7 Ways Software Companies Can Teach Difficult Concepts to Their Target Audiences

One of the biggest issues that many software companies have with their marketing collateral and overall content marketing efforts is technobabble. They have no idea how to teach difficult concepts to their target audience. Instead of speaking in terms that regular, everyday people can understand, they use industry-specific, technical jargon. 

It can be a total turnoff for people who aren’t steeped in the voodoo of coding and tech.

Read. Skim. 

“OH MY GAWD!” 

 >>> Jargon Term!<<< 

 Bounce.

That’s bad news for the software company. Think about it. People who might one day become customers see something that interests them. Then, they click to read a blog post, white paper, case study, product description, etc. 

Then they hit a wall of terms that mean absolutely nothing to them. 

They get frustrated and then navigate away from the content the company desperately wants them to read.

If you’re a software company owner, CEO, or you’re on the marketing team, that should concern you because it means you may never get that potential customer back. 

Of course, it’s understandable. 

In many cases, those who are putting out content for software and SaaS companies aren’t content marketing writers. They don’t understand precisely how to communicate complex concepts that are specific to their product or service in a way that everyone understands.

Often, the person doing the writing is someone on the executive team who knows the ins and outs of the product or service in question, and they’re writing as if to a peer … someone who is also fluent in “Techese.” 

However, it’s essential for software company owners and those on their marketing teams to grasp that being able to communicate clearly and effectively directly affects their business’s bank account.

With that in mind, we put together seven tips on how software and SaaS companies can learn how to teach difficult concepts to their target audiences by changing how they write. Keep reading to learn how to explain even the most complicated technical issues in a simple, straightforward, and easy to understand manner. 

Understand Who You’re Talking To

Just about everything goes back to understanding your customers. Do you know whom you’re selling to? Have you done the necessary market research? Remember that if you don’t know where their heads are at, you won’t know how to teach difficult concepts to them.

And, ultimately that means you won’t help them understand your product or service.

Without a correct understanding, your content marketing could be far too technical, which might leave your customers dazed and confused. On the flip side, while you do want customers to easily understand your content, you run the risk of writing in a manner that insults your customer’s intelligence.

Don’t take the chance of confusing or talking down to your audience. Get a handle on who is most likely to buy from you and structure the messages in your content accordingly.

Write In Simple Language

You want the blog on your software company’s website, the content of your company web pages, and all other content marketing messages you put out to explain difficult concepts in a simple way. Everything should be as easy and clear to understand as possible.

Focusing on readability increases the likelihood that potential customers will read the entirety of what you’ve written. It also increases the likelihood that they’ll interact with it and that your conversion rates for it will go up.

If there are technical terms you absolutely must include in your text, do so, but don’t assume that everyone understands what they mean. Provide easy-to-understand definitions and context. 

There’s a great story that Jim Harvey relates on his site about how Einstein was asked to explain his theory of relativity at a dinner. 

Without hesitating, Einstein got to his feet and began his story. 

He related how he was walking one day with an old, blind friend. Because the day was hot, Einstein remarked to his friend that:

“I wish I had a glass of milk.”

“A glass,” replied the blind friend, “I know what that is. But what do you mean by milk?”

“Why, milk is a white fluid,” explained Einstein.

“Now fluid, I know what that is,” said the blind man, “but what is white?”

“Oh, white is the colour of a swan’s feathers.”

“Feathers, now I know what they are, but what exactly is a swan?”

“A swan is a bird with a crooked neck.”

“Neck, I know what that is, but what do you mean by crooked?”

At this point Einstein lost his patience. He grabbed his blind friend’s arm and pulled it straight. “There, now your arm is straight,” he said. Then he bent the blind friend’s arm at the elbow. “Now it is crooked.”

“Ah,” said the blind friend. “Now I know what milk is.”

And Einstein, sat down.

In this example, Einstein didn’t explain how relativity works. Instead, he presented an illustration of how to teach difficult concepts by explaining the difficulty of reduction. In the same manner, you don’t have to explain how your software works. You can focus on explaining the difficulties that your software helps customers overcome.

With that said, as much as possible, leave the technical aspects out. You can learn how to teach difficult concepts by focusing on the “what” and “why.” Remember that your expertise is only valuable if you can help your customers to understand it without the benefit of your in-depth knowledge and training.

If you need help explaining difficult concepts to your target audience, talk to us about hiring one of our professional writers who specializes in the software industry.

Contact Us Here. 

Cut Out “How It Works”

Removing a lot of content about “how it works” will cut down on your need to explain the difficult concepts and technical intricacies of your software. That’s not to say you should never explain how it works. If understanding the “how” is necessary for someone to make a purchase, then by all means.

But, remember that customers want to know what your software or service can do for them. You might think it’s super cool how your software accomplishes its purpose, but the truth is that most people don’t care. 

They just want a tool to get a job done. 

So, focus on the benefits and results that your product or service provide. Concentrate on showing how much better your customers’ lives will be once they’ve purchased your software.

Leave the “how” as much as possible to in-company discussions or internal documents.

Try to tie complex concepts to tangible goals. Explain how your product or service helps the customer to reach their business goals. 

A great example is the Brave browser. Right there on the company’s homepage, they shout out the what and the why.

“Three times faster than Chrome. Better privacy by default than Firefox. Uses 35% less battery on mobile.”

Do you see any technical terms there? No.

Do you see any attempts to explain how Brave makes itself faster than Chrome? No.

How about how its privacy features are better than Firefox’s? Again, nope.

Now, Brave explains the “how” in some of its blog content, but in every single case, they do a great job of defining technical terms in clear and easy-to-understand language, and then they explain why it’s relevant to the topic at hand. They assume nothing.

For instance, this is how they explain their integration of IPFS.

Notice how they define and put the terms in context:

IPFS, the peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the Web faster, safer, and more open, has been integrated into Brave, the fast, privacy-oriented browser, reinventing the Web for users, publishers and advertisers.

Break Concepts Into Chunks

In many instances, your content needs to focus on educating your potential buyers. One way to do that when it comes to people who aren’t software geeks is to break complex ideas down into smaller concepts that are more easily explained. You can also try to show how those difficult concepts fit into specific categories or how everything is connected to the bigger picture.

Provide Plenty Of Examples

In addition to writing in easy-to-understand language and providing definitions and context to technical terms and concepts, software and SaaS companies should also try to give examples of whatever it is they’re discussing.

Find data to back your claims, show statistics, quote surveys and studies, provide case studies, find news clippings of how a business used whatever type of software to accomplish whatever end result.

Also, when it comes to examples, demonstrations are amazingly effective.

Say you’re trying to show how your product can help a company achieve a specific outcome. Well, a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, so what could be better than a video that shows off your software in action?

To illustrate this, take a look at how RXNT Software gives potential customers an idea of how their integrated suite of EHR, Practice Management, and Medical Billing software optimizes clinical outcomes and revenue management through video content.

Pay attention to the fact that the video never goes into “how” RXNT’s software does what it does. Instead, it focuses on the wants and needs of the potential customer. It provides examples of situations where RXNT’s software is an excellent solution to specific problems.

By seeing an example of the software in action, potential clients can get a sense of whether your service or product is a solution that’s right for them.

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Be Interesting. Tell Stories.

There is no consensus on what “interesting” is. Whether the content in your marketing efforts is interesting or not is highly dependent on the perception of the person consuming it. However, if you want to know how to teach difficult concepts to your audience, then you have to have done your research.

Again, you’ve done market research, haven’t you? If you have, then you should have a level of understanding when it comes to your target audience.

Pique their interest with topics that answer the biggest questions they may have about your product or service. State relevant facts and then build from there. Better yet, tell real-life stories that provide examples of how other clients or competitors or whoever used a similar software to achieve some outstanding result.

Imagine yourself sitting around the campfire with your customers. Imagine they’re your friends. Now tell them the story of how your company came to be. Regale them with your struggles, your vulnerabilities, and how you overcame them all. 

Talk about how your ideas came about and why you wanted to bring your products or services to the marketplace. Relate everything back to your core beliefs and values.

Then tell more stories about the software itself, especially if you don’t have videos that can show it off. Tell stories about how it helped so and so’s business. 

Talk about that company’s struggles and how crappy their situation was before your software came along. Then talk about what happened when they bought it and the fantastic turnaround they experienced.

It sounds a bit like a case study, right? Well, it is, but you need to focus less on the software and more on the human element.

Why?

Because while you need to talk to the logical brain of your potential buyer, realize that purchasing decisions happen from an emotional space too. You need both. Those who buy from you need to understand why your products and services matter from multiple perspectives.

So talk the numbers … but make sure you weave them into stories that talk about people and situations to which your customers can relate. 

Create And Publish Your Content In Multiple Ways

Remember that not everyone absorbs the content you put out in the same way. Some prefer reading blogs, white papers, or brochures. Others prefer listening to podcasts. Still others prefer watching videos. 

That means you must be able to create content that can be split up and repurposed for publication in a variety of formats and on a range of different platforms.

Summary

Many software and SaaS companies struggle when it comes to their content marketing because they don’t know how to teach difficult concepts to their target audiences. The content they put out reads as if they’re writing for industry peers instead of normal people that want a solution to a specific problem.

It’s therefore vital for software execs to get a handle on who their target audience is and how to communicate with them clearly and effectively.

A big part of ensuring your company’s content is simple and easy to understand is to write for readability. Leave out the technical jargon to the extent it’s possible. When you absolutely need to put technical terms into your content, make sure you define and explain the terms while placing them in a relevant context.

Try to leave out explanations for how your products or services work. Focus instead on how the product or service solves problems and makes your potential customers’ lives better.

If you have to go over complex concepts during an explanation, try breaking the concept down into smaller parts and explaining each, so those small concepts build upon one another until the bigger picture is formed.

Use lots of examples in your content marketing efforts! 

Be exciting and tell relevant, real-world stories that engage your customers.

Finally, be sure to create and publish a wide variety of content to suit the different ways that people consume it.

The original article can be found on the Vertical Content blog, here:

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