Marcia Yudkin’s excellent “Marketing Minute” arrived in my inbox today. It included an important reminder about jargon. Marcia gave me permission to share this guest post with you.
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Over Their Heads and Far From Their Comprehension
Are you overestimating the public’s familiarity with your jargon and underestimating their curiosity to know?
The natural-foods store near me sells unusually yummy, locally baked bread, prominently labeled as “naturally leavened.”
Say what?
“Leavened,” I know, implies dough that rises after the ingredients are mixed. Normally that’s accomplished by yeast, I also know. But does “naturally” mean that the baker adds some fresh-from-nature type of yeast, or a yeast alternative? Or does the dough rise from being left on the counter, affected by leavening agents naturally floating around in the air?
Nothing on the bread wrapper clarified this. I hunted down the baking company’s website, where it said that instead of yeast, they “culture the dough with a bacterial based wild starter and allow it to ferment for 24 hours before baking.”
I was still in the dark. What is a “bacterial based wild starter”? I longed for a link to another page, perhaps in Q&A format, explaining this more fully.
Are you similarly assuming too much knowledge on the part of your customers with your use of specialized terms?
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Do you have an example of jargon getting in the way of your understanding? Please share it.
You can sign up for Marcia’s free weekly Marketing Minute. I recommend it.
Lynn
