We often use the phrase “four-letter word” to refer to cuss words that shouldn’t be said in polite company. Occasionally, we have our own words that we personally consider to be four-letter words. (Such as “BIPA.”)
There are some times when we resign ourselves to the fact that “tech” can be a four-letter word also. But there’s actually a good reason for the problems we have with today’s technology.
Tech can be dim
Just this week I was doing something on my smartphone and my screen got really dim all of a sudden, with no explanation.
So I went to my phone’s settings, and my brightness setting was down at the lowest level.
For no reason.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
– Arthur C. Clarke, quoted here.
So I increased my screen’s brightness, and everything was back to normal. Or so I thought.
A little while later, my screen got dim again, so I went to the brightness setting…and was told that my brightness was very high. (Could have fooled me.)
I can’t remember what I did next (because when you are trying to fix something you can NEVER remember what you did next), but later my screen brightness was fine.
For no reason.
Was Arthur C. Clarke right? And if so, WHY was he right?
Perhaps it’s selective memory, but I don’t recall having this many technology problems when I was younger.
The shift to multi-purpose devices
Part of the reason for the increasing complexity of technology is that we make fewer and fewer single-purpose devices, and are manufacturing more and more multi-purpose devices.
One example of the shift: if I want to write a letter today, I can write it on my smartphone. (Assuming the screen is bright enough.) This same smartphone can perform my banking activities, play games, keep track of Bredemarket’s earnings…oh, and make phone calls.
Smartphones are an example of technologial convergence:
Technological convergence is a term that describes bringing previously unrelated technologies together, often in a single device. Smartphones might be the best possible example of such a convergence. Prior to the widespread adoption of smartphones, consumers generally relied on a collection of single-purpose devices. Some of these devices included telephones, wrist watches, digital cameras and global positioning system (GPS) navigators. Today, even low-end smartphones combine the functionality of all these separate devices, easily replacing them in a single device.
From a consumer perspective, technological convergence is often synonymous with innovation.
From https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/technological-convergence
And the smartphone example certainly demonstrates innovation from the previous-generation single-purpose devices.
When I was a kid, if I wanted to write a letter, I had two choices:
- I could set a piece of paper on the table and write the letter with a writing implement such as a pen or pencil.
- I could roll a piece of paper into a typewriter and type the letter.
These were, for the most part, single purpose devices. Sure I could make a paper airplane out of the piece of paper, but I couldn’t use the typewriter to play a game or make a phone call.
Turning our attention to the typewriter, it certainly was a manufacturing marvel, and intricate precision was required to design the hammers that would hit the typewritter ribbon and leave their impressions on the piece of paper. And typewriters could break, and repairmen (back then they were mostly men) could fix them.
A smartphone is much more innovative than a smartphone. But it’s infinitely harder to figure out what is wrong with a smartphone.
The smartphone hardware alone is incredibly complex, with components from a multitude of manufacturers. Add the complexities of the operating system and all the different types of software that are loaded on a smartphone, and a single problem could result from a myriad of causes.
No wonder it seems like magic, even for the best of us.
Explaining technology
But this complexity has provided a number of jobs:
- The helpful person at your cellular service provider who has acquired just enough information to recognize and fix an errant application.
- The many people in call centers (the legitimate call centers, not the “we found a problem with your Windows computer” call scammers) who perform the same tasks at a distance.
- All the people who write instructions on how to use and fix all of our multi-purpose devices, from smartphones to computers to remote controls.
Oh, and the people that somehow have to succinctly explain to prospects why these multi-purpose devices are so great.
Because no one’s going to run into problems with technology unless they acquire the technology. And your firm has to get them to acquire your technology.
Crafting a technology marketing piece
So your firm’s marketer or writer has to craft some type of content that will make a prospect aware of your technology, and/or induce the prospect to consider purchasing the technology, and/or ideally convert the prospect into a paying customer.
Before your marketer or writer crafts the content, they have to answer some basic questions.
Using a very simple single-purpose example of a hammer, here are the questions with explanations:
- Why does the prospect need this technology? And why do you provide this technology? This rationale for why you are in business, and why your product exists, will help you make the sale. Does your prospect want to buy a hammer from a company that got tired of manufacturing plastic drink stirrers, or do they want to buy a hammer from a forester who wants to empower people to build useful items?
- How does your firm provide this technology? If I want to insert a nail into a piece of wood, do I need to attach your device to an automobile or an aircraft carrier? No, the hammer will fit in your hand. (Assuming you have hands.)
- What is the technology? Notice that the “why” and “how” questions come before the “what” question, because “why” and “how” are more critical. But you still have to explain what the technology is (with the caveat I mention below). Perhaps some of your prospects have no idea what a hammer is. Don’t assume they already know.
- What is the goal of the technology? Does a hammer help you floss your teeth? No, it puts nails into wood.
- What are the benefits of the technology? When I previously said that you should explain what the technology is, most prospects aren’t looking for detailed schematics. They primarily care about what the technology will do for them. For example, that hammer can keep their wooden structure from falling down. They don’t care about the exact composition of the metal in the hammer head.
- Finally, who is the target audience for the technology? I don’t want to read through an entire marketing blurb and order a basic hammer, only to discover later that the product won’t help me keep two diamonds together but is really intended for wood. So don’t send an email to jewelers about your hammer. They have their own tools.
(UPDATE OCTOBER 23, 2023: “SIX QUESTIONS YOUR CONTENT CREATOR SHOULD ASK YOU IS SO 2022. DOWNLOAD THE NEWER “SEVEN QUESTIONS YOUR CONTENT CREATOR SHOULD ASK YOU” HERE.)
Once you answer these questions (more about the six questions in the Bredemarket e-book available here), your marketer or writer can craft your content.
Or, if you need help, Bredemarket (the technology content marketing expert) can craft your content, whether it’s a blog post, case study, white paper, or something else.
I’ve helped other technology firms explain their “hammers” to their target audiences, explaining the benefits, and answering the essential “why” questions about the hammers.
Can I help your technology firm communicate your message? Contact me.
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