When marketing was a soapbox and companies held the bull horn, that statement made sense. To get noticed, you had to yell the loudest, to create a most eye-catching graphics, to have the best deal (Del Taco anyone?). You had to wow the buyer with the most eye-catching, earth-shattering marketing campaign ever.

How true is that statement now?

In the age of the Internet and social media, where information is prevalent and there is no lack of naysayers, does this still hold true? I ask the question because I am constantly reminded in my industry (where most the buyers know their tech inside and out) that savvy buyers see through the bold, and focus on the details.

Sure, the bold might grab their attention, but if there is no substance behind it – no substance to satisfy their need – then the buyer will walk away. Unless the product or service is truly earth-shattering, there are simply too many options (including those they’ll develop by themselves) to keep the buyer focused on you.

In the world of entertainment technology, I propose a qualification to “Go Bold or Go Home”. Go Bold if you can back it up. Go Home if you can’t. Differentiate yourself and your product in real terms (real features, real benefits). The buyer may not be wowed all the time, but they will certainly see how it applies to them, and that connection will get them thinking…and talking.

I agree that with so many more people in an organization now communicating to potential customers via social networks, it is more difficult to control the message. I also agree that one-way preaching of rigid marketing messages makes for pretty boring social media conversations (and marketing, for that matter). But that doesn’t mean the marketing message is irrelevant.

In fact, the message is more relevant than ever. Here’s why:

With so many touch points for your message, it’s now easier for customers to get confused about your offerings and why those offerings are different than the next company’s. If your message doesn’t flow from a  set of values, how can you expect the customer to understand what your product is and how it can help make their life easier (better, cheaper, etc).

This does not mean that companies must try to control the conversation. But it does mean that companies should develop messages that communicate purposefully, and that are broad enough to allow conversations to happen.

Not exactly.

Just because you can write does not mean you know how to write for marketing purposes, how to define corporate messaging, or how to pen copy that calls customers to action. Just because you can write does not mean you can advise companies on what to say to help them jump to the next step in their growth.

Messaging (for a client or for your own organization) is a learned skill and it requires in-depth knowledge of some very broad topics, including:

1) Branding – What are your company’s mission and vision? How are those defined in its culture, its structure, its products, its messaging, its design?

2) Positioning – How does your company position itself? Has it ever really defined its position? What are its objectives? What are its products’/services’ unique selling propositions and benefits?

3) Competitive Landscape – Who is the company up against? What are those competitors saying about themselves and their products/services? How does that differ from what you are saying?

4) Knowledge of the Customer – Which messages work in the market and which mediums do customers use to pick up on those messages? Which tone works best?

5) Marketing Communications – What are the specific rules of certain marketing communication mediums? How can you combine those mediums into an integrated messaging strategy? How do you write for specific mediums so that your words have more impact?

Hundreds of great books have been written about each one of these areas. Some of my favorites are: Crossing the Chasm, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, The New Rules of Marketing and PR, and The Copywriter’s Handbook. Just take a quick look at Amazon, and you quickly begin to understand how much there is to know.

So sure, everyone can write. But not everyone can effectively take corporate concepts and mold them into marketing messaging and messaging strategies that drive sales.

Here’s an example of what I mean: Executives at an early stage company want the company to have more visibility in the market. Their idea is to run ads, reach out to editors, do direct mail, re-design the web site, and other tactics – all of which can be effective tools for raising awareness and driving leads.

Problem is, the company has never really spent time defining its brand. It has no unique or compelling brand message that sets it apart from the competition, that captures a share of its customers’ minds, or that motivates the employees to do and the customers to act.

Strangely enough, this is a relatively common problem, especially among early stage companies. That is not to say that these companies are naïve or inexperienced. On the contrary, most of these companies have great products and intelligent executives; they’ve just been focused on a number of very pressing issues (like developing the product and securing revenue) and marketing has fallen on the priority list.

But there comes a point in a company’s evolution when it must start thinking strategically about how it wants to define itself. And it is then that the needs for copywriting and marketing intersect. Marketers can help companies define their position in the market, and strategize about how to reach those customers. Copywriters can help a company craft a truly differentiated message that complements the marketers strategy and that flows through all the tactics a marketer plans and implements, from ads, to PR, to web sites and beyond.

1. Know your Audience. Before one word is put on a site, it is critical to understand your audience and what motivates them to act. Without that key information, you run the risk of producing rambling, ineffectual copy and organizing it in such a way that does not motivate your customers to contact you.

2. Get to the Point Quickly. Consider this – the average time a browser spends on a web page is three seconds. That’s all the time you have to deliver your key messages. Your page headers and first paragraph should answer all the main questions one would expect to have answered on that page; and those answers need to be clear as soon as the page opens.

3. Keep It Concise. Given the attention span of browsers, drop the long, complex sentences and keep your paragraphs short. This is not always easy to do, especially when the product or service is complex. But if you don’t at least try, you run the risk of losing the browser in a forest of intelligent, but ineffectual words.

4. Layout Counts. To make your copy easy to read, try using bulleted text, headers and shorter paragraphs to break up the copy. This will help browsers scan pages faster and get your point quicker.

5. Use Accessible Words. Web users want and expect things to move quickly. Straightforward, user-friendly language is far more effective than long, drawn out prose. When faced with a choice, avoid large, “intelligent-sounding” words and opt for sharper content.

6. Edit and Re-edit. When it comes to grammar and spelling, web content is like any other copy. Nothing says “amateur” like obvious misspellings and grammatical errors. Before taking a page live, proofread everything, and then have others proofread it too. The more eyes the better.

7. Drive Browsers to Do Something. B2B web content almost always has a goal. Whether that goal is to drive browsers to a contact form, a video, or a webinar, each page should contain a call to action that drives them closer to sales. That call to action could be a button on the sidebar, or a link within the content. Whatever you choose, make sure you are always thinking about the end goal.

Remember, your web site is not only your calling card; it is often the first experience potential customers have with your company, and it is becoming more and more the place where transactions are instigated. Make sure that the words convey your message quickly, concisely and uniquely, while never losing sight of the action(s) you want your customers to take.

This particular quote grabbed me: “…cast aside all the usual descriptors that employees and workers depend on to locate themselves in the company structure. Forget your job title. Ask yourself: What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, distinctive value?”

What Tom Peters does not really touch on is the difficulty of defining and communicating that value. Like any brand, understanding what differentiates us from everyone else takes a lot of thought. And figuring out how to reach our customer is no small feat. Fortunately, there are now many articles on how to identify your unique offerings that did not exist two years ago (”Personal Mission Statement“), and just as many mediums you can use to pitch yourself once you define those offerings (from LinkedIn to Plaxo, FaceBook to personal web sites and blogs).

Competition is stiff, especially now. You’ll need to use every tool you can. Taking the time to define the brand called YOU can help set you apart.