Sometimes you get what you need. . . .
This is sort of a behind the music post–a look into the world of a hardworking copywriter and the decisions I have to face most days of the week.
Possibly this is a little more than I should let on in a public forum, but heck, what’s a blog for if not for getting yourself in trouble?
Here we go:
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The customer is always right . . . except when he isn’t.
This morning I got comments back on a project I’m doing for a tech company.
And the comments came back in the form of the big red document of doom.
Now, having worked for tech companies in the past (I’m in Seattle, so the big M is nearby), the big red document of doom is no stranger to me.
What, you may ask, is the big red document of doom?
It’s when a client goes nuts with MS word’s track changes feature and rewrites massive amounts of copy.
Which is fine. I’ve seen it before, and I find the best thing to do when a client feels to need to go all Big red on me is to let them do it, read what they do, and then figure out what they actually mean on my own so I can do my second draft.
But the real issue here is that the client wants to go in a direction that is the fundamental opposite of what they should be doing and that rubs all my copywriting instincts the wrong way.
The client:
-Is uncomfortable using “I” and “you” in the copy or talking directly to the reader.
-Wants to use “Stronger” language like “initiate” and “solutions” (personally, I think 5 dollar words like that are weaker, not stronger.)
-Wants to have “edge” while maintaining “professionalism” and “following industry standards.”
Which, when put up next to what they said they wanted before I got to work on the project, really all comes down to them not really knowing what they want.
Now, it’s a B2B company. I’ve written a fair share of B2B in the past, and in my experience the B2B copy that works is the B2B copy that realizes that even high powered CEOs are just people like you and me. Yes, you respect them, yes you talk about their “business needs” but no, you shouldn’t use the same old meaningless jargon everybody else does just because you want to sound “professional.”
So here’s my big challenge:
How do I give my client good, hard-working copy, when my client thinks that bad copy is good and that good copy is bad? How do I do what I do best–help them make money–when they’re asking me to write like a generic also ran?
Do I give them what they want or do I fight for what they need?
I’d love to hear your comments.
