Typos! We may laugh with glee when we see them on Jay Leno’s old Headlines segment, but weep in frustration when we see them in our own materials. They come with the territory. Auto-correct and spell-check programs find misspelled words but not misused words.
We’re all working so quickly, up against a deadline, and we know what the materials are supposed to say. It’s impossible and foolhardy to try to proof one’s own work. Which is why all marketing content developers (indeed, all content developers in any industry) must build in time and resources for editorial review and proofing. Hire an editor.
Unfortunate and Expensive Typos
Here are some famous examples of deadly typos.
- Even in academia, a typo can slip through and cause great embarrassment.
- Trying to include the correct website can have its pitfalls, as the University of Texas Longhorns football team found out.
- Here’s an oldie but a goodie. Disagreements over punctuation rules can change the meaning of very expensive contracts, just ask Rogers Communications of Toronto and Bell Aliant telephone company.
Some people suggest that informal means of communication, such as emails and blogs, Tweets and Facebook posts, should be forgiven typos and grammatical errors. But when it’s your company behind that post or blog, wouldn’t you want it to be as error-free as the services and products you offer? Hire an editor.
Check the Subject Line
Our colleague, Val Valentine writes about best practices for direct marketing email subject lines. She says: “In many ways, your email subject line is even more important than the content of your email, since opening the email is the very first step on the email marketing journey. You may have a terrific message but it’s worthless if it never sees the light of day.” Check for typos. Hire an editor.
Well-written content instills trust in your product or service. Inconsistent use of the company or product name, an email with grammatical or punctuation errors, and poorly crafted materials reflect directly on your company. To make your company look the very best…hire an editor.
How does your company make sure your content is error-free?