Technical Copywriting Helps Readers Understand Difficult, Specialist, and Procedural Content.
Their eyes glaze over. Their stare becomes vacant. Yep, you’ve lost them.
Sometimes it’s hard to express our passion and products, especially when we feel like we have to use technical words and industry language.
But, if people can’t grasp our concepts, they lose interest.
It’s like the first time your pre-internet relative got themselves a smartphone. Concepts that are second nature to you mean nothing to them. They blindly stab their finger at the screen while both of your become more and more frustrated.
So, what’s the best thing you can do?
Simple. Change the way you explain the concepts.
Why Technical Copywriting Matters
To make a brilliant product, you need to know everything about it. To make things easier internally, many organisations use their own language to talk about their services.
Three-letter acronyms make their way into client facing communications and technical terms that take new employees months to learn are shared as if they’re common knowledge. The problem is that these often mean nothing to potential customers.
Customers need to understand and connect with your product before they invest.
That’s where technical copywriting comes in.
Good technical copywriting services:
- Distil Complex Concepts Into Simple Content
- Unearth Strategic Messages That Resonate With Readers (because they can be understood)
- Create Trust Through Clarity
How Technical Copywriting Works
A top notch technical copywriting service provides clear, precise technical copy that people enjoy understanding. It can include any of the following:
- Product Descriptions and Datasheets
- User Manuals and Documentation
- White Papers and Case Studies
- Technical Sales Copy
- B2B Proposals and Tenders
What Makes Technical Copywriting Effective?
The idea is to combine your years of experience with highly technical, specialist concepts and key copywriting ideas to create clear, persuasive, and customised documentation.
Whether you are presenting proposals to potential buyers or helping customers with how-to documents, your copy needs to simplify communication. Doing this will:
- Improve sales and conversions
- Enhance understanding to reduce support costs
- Introduce efficiency into your post-sale process
- Increase trust and lifetime value
Technical Copywriting Example #1
Here is an example of challenging technical copywriting:
It’s like a cryptic crossword clue. There is a lot of technical jargon and words that are difficult to understand. This is written to College Graduate level, defined as “Very Difficult to Read”.
The impact on the majority of readers would be at best, to frustrate them, and at worst, render the advice in the guide completely useless because they don’t bother reading past the title.
A Better Version:
“A Step-by-Step Guide to Using the New XY-Force 5G module.”
This brings the reading level down to “Plain English”. It is clear what the article is for and what it will deliver. It removes technical jargon and makes it easier to read.
Sometimes it’s impossible to explain something without technical definitions. By ensuring these are used sparingly and fully explained when they are used, a technical copywriter can ensure that your technical content is accessible and useful.
Technical Copywriting Example #2
We all know how to make toast. Imagine if this was how it was explained to you:
“Step 1:
Initiate the operational deployment of the bread-heating apparatus by inserting edible grain-based substrates (commonly referred to as “slices of bread”) into the vertically aligned, dual-compartment slots engineered for optimal toasting functionality. Ensure full alignment of the substrates within the structural confines to guarantee uniform exposure to the heating elements.“
This is overkill. But you understand the point. With instructions, it’s important to include simple, valuable information. For example:
“Take two slices of bread and slot them into each side of the toaster.
Then, turn on your toaster by pushing down the lever to the right. Use the knob on the side to change the timer. The timer goes from 1 minute (Low) to 6 Minutes (Very High). Level 3 gives white bread a golden toasting.“
By ensuring that your instructions have the right amount of relevant detail, you will ensure that readers will pay attention. This reduces frustration and the likelihood they will encounter problems.
Want People To Actually Read Your Documentation?
Hiring a professional copywriter can help you turn dense documents into useful content, without sacrificing precision and knowledge.
Why not take a look at one of our case studies?
