Have you ever considered the differences or similarities between these two? The most common answer is "No." If I were asked the same question a few years ago, I would have provided the same answer. But now, I see a trend behind the convergence of these vast worlds, sparking debates and heated discussions. Is it really happening? I believe it is.
Let's shed light on these three terms.
Technical Writing. Technical writers advocate for users, helping them understand how to use software or hardware products. User assistance is provided in various formats (not limited to user manuals), including advanced online help systems, how-to videos, technical white papers, one-pagers, and more. Depending on the complexity of the product and the target audience, technical writers create the most suitable forms of user assistance. Marketing experts follow a similar approach, but their decisions are based on the buyer's journey, whether it's in the awareness, consideration, or decision stage.
“The primary goal of product marketing is to deliver the right product to the target customer at the right time, ensuring customer adoption.” - Yasmeen Turayhi "Breaking into Product Marketing."
MarTech experts help teams achieve set marketing goals with special software. This software is tied to CRM, CMS, task tracking tools, and other tools. Technical writers are also part of this Agile process. As part of the development team, technical writers strictly follow sprints, attend all meetings, and even demo their documentation.
In marketing, the use of tools undoubtedly simplifies campaign planning, asset tracking, and request prioritization in the overall content writer backlog. A centralized asset location helps the organization maintain a unified view of the content that is available, updated, or in need of improvement or repurposing. This is where DAMs (Digital Asset Management systems) are used. Another crucial aspect associated with the term 'central' is customer—and data-centricity. Without credible data, marketers will not be regarded as storytellers.
Technical writers are also software experts. They use user assistance tools such as MadCap Flare, Adobe TechComm, and Creative Suites to create print and online guides and graphic editors to generate static or animated images. Technical writers also employ the content repurposing approach, creating specific snippets in the help systems to reuse the same information in different outputs. This practice is known as single-sourcing.
Product Marketing plays a vital role in uncovering the WHYs behind products and services and the WHATs and HOWs, which are the focus areas for technical writers. Understanding the WHY is crucial for marketers to convey the business-specific values of a service or product effectively. The product or service WHYs are explained in assets similar to those created by technical writers, excluding user manuals and help systems, and include white papers, one pagers, infographics, videos, and more.
For marketers, the creativity bar can be pushed far beyond the box, while technical writers have less freedom to think outside the box. They adhere to style guides and company guidelines to ensure accuracy and precision, though I see the trend shifting nowadays compared to the years I've been in the field. Successful marketers possess the skills of professional storytellers, and each story they tell is undoubtedly unique, as are the formats they potentially use.
Given the interconnection between the disciplines, the ongoing trend is to blend and apply approaches from both fields to empower potential buyers and existing users with the most accurate information about the product or service they want to use.
Marketing teams incorporate technical writing principles into their assets to provide high-level information on how to use products or services to address specific business challenges. On the other hand, technical writers are beginning to harness the power of white papers, one-pagers, and animated videos to promote products and engage existing customers in learning more about the products they already use or may want to purchase.
Stay tuned for more posts on this topic, and follow the tag #OksiWritingAloud.