Tracy's blog 11: research and technical marketing documents

Writers and designers of technical marketing documents need to do a great deal more than merely advertise a product/manufacturer, attract an audience, and present technical specifications.

These documents and their creators must strike a balance between communication, information, rhetoric, and research

• Communication:  Transmitting a message from speaker/writer to audience.
• Information:  The message itself.
• Rhetoric:  How the message is shaped and/or how it functions alongside, or in tandem with, other messages.
• Research:  The act of gathering information -- also, a body of gathered information.

These four items are intertwined -- but the focus for technical marketing documents is research.  Communication, information, and rhetoric will result in a lively, interesting technical marketing document...that risks failing when it comes to audiences' needs, accuracy, reliability, and/or ethical representation.

During the past few class sessions, you've learned about the technical marketing genre and explored its constituent documents, in relation to a number of issues we've covered throughout the course:  task/situation-related concerns, target audiences, simplified communication of "technical" information, prose styles, characteristics/selection/implementation of visuals, and usability.

But how do we shape all of this "stuff" into informative, enticing, accurate, and ethical communication?  Research -- the one thread that runs through each of these related, yet necessarily detached, topics.  With careful, balanced, and thoughtful research, you can create a technical marketing document that accomplishes a wide variety of tasks, whether it's a postcard, flyer, brochure, or booklet.

We can look at each document goal one at a time, while concentrating on research as a way to solidify rhetoric, information, and communication.

Advertise a product and/or a manufacturer.  This approach is especially useful if the product is new, innovative, popular, and/or considered "essential" or "important".  It's also a good approach to use if the manufacturer has a strong reputation, due to longevity, reliability/durability, innovation, or popularity -- but also, if the manufacturer is relatively new, and wants to gain some exposure.  This approach is most commonly used for "utilitarian" products, such as machines, home improvement products, pharmaceuticals, some computers/electronics, and vehicles.

Some questions you might answer within the technical marketing document:

• What does the product do, and what are its features?
• How will the product be used?
• With what other products will this item be used?
• Is the product one model among many, or is it the only item that the manufacturer offers?
• How many times has the product been redesigned -- and have product makeovers been a direct "answer" to what users have said they need, or want?
• What is the manufacturer's overall reputation, mission, and/or ethos (image)?
• Is this manufacturer "known" for this product -- or is the product something into which the manufacturer has "expanded" (perhaps the manufacturer is "known" for other products)?
• To what degree does the manufacturer need to address the public's conceptions about its products' quality, features, cost-effectiveness, selection, and/or physical appearance?

Research sources often used by professionals:  interviews, surveys, statistics from previous months/years, product testing

Advertise an envisioned target audience.  Many manufacturers seek to cultivate a reputation, based on those to whom they're marketing their products.  This approach is most commonly used for consumer-oriented products, such as household appliances, some computers/electronics, and vehicles.  Target audiences can be categorized into one or more of the following categories:

• Age group
• Gender
• Socioeconomic status
• Location (part of the country, urban/rural/suburban)
• Familial status (single, partnered, married, living with roommate(s) has children, doesn't have children, caring for aging parents, etc.)
• Values (cost-efficiency, luxury, durability, trendiness, stylishness, eco-friendliness, etc.)
• "Early adopter" vs. "late adopter" stances

Some questions you might answer within the technical marketing document:

• How cost-effective is this product?
• How well does this product "hold up" under both normal and extreme operating conditions?
• How stylish and/or attractive is this product? 
• How energy-efficient is this product?
• How long is this product's functional lifespan (time until obsolete, for short-lived products such as computers/electronics; durability for longer-term items, such as vehicles and household appliances)
• How versatile is this product -- is it used for one or two specialized processes, or can it be used for a number of different things?
• Can it be used on its own, or do users need to purchase/acquire accessories?
• Are there a lot of included options, or is it a "basic" product? 
• If using an endorsement (celebrity or "typical" user), to what degree does the endorsing party represent the target audience, as well as 

Research sources often used by professionals:  demographic data, surveys, interviews, observations