Pick your words, don’t let them pick you

Is it wrong to use the word “bug” when your software goes wrong?

Are you “sorry” when a customer has a bad experience, or do you simply “understand” their frustration?

Some companies certainly think so. Apple famously teaches it employees working on the ground at the Apple Store, not to use words like “Crash”, “Bug”, or “Problem” and instead use words like “stops responding” and “issue”.

If you’re not an Apple fan, you may have missed their rebranding of the Apple Stores as “town squares,” a faux public space designed to feel less like a tech company frontline support area and more like a natural civic experience? At least, that’s the goal on paper.

Is it working? You may see changes like these as attempts to turn a traditionally negative experience— having to visit a company for tech support— into a much more accessible and versatile piece of real estate that creates a positive connection from a negative experience.

On the other hand, you may see it as posturing, elitist or fake.

But like it or not, Apples changes to their company lexicon illicit a reaction, and they make a difference to how we see that company.

Whether or not Apple’s particular choices appeal to you, it's undeniable that they form a large part of their brand identity. But not every company is Apple, and the audience of your online business may be very different, so before your re-brand your website as an “Online Interaction Community Village”, it may be worth thinking a little more about the way you use words.

Now I’m not talking about all those above-the-fold words that you’re using in your CTA. You’ve already agonised over the difference in conversion between “Sign-up now” and “Join us”. You’ve created detailed feature lists, compiled succinct elevator pitches and developed a list of the perfect keywords. Those words aren’t optional, after all, and they are where we tend to become laser-focused in the early stages of business.

But does the care you place into those key areas of your business extend into all your customer communication? What about the words you use in your footer, in your customer support, or on your Twitter page?

Let’s take a common page that many sites will have easily accessible; their jobs or careers section.

What term do you use?

If we want to be technical and use these words as they are defined, then a career is technically a life of work made of many different jobs. If we want to use the most correct word, you are indeed offering a “job” at your company as part of somebodies overall career.

However, the word career can have more positive connotations. For some, a job is seen a something temporary, or lesser while people see a career as something that will last longer and provide them more opportunity. The original meaning or definition of the word is much less relevant than how your audience will perceive it now.

In America, many people use the term ‘McJob’ to refer to low paying, dead-end forms of employment, even though McDonald’s regularly wins awards for staff retention, happiness and opportunities. It’s why McDonald’s uses words like careers and apprenticeships when recruiting whenever possible.

However, this doesn’t mean that the word job is inherently incorrect, or that the word career should always be used.

Job is certainly the term that most people are going to use in Google if they’re looking for work, which is why you end up with recruitment pages title “McDonald's Careers: Job Search”. Some people find the term career pretentious, and where the meaning of ‘career’ can change significantly between cultures when used at an international level, the term job is far more universal.

The important thing is to consider your audience, consider your options, weigh the pros and cons and then, above all, be consistent and confident with the words that you use.

In short, you should pick your words; your words should not pick you.

Here’s another example that comes up a lot in business. Do you refer to your employees as your team or your staff?

Both words are very common. You may have already picked one without thinking about it, or perhaps you use both interchangeably. However, just like our first example, both words carry vastly different meanings and connotations. The origin of the word ‘staff’ is a military one, while ‘teams’ are likely to have developed from agriculture, but unless your target demographic is etymology graduates, how important are traditional meanings and official definitions? Certainly far less important than how your specific audience will perceive them.

Just like your product serves a particular space and demographic, so should your language.

No, one word is not more “right” than the other, so how would you customers feel when reading the word team or the word staff? If your customers skew to an older demographic, then ‘staff’ may conjure up a more disciplined, focus workforce that gets the job done efficiently. For a younger demographic, the term ‘team’ may work better, demonstrating a more open, collaborative and modern approach to the workplace.

I could provide many more examples, but if you think about your words in terms of Choice, Consistency and Confidence, then you can repeat this across all your nomenclature, as often as you need:

Choice —Make an active decision to choose your words when you write them. Don’t just use the first term that comes to your head, or the one that your competitors are using. Think about how different words are going to be perceived by your audience, and find examples of other brands that are appealing to your demographic and research the words they use.

Consistency — Pick a term early, and stick with it across all your branding. Don’t try to play the field when it comes to vocabulary, it will make your branding seem messy and insincere. If you have a larger team, compile all these changes into a style guide so that everyone is on the same page.

Confidence — Once you’ve made a choice and you remain consistent with that choice, it’s important to not be afraid to use that word and to follow through with your branding and messaging. Remember that not everyone is going to agree with every single term you use. Not every Apple customer is going to call their stores “Town Squares” from now on, but many will. And they’ll buy into that branding at a fairly emotional level.

This may all seem a little too much detail, or perhaps plain anally retentive, but the fact is words matter. There’s a reason that Fortune 500 companies spend millions just on the words and phrases they choose to use or avoid. Small changes in the way you speak to your customers can lead to big, long term changes in the perception of your brand. They can help you build customer trust, define your place in your market and stand-out amongst competitors.

And after all, unlike logos, websites, applications, customer support and all the other elements that make up a successful brand image, changing the words you use is one of the quickest and cheapest changes you can make, so why not give it a go?

If you’re looking for more ways to use your words, ChangeCrab is a release note and changelog service that lets you embed easy to use and quick to create updates directly onto your site. It gives you a new and powerful communication channel that puts your biggest and best new feature front-and-centre, and allows you to try out some of those new words you’ve picked!