Digital Content - The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly.
So many websites are full of weak content, with shockingly bad prose ranging from the hilarious to the downright embarrassing.
Home pages, blog articles, and 'about us' descriptions make you wonder just who wrote that stuff! And the likelihood that you'll delver deeper into the detail is remote indeed.
Such copy tends to fall into two main categories:
The ... It’s All About Us ...type
Dreary and self-absorbed - the organisation assumes that by telling potential customers everything about the business and its history, it will somehow convince them to buy. That might be the case if you’re looking for someone to build a straight and substantial wall, but it doesn’t cut it in the business services sector.
Typical content goes like this:
We’ve been in the widget business for over 25 years, and our work is of the highest quality. We pride ourselves on our customer service. Our extensive range of services have been formally recognised by the widget board of excellence. We’ve been awarded the best widget manufacturer for the past 11 years, and we’re delighted to announce that we’ve won it again this year. Usually accompanied by an image of cheesy CEO Dick Weiner picking up the award.
Customer reaction ... "Boring as hell, not going to read it."
Or the ... Unfathomable Waffle ... type
Full of buss words and cliched phrases that are designed to focus on business needs, but they so often miss the point. To give them a little credit, these organisations are at least trying to focus on the customer perspective. But someone needs to tell them that it helps if we can glean a vague idea of the products and services being offered.
It goes like this:
We help customers achieve greater productivity and efficiency through a portfolio of leading services and partnerships - all with organisations from Gartner’s magic quadrant. Such advanced services help make you more agile and competitive. In-built automation and dynamic service elements provide a range of benefits that will make you more agile and competitive. Our business outcome led approach ensures we fully understand your business needs, and we provide best of breed business solutions tailored to your specific requirements.
Customer reaction ………… “Yeah, but what the fek is it you actually do?”
I might be guilty of a little over-exaggeration, and we all know that the answer is to focus on solving customer problems, whilst explaining the business propositions that you offer - all in a way that engages customers, and makes them think:
“Hurrah, this is what I’m looking for, a business that finally understands what I want and describes it in a clear and easy way.”
So if you’re web copy and business content isn't cutting the mustard, and you can’t fix it yourself -then hire a business copywriter, it’ll pay dividends in the long run!
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