Re: Great piece on marketing collateral

[kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]

Mike O wrote: > kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com wrote:

> That's because tech writers are trained to back up everything they say 
> with real technical facts. Marcomm (and Sales) is not held to that same
> standard, so of course writing about a product's "benefits" is easier 
> for them.

Why should technical writers, who presumably have an even BETTER grasp of
a product's functionality, have a HARDER time identifying the benefit of
the product? That makes zero sense to me.

 

> I am allergic to writing stuff like "increases your sales" ... "saves 
> you money" ... "a powerful, easy-to-use, best-of-breed product" when I 
> haven't tested it to be true. And especially when I KNOW it isn't true.
> (OK, those are simplistic examples, but the point remains...) When you 
> are a tech writer, every claim you write needs to be backed up with an 
> actual fact, right in the document.

And what did I write that suggested we weren't doing just that?
Identifying a product's benefit does not mean you just make something up.
At least, not on a team *I'm* leading. And in my current gig, I publish
documents with my name on them; I am not an anonymous writer. Often the
proposals I issue have prices in the millions. And like I said, my name is
on them. You think I don't check my facts?



> Also, just wondering about the composition of the tech writing team... 
> (generalizing now Keith, not picking on your team):  Was it a team of 
> top-level tech writers hired for their varied product experience in many
> different markets? Or was it a team of mid-level/jr tech writers hired 
> because their salary demands weren't high and they had a little RoboHELP
> experience? I think the former would have no problem switching to 
> marcomm mode.

Then your experience differs from mine. I joined the team as a rookie
writer, and became its lead in a year and a half. Maybe that happened
because I could grasp concepts that some of my "superiors" could not.
Like, if prospective customers understand WHY our products are good, maybe
they'll buy them. That's crazy talk, I know.


> I wonder if tech writers have trouble emphasizing the "benefit" when the
> benefit of the particular product is perhaps a little fuzzy. Tech 
> writers don't do well with "fuzzy." How do tech writers discover what 
> the benefits of the product are? Are the benefits plainly evident in the
> product and can be discovered, documented, and explained? 

If they're not, then I guess either the tech writers are clueless, or the
product stinks. Sounds like I've been lucky in terms of whom I've worked
for.


Keith Cronin
The Whoopee Cushion of tech writing.

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