 Are you letting old-tech errors mar your high-tech messaging?
Ah, technology. It’s never been easier to get your message out to the world. If Gutenberg were alive today, he’d be blogging. But would he be making typos? In a word, d’oh! For all the high-tech platforms available for building your brand, there are at least as many low-tech ways to, well, screw up. But you’ve always got a chance to make things better, so let’s dive into some of the most common (and avoidable) marcom muffs, along with ways to avoid them. #$%&*!! typos. Few things can take the sheen off your image like a spelling error. We can’t count the number of website pages that have errors on them. How many times has this happened to you: You’re checking out a new-to-you company by looking at their website. They seem pretty impressive. And then bang. You trip across a typo, and find yourself saying, “Oh. They’re just a one-person shop.” We’ll keep this section short, because you already know the word “spellchecker.” But it’s no good if you don’t use it! And use it a lot, even on the same document. How many times have you added just a few words of polish to that essentially “complete” document—only to discover, way too late, that you’d made a typo in those few words of polish? A last-second spellcheck would’ve saved your butt. Grammar goofs and gremlins. Let’s drive this one home: “It’s” means “it is”! Holy Hypercorrection, Batman! Tossing in that apostrophe when it’s not needed (such as in the possessive usage, like “everything in its place”) just leaps out at anyone who knows better. And assume that your reader knows better. There are tons in this category. Want to stop worrying about “who vs. whom” forever? Think of it this way: Just try replacing “he” for “who” and “him” for “whom.” If it sounds right, it’s right. How do you circumvent this problem? Word has a grammar checker, but we never liked it or trusted it. The simplest way is to lean on someone you know who’s good (read: “anal”) at this stuff, and let them have at it before it goes live. The sputter effect. This one is so simple to avoid, yet it’s so devastating when it’s committed. And that’s the company that goes nuts on blog posts and social media… and then… eventually… runs out… *cough, cough*... of steam. Blog posts are date-stamped by the hosting engine. Even if a visitor doesn’t read a single update of yours, they can still see if you didn’t stick to your commitment. And that looks bad for your brand. As we said, this one’s easy to avoid. Draw up an editorial calendar and stick to it. (See our related article devoted wholly to that topic.) Speaking in the wrong voice. This one is subtle, but we’re sure you’ve come across it. It’s the messaging that SHOUTS when it should whisper; it’s the “customers need this service” when it should be “you need this service.” It’s the right message, spoken wrong. A subtle problem calls for a subtle solution. The easiest way to work around this one is to read your messaging aloud. If it sounds conversational when it should be formal, or vice versa, it will be more obvious when you hear it vs. see it. In that regard, it’s similar to that old trick of changing the font of what you’ve written to help you proofread it with fresh eyes. Working in the wrong medium. This one is related, somewhat, to the one above. We can’t count the number of “newsletters” that were anything but. Or the “eblasts” that read like catalogs. Sure, we’re all for re-purposing information, but don’t commit egregious errors of platform placement. Just as Twitter forces you to keep within a given character count (which seems to be in violent flux lately), don’t push out a podcast that would be better as a brochure. Unfriendly navigation. The tools are abundant these days: WordPress templates, Weebly, Squarespace, etc. But a tool is only as good as the person using it; that is, having a paintbrush doesn’t make you N.C Wyeth. Not that you need such world-class skills to make a website navigable. Given the ubiquity of mobile usage--you visit tons of sites from that phone or tablet, don’t you?—it’s unpleasantly surprising how many sites force you to scroll too deep, or click through too many links to get where you’re going. The solution? Plan in advance. A simple outline in Word can suffice as a sitemap. Consider getting help. Why hazard all these pitfalls alone? The easiest way to avoid them—and get better results than you could on your own—is to tap the expertise of a pro. Contact us. We’d love to help. And we’re more affordable than you might think.
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