Passing the Scan Test
With dozens of different presentations, web pages and white papers for different companies in the last few months, I always use the
Scan Test.
What did I see First?
- Where did my eye go?
- What was communicated there?
- Did it actually say anything?
And, why did I put a picture, change fonts, italics or underline it?
Did I use a picture to draw the eye down the page....
To where we really communicate what is different and important about this particular product to this particular person and create an emotional attachment or intellectual resonance with the viewer?
Or should we have just used a graphic and accepted that few people read?
On the other hand, I focus on B2B Technology Marketing. Most of my customers actually care about their technology, their job, and their reputation. The people I want to reach are highly-connected information junkies. They read a lot, write often, and value their time.
To reach them, we must provide the in-depth explanation of what, how, and why of the product, the use case and the architecture behind it to be credible. The presentation must be concise with the ability to drill further in the areas where the reader is curious.
So I write and I edit and a make certain that when you scan, you get something valuable.
Never a Wall of Text...
