The Danger of Trying to Sound Smart in Content

Working in marketing, you get to dip your toes into a whole bunch of different industries.

And a core part of that is learning.

Each industry has its own turns of phrase, jargon, acronyms, writing styles, and so much more. Once you’ve got to grips with all this, it can be very tempting to start applying all your new knowledge everywhere.

If you work for a finance brand, for example, you might want to use all those fancy acronyms - like ROI, A2A, BCPP, etc - in every piece of content you make.

But in an attempt to make your content sound smart, you might end up having the opposite effect.

Why’s this a problem?

When you’re using social media, you’re not expecting to read an academic paper full of jargon.

There’s a time and a place for that, and (spoiler) it’s not social.

When you’re scrolling through your Instagram or LinkedIn feed, you want things to be clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. This same requirement should then be extended to your audience when making content.

If you gloss over reading a long, acronym-laden LinkedIn post, what makes you think your audience is any different?

How can you fix it?

I’ve been keeping three things in mind when I make content. These rules help to keep things as simple as possible.

They are…

• Read your writing out loud: If it sounds clunky or confusing, rewrite.

• Bin the jargon: If any terms aren’t immediately obvious to someone reading at a glance, throw them away.

• Lower the reading age: Long words and longer sentences don’t belong; keep things simple.

And, most importantly, remember that you’re writing for your reader to understand your point, not to show off your own expertise.