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Three Little Letters – The Art of Acronyms
By Eric Welch | December 16, 2008
Hey, want to spark an instant and lively debate? Walk into your next meeting or family gathering and say these three little letters: M-L-M. Chances are you’ll trigger a wave of rolling eyes, a collective groan, shouts of “pyramid scheme” or, if you’re really lucky, you’ll clear the entire room!
Taken at face value, the individual letters have no power or influence. It’s the meaning behind the letters and the context in which they’re used that can make or break business deals, affect relationships or change the course of history.
As marketers, we make frequent use of three-letter acronyms (TLAs). Or, if we’re feeling particularly dangerous, we may slip in a four-letter acronym on occasion. However, while we may know exactly what we mean to say, our target audience may not. We need to be very careful not to overuse these handy devices lest we create confusion for our customers.
Granted, it’s far too easy in these days of email and TXT to fall into the habit of abbreviating nearly everything, expecting your recipients to just “know” what you’re referring to. For example, see if you can decipher this (inspired by an actual message on the back of a QuantumDigital customer’s postcard):
LTO! 4BR 3BA in A+COND! NEW CRP PNT AC! $10K BMV! ALL APP CONV! CALL 555-5555 NOW! SALLY AGENT – ABR GRI CRS CPM
What’s ironic is that, unlike classified ads which charge by the word or line, QuantumDigital allows customers to add as much text as will fit for no extra cost. This message would have been much more clear had the customer simply typed out the words. Abbreviating to the point of ridiculousness only leaves people scratching their heads… and most likely tossing the postcard away.
For some excellent examples of less-than-excellent marketing, check out this list of The Worst Ad Campaigns of 2007. Now that you’ve had a laugh or three, here are some direct mail writing tips from a guy who works down the hall from me named Steve. (Hi Steve!)
So, to conclude, sum up and otherwise end this post… MUJ, CYC and WYL (minimize use of jargon, clarify your context and watch your language) or your marketing efforts may be DOA.
(And for those of you keeping track, my beverage du jour is Rockstar PUNCHED Energy + Citrus)