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Should we be scared or what?

The headline I just used is the same headline that arrived in an email on Friday and my sub-title is really only half joking. You see, different words and phrases mean different things to the people who read them and what you see as a perfectly sensible and catching headline may have a totally different meaning for someone else.

Now if you're a retailer with a bricks and mortar business in the United States or even a retailer with an e-commerce site on the Web then you will understand about Black Friday. Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving when sales go through the roof. Sales are so good in fact that they take many retailers earnings out of the red and put them into the black - hence the term Black Friday.

But if you're an Australian who has been around for more than a few years ... like Steve ... Black Friday has an entirely different and not very pleasant meaning. Here in Australia we have had several Black Fridays and if you have lived in bush then just about any summer's day has the potential to be a Black Friday kind of day.

Here in Australia the term first came to be used to refer to a firestorm that swept across one of the states on Friday the 13th of January 1939 and killed at least 71 people. So when older Australians hear or read the term ‘Black Friday' they think bushfires.

In other parts of the world Black Friday also refers to Friday the 13th but rather than a specific Friday the 13th in those parts of the world any Friday the 13th happens to be a Black Friday. Many believe that their luck will be bad on Black Friday and so it bothers them to read a headline like that.

Of course, the original headline that first raised our eyebrows was used in a context where it was hard to be misunderstood. The email was aimed at marketers who understand that term but what about the people you market to? Will they always understand the terms you use?

Connecting with the audience
In the amount of time that we here in adult have to get our message across - a period that is often measured in split seconds - you simply cannot afford to miss the mark with your message. If even 30% of your surfers don't understand what you are saying then you're wasting your time and wasting your money too.

In this industry you really do need to make sure that you connect with your audience and every surfer does understand what you're saying. If only 70% of your traffic actually understands your message think of all those sales you are losing with the 30% who don't understand.

That's why it's important to ensure that when you are putting together your sales text you don't lapse into slang or jargon that only you and your close friends might understand. It's something that is very easy to do especially when you are dealing with something like porn. Even after you have typed those words they may still look fine when you take a quick look at what you've done.

But what a waste it will be if the only people who understand what you have written are the people in your immediate circle of friends or the people in your home town ... or even your home country.

To avoid making that mistake look around and see what words and phrases others are using to color the marketing for the same product you are selling. Go back over each line and compare the terms you are using with the terms that others are using.

Do a little language research
Maybe even spend a little time on the various surfer boards that are out there and look at the words they are using. It's very easy to become isolated here in adult and not realize that the language has moved on and left you behind.

At the same time it's very easy to be fooled into thinking that you're keeping up with the rest of the world when you're actually being left behind. If you're too busy to get out into the real world and listen to the words and phrases that people are using in real life then at least spend some time on those surfer boards and ‘listen' to them.

Steve and I spend a lot of time here working in our home office. Even when I'm down at our store-front office I tend to be in a fairly artificial environment. That means that it's very easy for us to lose contact with the language used in adult marketing. To overcome that problem we often just sit and listen when we're down at our favorite coffee shop or having a drink at the pub.

We're not prying into people's private lives by listening and we're not trying to gain some commercial advantage when we're listening to business people talk. Instead we're listening to the words and phrases they use so that we stay up to date with the language of the street.

It's something you need to do too and you won't do it by hanging out on webmaster boards. You have to go where the real people are and you have to listen. When you do that you will find that your sales pitch will be understood by everyone and you won't miss out on sales because people failed to understand your message.