Someone told you to remove all the jargon from your marketing and communications, right? Well, they had a bad idea there. Don’t take the advice.

Whether you’re an information technology consultant, a plain vanilla marketer or a combination of the two, you’ve probably heard the general consensus on jargon. “Don’t use it in your copy; jargon is very, very bad.” Newsflash… whoever wrote that chapter either didn’t know what they were talking about, or they’re actually a teller of tall, jargon-addled tales.

If you take a good look around, it’s easy to see that the very same people who eschew the use of jargon in your advertising materials are the the ones sprinkling buzzwords here and there and everywhere.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, jargon is defined as follows:

jar�gon (j�r g n) n.
1. Nonsensical, incoherent, or meaningless talk.
2. A hybrid language or dialect; a pidgin.
3. The specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group.
Speech or writing having unusual or pretentious vocabulary, convoluted phrasing, and vague meaning.

Source: The American Heritage� Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright � 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

What constitues jargon in our everyday world of advertising and technology? Words like benchmark. ROI (return on investment). Turnover. Seamless back office system.

Another type of jargon (the nonsense, double-speak type), acts as a CYA legalese (for those not in the know, CYA is jargon for Cover Your A–). Void where prohibited. While supplies last. (How redundant can you get?)

Many people take issue with jargon because it’s exclusive. If you belong to the uhmm, okay I have to say it - corporate culture, then you get the joke. But if you’re not familiar with the terminology, jargon can be puzzling and even downright irritating if used in the wrong context.

Fact is, jargon is so rampant in our everyday communication that we probably don’t even notice how often it slips in to emails, phone conversations, and most certainly our advertising. And yet at least half the advertising pros are telling us to rid our world of all jargon. IMHO (jargon for “in my honest opinion”)? It ain’t gonna happen!

Following are 5 Great Reasons to Keep Jargon Alive in Your Marketing Materials

1. Jargon is the corporate gatekeeper. Sure, we all howled all through the movie Office Space because we were shown the absurdity in pretentious professional dialogue. Even so: if your web site communicates in Fortune 500-speak, that’s the type of buyer whom you’re going to attract. Need I say more?

2. Jargon serves as an educational tool. Next time we write a page of informative web copy, let’s not just school our readers on procedure. Let’s broaden their vocabularies with a few relevant industry terms. After all, which is better: an audience who is trained to speak your language, or one requiring a translator?

3. Jargon gets you closer to your customers. People respond to jargon on a deep psychological level. It make them feel like part of the “in” crowd. By sharing the insider way of talking, you give your readers a sense of kinship and belonging. That’s a GREAT way to endear your customers to you and bring in more sales.

4. Jargon defines your expertise. What type of consultant would you hire? One who promises “reduced time to market and increased ROI,” or one who will “have your product out there faster than expected and save you money?” Oh, admit it. I had you at the Geek Speak.

5. Jargon will keep you out of legal hot water. Great marketing copy is dual-purposed. One, paint a persuasive picture as to why your product is the hands down best way to solve the reader’s problems. Two, avoid making any specific claims that could land you in legal trouble later! Jargon does the job… so DO use it in your copy.

Okay, what about jargon in my emails? Admittedly, it’s a bad idea to riddle your personal communication with pompous-sounding jargon. Your colleagues and clients want to know that beneath the chilly, buzzword-spitting exterior lies a human soul with a warm heart just like their own. So, DO keep the corporate mumbo jumbo to a minimum on these occasions.

Now, if it’s web copy, marketing brochures, or articles? Then yes… jargon is still a very powerful image builder. Show your readers that you’re worth your salt. Pepper your copy with a hint of jargon.

Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

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