Jargon Kills (your marketing)

The number one cause of terrible marketing is when your outside perception doesn’t match your inside reality. Using jargon to tell your story is why they don’t match and why your marketing fails to convert.

Your inside reality versus outside perception

Your inside reality is what you do today that makes you great. It’s what your best customers would say about your product or service. It’s why they come back time and time again to buy what you sell.

Your outside perception is what your marketing says about your business to people who don’t know you, or at least don’t know you as well as your best customers know you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is jargon?

Jargon is language that is dreary and commonplace. That lacks the power to evoke interest. It is information stated as significant or original yet is said by everyone else.

Here are several often-repeated marketing words or phrases that are nothing more than pure jargon:

·       Largest Selection	·       Most Professional
·       Highest Quality	·       Lowest Prices
·       Best Service	·       Fastest
·       Most Convenient	·       We’re Experts
·       We Specialize	·       Works Harder
·       Gets the Job Done Right	·       Been in Business for 25 Years
·       We accept Visa and Mastercard	·       Licensed and Insured

How many of these are in your current marketing, on your website or promotional materials?

Jargon Tests

Look at a piece of your current marketing. A brochure, promotional email, or your website and test it against these two jargon tests:

Test 1 – Who else can say that?

If you make a statement in your marketing is it unique to you? Does it articulate your market dominating position? Is it something that your competition could also say about their business. Better yet, get a copy of your competition’s advertisement and look. Are you both saying the same thing? If you cross out your name in your advertisement and replace it with your competitor’s name, is the advertisement still accurate? If these things are true, then you’ve failed the “Who Else Can Say That” test.

Test 2 – Well I would hope so.

Are there statements in your marketing that are obvious? When you say things like “we except Visa and MasterCard” those are obvious. Everyone accepts Visa and MasterCard, so saying that in your advertisement does not differentiate you from the competition or express your unique value proposition and business model.

An Example – Dr Smith

The good doctor Smith is a well-respected child psychologist in his hometown. He hired a web design firm to build him a website. He hoped that it would generate leads for his practice. What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s be critical now. Does this express his inside reality? Would you know why his best clients love him and spend $300 per hour with him? Is he telling us anything unique or is it all just jargon?

• His headline “Parenting Advice and Resources from Dr. John Smith” is all jargon. It is not unique and said as if it is significant. You could cross out his name and replace it with any other psychologist and it would be valid.
• He specializes in everything, therefore is not speaking directly to parents that have one of these problems.
• His offer is a free consultation and you need to call him to schedule it. Call me is never a “low risk” offer and a free consultation is generally available to all new patients.

Now let’s take the same information and after removing jargon and fitting it into our conversion equation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s changed?

• He specialized. This landing page is focused on just one issue: Emotionally disturbed children.
• The headline speaks directly to the problem parents of emotionally disturbed children (the clients) suffer from daily. Are You Sick and Tired of The Yelling, Screaming & Belligerent Attitude of Your Child?
• The Sub-headline engages those parents with the promise of a solution. Now you can discover the secrets to controlling your child and instantly restore peace and quiet in your home.
• The offer is a low risk offer. “Learn the secrets to gaining and maintaining control of your child in less than 60 seconds” and all you must do to get this is give him your first name and an email address. That is so much less threatening than “call me”
• Note the picture of our target customer (the mom) in an emotional state. You can feel her pain just from the picture.
• The name is at the bottom of the page (and is a link to the website)

Do you think this landing page will convert more leads than the original, jargon filled, website?

Need help with your marketing strategy? Give me 50 minutes and I’ll show you how to uncover a minimum of $50,000 trapped inside your sales and marketing process without spending another penny on marketing or advertising. Schedule your free consultation here.