Consumers Baffled by Techno-Speak

Striking another blow for plain speech, a recent study articulated what savvy copywriters have been preaching for years: use language appropriate to your market. Using highly technical terms is appropriate when reaching out to a tech-savvy B-2-B audience. But a survey designed to assess the digital smarts of 2,000 consumers, conducted by the Yankee Group for Advance Publications' Parade, found that consumers remain unsure about what technology products actually do. They're even confused about which products they own -- or at least think they own. What this means: Too often, tech manufacturers or retailers use the same language for their B-2-B and their mass retail audience. There's no point in talking about megapixels, if your audience doesn't know what that means. When writing your copy, begin with the basic question: Who am I talking to here? And build your sales language around the answer.