Tweak Your Biz » Marketing » The Importance of Language in Marketing

The Importance of Language in Marketing

by Derbhile Graham on December 22nd, 2009
17 Comments



You’re in a restaurant having lunch. The restaurant has a clever name, funky decor, friendly staff and a menu that gets your digestive juices going. But as you reach the sandwich section, you spot it. Panini’s.

Maybe you haven’t spotted the error, or are inclined to shrug it off. But certainly, when I see a rogue apostrophe on a restaurant menu, I grind my teeth in frustration. And I find myself wondering; if they don’t pay attention to detail in the menu, will they pay attention to detail in the kitchen?

When you’re in business, you go to great trouble to create a killer marketing campaign. You have a shiny logo, an innovative strategy, an exciting product and a beautiful display. Yet the effect of all this careful planning can easily be undermined by clumsy or careless use of language.

As a business person, you are good at spotting needs in the marketplace and coming up with ways to satisfy those needs. You probably have a flair for displaying that product or service in a way that makes people want to buy. But language is an equally important tool in spreading your message and because you have so many balls to juggle, it can be easy to neglect the power of words.

Language helps you to deliver the meat and bones of your message. Used properly, it will help your customers understand how you can be of benefit to them. You can use your words like a painter, describing your products in broad brush strokes. Using strong, positive words like ’sparkle,’ ‘essential,’ or ‘innovative’ will create a powerful image in the minds of your customers.

Above all, using language well builds trust among your customers. If your copy is free of basic errors and avoids over-reliance on crutch words, such as ‘and,’ ‘get’ or ‘have,’ your customers will view you as a professional person who pays attention to detail. So if you own a restaurant, be sure to offer your customers ‘panini.’



Category: Branding, Press release

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The Author:

Every business has a story. Your story helps your business stand out from the crowd. It's your story that customers ultimately buy into. I help businesses tell their story using a three-step process. Define the story: Identify what you do, how you do it and above all, why you do it? Refine the story: Decide who's interested in your story and where to spread the word. Deliver the story: through blogs, newsletters, mailshots, social media posts, press releases and brochures. http://www.writewordseditorial.ie

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  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Miriam, I don’t think we anywhere near grasp what a destructive force the fear of change is on business. Honestly the clients I struggle to deal with the most are also those that fear change the most. This is a great post, very insightful. I am looking forward to part two…..It’s about time we had your wisdom on here :)

  • Jackie Gowran

    My own experience of Change Management, from both sides of the equation (i.e. in my own work life & working with clients) as been reflective of the stages that Miriam has so eloquently explained. Critically my experience has been that “Change” is a part of life & is a personal experience. Experienced differently by everyone involved. It needs acknowledgment and open communication that is not often in keeping with the culture of the organisation experiencing the “Change” and so often there is the steep learning curve of improved communication behaviours also to contend with, which can bring up underlying issues that have been dormant for years.

    Change can be a struggle and have marked steps and stages, the outcome can be rewarding and allow for new growth for everyone involved, it is a process and one that needs to be approached in that way.

  • http://twitter.com/aileen456 aileen456

    I ignored this post and filed it under ‘touchy feely’ as I thrive on change. I don’t know what made me look at it again, but I can see how it is important to pay attention to how it affects others in the business. Thanks for this.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. Will be posting part II soon

  • Anonymous

    I couldn’t agree with you more Niall. And it’s that very fear that cause people to become entrenched and obstinate when it comes to changing work behaviours and practices. It takes very skilled managers to move things forward. They need specialist competencies over and above those normally included in general management development programmes. I will be outlining some of the special skills of the ‘change agent’ in part II.

  • Anonymous

    You make an excellent point Jackie. In my experience most managers get very uncomfortable when the acknowledgement and open communication that you speak of will most probably open up issues of a highly-emotional nature. They tend to be comfortable up to a certain ‘arms length’ when dealing with organisational issues and falsely think that ‘it’s better not to go there’ when opening things up involves dealing with workers’ intense feelings. Heaven forbid – someone might even begin to cry or get angry and what do you do then? It’s a sort of organisational ostrich syndrome. Much better to teach managers how to get out of their comfort zone and deal with people who are in crisis. This could save them spending months if not years struggling with protracted change programmes which are stuck because the real issues have never been dealt with and their people have become entrenched.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you very much, Aileen, for your candid feedback and very valuable insight. If you see my response to Jackie above, the very reason why many change programmes get stuck is that many managers find it easier to skip over what they see as the ‘touchy feely’ stuff. However, in the context of change programmes, the touchy-feely stuff – if not dealt with – can quickly become a deadly silent killer of change implementation. I’m very gratified that you came back for a second look.

  • Jackie Gowran

    I can only agree with Miriam’s sentiments that it can get skipped over by putting it into the “touchy feely’ category. It gets put conveniently into the denial element of our lives or put it in the “emotional box”. Perhaps it is time that “Change Management” was recognised as an emotional, developmental and challenging issue. What is so extraordinary about the ordinary element of change of being emotional?

    We are after all, human and have emotional responses to everything, especially change. It challenges our beliefs, it challenges our goals, it challenges our ethics, I could go on……… The good news is that by facing the challenge with an open mind we can grow and develop our business in ways that we did not consider possible. The added advantage is that our emotional growth benefits our personal as well as business life. Signing off ……….

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Miriam, interestingly, I think there is a certain synergy with this post

    http://tweakyourbiz.com/talkingleadership/2009/11/24/authentic-leadership/

    Pay attention to the comments :)

  • Anonymous

    Very clever article Derbhile. So true about the power of words in Marketing (both written and verbal). Also highlights the importance of getting a second set of eyes.

    By the way I wouldn’t have been munching away on the Panini oblivious to the typo :-)

    Paul
    http://ie.linkedin.com/in/paulmullan

  • http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

    Great article Derbhile. The dreaded apostrophe misplace is one of my pet hate’s :) (intentional slip of course!). The small things can make a huge difference.

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  • Anonymous

    Don’t get me started! Thanks for this Derbhile. I think our standard of English language education is pretty poor. As Barney says, the dreaded apostrophe, particularly using one with its possessive case, is widespread in its incorrect use. The other that guarantees me having a one-way conversation with the radio is the incorrect use of amount instead of number and quantifying with amount when it’s just not needed: “The amount of frustration in the room”, for instance.

    Forget all the books on Social Media this xmas: read Eats Shoots & Leaves…

  • Jill

    …or are inclined o shrug it off?

    …strong, positive words like ’sparkle,’ ‘essential,’ or ‘innovaive’

    And you’re preaching about attention to detail?

    We expect a restaurant to make good food. A typo on the menu certainly doesn’t mean that the food will not be up to par.

    But multiple typos in an article written by a professional copywriter? Even if you didn’t put the article up here on Bloggertone yourself, surely you should have proofread it once it was posted?

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Hi Jill, thanks for the heads up. I will let Derbhile know. Happy Xmas and best wishes for the New Year. Warm Regards, Niall

  • Catherine

    Hi, nice post! I am actually writing a report around this topic at present. I was wondering if you could please pass comment on the below, a passage from my report, so that I can generate a debate within my research.

    Sustainability itself has come to be considered as little more than a marketing ploy. This notion is supported by Fuller’s (1999) belief that negative environmental publicity can have detrimental effects on areas of the promotional mix. It is important to acknowledge that some companies make false claims of environmental responsibility, a strategy known as ‘greenwashing’ (Lincoln and Thomassen, 2008:131). However, in order to be truly resourceful, companies must adopt an authentic ecological stance from ‘cradle-to-grave’ (Baker, 2003:745), not simply in the marketing of a product. Ranchhod and Gurau (2007) support this approach, claiming that initiatives such as using a fraction of the profits for environmental improvement, would assure customers that a business is concerned with green issues. To put this into perspective within the eco-conscious commercial world, a sales advisor will likely offer a carrier bag during the transaction process, of which the customer can decline, instead using the ecologically friendly alternative of a ‘bag for life’. Contrastingly, when a product is purchased online, it arrives in – at minimum – primary and secondary packaging (Aquino, 1995). Although the majority of the packaging is appreciated by the customer, providing a positive first impression of the product, this will likely end up being disposed of (Porter, 2002), contributing to the issue of waste.

    Furthermore, Ranchhod and Gurau (2007) argue that transportation systems must mirror a company’s ecological aims. Transportation by road is one of the major causes of environmental pollution, putting immense pressure on the environment through congestion, emissions and noise pollution. However, many variables come into play within this discussion. Thus it is beyond the scope of this paper to determine whether online shopping is more / less ‘green’ than conventional shopping. Yet, what is clear is that if a company were to adopt an online focus from cradle-to-grave, this is a double-edged sword. In sum, although online marketing strategies such as SMM have their sustainable merits, discussion thus far has also revealed a strong negative hue – impacting on consumerism. It has been argued that SMM does not build loyalty and engage audiences as effectively as traditional marketing strategies. Consequently a compromise is required, and it is necessary to seek out alternative sustainable forms of marketing.

    Please discuss….

  • Anonymous

    For people working 9 to 5 , time is important. They have fixed mind set . But those who do not follow 9 to 5 and work till the job is complete , work and results are important.The salaried people mostly have 9 to 5 attitude . May because they are working for some body else’s business . They are not directly benefitted by the results. But the self employed work for themselves and hence extra hours put in benefit themselves. But in todays cometitive atmosphere it is seen at many places an employed person is given a target which has to be completed . In such cases people do work extra time.In a family wife would always want the husband to work 9 to 5 , so that he can be with family and spend time with them. But a businessman / self employed person mostly has to work extra so as to acheive the goal set,which in turn does not allow him to give quantitative time to his family.

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