Stickyblog

Still sitting on my desk is the show guide from the recent Online Marketing Show 2007. Browsing through the little blurb which each exhibitor gets to introduce themselves, I was struck by the dreadful similarity of the language in each one.

Every other exhibitor referred to themselves as a “search marketing solutions provider”, a “search engine marketing specialist”, a “digital marketing agency”, or an “online marketing agency”. Every other exhibitor also said that they were “leaders” or “leading” in what they do/offer.

This provokes a few obvious thoughts:

• Why are all these descriptions so vague? What does it say about an organisation if it can’t provide a specific and meaningful summary of what it does in a few words?
• Isn’t marketing about standing out from the crowd? Aren’t all these companies marketing specialists of one sort or another? If they can’t distinguish themselves in their market, why would a potential client believe they’d do any better in their market?
• Surely “leader”/”leading” implies being first? Surely these companies can’t all be first? Years of providing copy for financial institutions to put before their Legal & Compliance people have taught us to avoid words like “leading” altogether, because they are almost invariably used by organisations that can’t substantiate them. After all, if I was the leader, why wouldn’t I just say “number one”?

You might argue that these blurbs are not that important, but reading them is still the way many visitors pick their route round a show. Besides, we frequently found similar wording on exhibitors’ stands and websites too.

It’s certainly going to make us look again at our wording. Like just about everyone else, we can do better.

Posted by Dan Fielder to events, Online Marketing Show, Tone of voice