Most of our work is technical copywriting
Here’s a snapshot:
(Click to zoom)
Not a surprise, really, considering Glenn, our founder, was a technical writer in the software industry for 9 years before starting Divine Write in 2002. In other words, he’s been writing technical copy for 25 years!
There’s a big difference between technical copywriting and other forms of copy
The most obvious is the subject matter. To write about anything technical – whether it’s IT, mechanical, scientific, medical or financial – your copywriter must first understand it.
That’s true of any subject matter, obviously, but when it’s technical, it’s usually a much steeper learning curve.
So technical copywriters are different too
Your technical copywriter must:
- Be naturally curious
- Be able to acknowledge and embrace their own ignorance
- Be unafraid of asking questions and revealing their ignorance
- Know what questions to ask, how to ask them, and who to ask them of
- Command the respect of your technical subject matter experts
- Be able to explain the purpose and importance of their questions to non-marketing types
- Know how to interpret the answers to their questions
- Be obsessive about teasing every last detail out of the answers
- Be able to deep-dive in a very narrow subject matter area, without a broad knowledge foundation
- Know how to research independently
But that’s just step one. Step two is to make sense of the information they’re provided.
- Be able to recognise and articulate the subtle differences that are often your most significant differentiators
- Be able to identify details that your technical subject matter experts have failed to provide
- Be able to consider the aspects of the subject and its potential applications that you may not have considered, yourself
But technical copywriters still have to be persuasive
Step three is to pull it all together, and convey the right message to your readers. To translate – or, more accurately, distill – your technical subject matter into copy that’s not just easy to read and understand, but also engaging and persuasive. (Incidentally, this is a key distinction between technical copywriting and plain technical writing. Technical copywriting sells the sizzle; technical writing is all about the steak.)
Which DOESN’T mean explaining all the technical stuff
For the copy to be persuasive, the reader must be made the star of the show, and technical detail relegated to context. It’s the backdrop.
Interestingly, this is precisely where most writers fall down; they painstakingly explain every last detail of the technology. But it’s aimless, because they don’t fully understand either the product or the audience, so they over-emphasise what they do know, gloss over what they don’t, and subtly miss the mark in the process.
A truly proficient technical copywriter, on the other hand, will resist the temptation to blurt out all the details and, instead, will convey its benefits in precisely the way the reader requires. Because they understand the finer points of the subject matter and what, exactly, the reader is trying to get out of the copy and the product or service itself.
But it DOES mean writing credibly
Of course, it’s still vital that your copy conveys credibility and authority, so it must contain some technical detail. Perhaps a lot. But that detail must be included strategically and with intent. And it must be expressed using the right language, metaphors, jargon and social idioms, in the right ways at the right times.
This is particularly important when you’re writing for technical audiences. They possess an uncanny – almost supernatural – ability to detect technical imposters. And they don’t take kindly to them.
In other words, your technical copywriter must be, at once, both expert and reader. The former very knowledgeable, the latter probably quite ignorant. No mean feat.
So not everyone’s cut out to be a technical copywriter
Naturally, with all of these challenges, technical copywriting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It requires a very logical and systematic way of thinking, the ability to learn fast, and an affinity for technology.
It helps if you have broad exposure to a lot of different technical subject matter (ideally hands-on). And experience working in technical environments, with technical people.
It also helps if you have experience with plain technical writing. It’s not essential, but there’s definitely something to be said for having years’ of practice explaining technical stuff in plain English.
And finally, it helps if you love it.
At Divine Write, we’re specialist technical copywriters
We tick all of these boxes. Our founder, Glenn Murray, has been a technical copywriter for nearly two decades, and was a technical writer for nearly a decade before that. And across the team, we have another 60 years’ technical copywriting experience on top of that, give or take.
A long list of technical clients, big and small
We’ve worked for some of the biggest technical vendors in the world, including:
- Cisco
- Honeywell
- Siemens
- Schneider Electric
- Caltex
- MYOB
- Reckon
- Westpac
- Commonwealth Bank
- Telstra
- Virgin Broadband
- Bayer
- IBM
- Computershare
- Harris Technology
- Kimberly-Clark
- Australian Ethical Superannuation
- Britax
We’ve also worked for some of smaller, but equally innovative and technical, including:
- Fertility Science
- Bayside Psychotherapy
- Leverage Technologies
- Cloud Networks Australia
- Freedom Loans
- Avolution
- Easeware
Contact me for a quote on your technical copywriting
If you’re after a world-class technical copywriter, call Glenn in Sydney Australia on 0413 388 991 or email me for a quote.