don't say it in your marketing materials.

Far too many entrepreneurs and executives use marketing to

talk about themselves. So you may see lists of accomplishments ...

heavily branded content ... exaggerated claims ... and language

that needs a permanent home inside a thesaurus.  

Can you imagine a real estate agent greeting you and then

rattling off a series of awards?

Or what if you just met an accountant who explained how she's

"a leading provider of integrated information services and

scalable workflow tools that create value-added alliances, while

leveraging the evolving requirements of today's business

professionals"?

If you're a robot marketing to aliens, these approaches might

work -- but not with real people.

So use your marketing to casually talk to prospects and deliver

value. Your prospects will reward you with their attention.

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