Re: Technical Wrinting VS. Technical Marketing

[David Hamilton <david -at- URSUS -dot- COM>]

Thomas Horton writes:

> It is my personal belief that many technical writers are drawn into the
> marketing realm in one way or another. Even though many do not directly
> market
> products, many contribute to the marketing effort. What say we.

In the software industry, it is common to have tech docs and training
report to either marketing or customer support.  Note that it is also
common to have customer support report to a marketing vp.

There is a clear recognition that the quality of tech docs and
training plays a key role in marketing the product.  There is also the
recognition that the cost to market and support a product is greater
than the cost to develop the product.  Any inadequacies in technical
docs / training, will have a direct impact on the cost to support the
product.  Since tech docs is classified as NRE, good docs either
reduce the sale price of the product or increase the profit margin.
Either way, they are of vital interest to both marketing and customer
support.

Given that tech writers report (directly or indirectly) through a
marketing management structure, and given that that good tech writers
will have a thorough understanding of the product by the time they
finish the various ref manuals, user guides, tutorials, training
materials, and (optionally) support reference material, it would be an
obvious choice to involve them in the technical marketing
documentation process.

-dh
_____________________________________________________________________
David Hamilton                                        david -at- ursus -dot- com
Ursus Information Technology, Inc.                    Santa Clara, CA