“My audience is highly technical, and they expect highly technical information.” Should your sales copy be different for a technical or B2B audience?
Even highly technical seminars entice the audience with easy-to-read sales copy
There is a huge difference between delivering highly technical information — and delivering it in an easy-to-read format. No matter how technical the audience, they still read sales copy the same way you and I do. The eyes and brain prefer short sentences and short paragraphs — they just look easier to read.
When reading, the eye looks for a comma, period, em dash or some type of punctuation to take a “comprehension breath,” a place where the eye and brain can both briefly stop to comprehend the information being read.
So, your audience — no matter how technical — will be more likely to read things that look easier to get through.
Effective sales copy reads the same way you’d say it out loud
Listen to your audience speaking.
When an engineer is speaking, he may be using words and discussing concepts that most of us wouldn’t use in regular conversation. But he is likely speaking in the same STYLE as we would. He is likely speaking in short sentences — because he needs to stop and breathe.
It’s the same when an engineer is reading. His brain needs places to stop and “breathe” (so he can comprehend what was read). So no matter how technical your audience or your information, you should still write in the same easy-to-understand STYLE. Use short sentences — break up ideas with commas, ellipses . . . or em dashes. Give the brain places for a “comprehension breath”.
Easy-to-get-through copy will get higher readership, no matter how technical your audience. If you make it easy to read, your audience will likely read more — and read longer.
EVERY audience appreciates easy-to-read sales copy
Remember the Wall Street Journal, the nation’s business newspaper, writes:
• Front page at a 15-year-old level (and in a larger font size).
• Interior of the paper at a 17-year-old level (and the rest of the paper uses a smaller font size).
That’s because they know the EASIER they can make the front page to read, the more readers they can get into the rest of the paper.
If your website and sales collateral have been developed by technical writers, it’s highly likely they’re not as effective as they could be. When you’re selling (generating a lead or selling your product directly), you need sales copy written by a copywriter who knows how to sell.
Take a look at the copy from a Response Marketing point-of-view — explain concepts simply, use short sentences and short paragraphs, and revise the sales copy so it reads the way you would say it out loud.
Aren’t your B2B targets consumers first?
B2B decisions typically involve multiple decision makers, and although they work for the same organizations, these audiences experience different priorities