Why marketing should make the user manuals

[CGiordano at EvergreenInvestments.com]

Exactly.

I never cease to be amused by the folks who insist that their marvelous 
documentation is not marketing... when you think of traditional 
documentation as post-sales customer support, which it is, then it may be 
easier to realize that it's all marketing. ... It doesn't matter if you're 
doing data sheets for hardware components, online help for software, or 
policy and procedures, you're conveying messages to a specific target 
audience with a specific purpose and a desired action or end-state as a 
result of the communication. Improved image, happy customers, increased 
sales, return engagements, flawless safety record... whatever.

It does NOT require a different skill set.. a different focus perhaps, but 
you must be able to analyze audiences, products, processes, needs, 
benefits and usage to do either.  You must be able to write clearly with a 
purpose, and you must be able to see how design, content and structure 
intermingle  to accomplish the task at hand. 

And contrary to the apparently popular belief, marcomm people do not wear 
a 666 emblazoned across their foreheads...in fact there are quite a few 
outstanding contributors on this list who do both pre-sales and post-sales 
communications that could be as easily branded technical marketing as 
marcomm or techcomm.  Damien is totally correct...there are good marketing 
people and bad marketing people, just like any other field, and there's 
good marketing and bad marketing, and good manuals and bad manuals.  Spend 
more time figuring out how to work with that dreaded marketing department 
and less time complaining about them... you may find a whole new range of 
opportunities opening up for you!

Regards,

Connie "I've been on the dark side and it 's fun" Giordano