Engineers aren't writers by nature, so why ask them to create content?
In his 1974 autobiography, Carrying the Fire, astronaut Michael Collins noted the difficulty he and the Apollo 11 crew had with expressing their feelings on the momentous act of landing on the moon. He wrote: “If they wanted an emotional press conference, for Christ’s sake, they should have put together an Apollo crew of a philosopher, a priest, and a poet—not three test pilots. Of course, they wouldn’t get them back to have a press conference, in all likelihood, because this trio would probably emote all the way back into the atmosphere..."
Engineers, like astronauts, tend to be left-brain dominant personalities. Equipped with minds that are analytical, systematic, and concise, engineers are more than capable of explaining their designs to other engineers in their discipline, and maybe other engineers. But how to explain their designs to management, marketing…their spouses? How to convey the elegance of a design - an automobile for example - the color, the smell of the leather? Many engineers struggle.
Approaching an engineer in your company to write an article or copy for your website takes a little courage – and it usually does not end well. You are not like them. You can’t do what they do, much less understand it.
Besides, engineers are unlikely to talk about what they have done because after they have done it, it seems ordinary. Like police-work, the action is over and now you have to write the report. So don’t expect a work of art. It will be just the facts, ma’am.
If anything, expect documentation, not a story. Writing, either its creation or its consumption, is just not a prized virtue for the typical engineer. There were the mandatory Composition classes they took as freshmen but by the time the senior project is written every appreciation of literary skill, every spark of creativity and bit of wit - oral or written - has usually been stamped out. It’s sad, but that’s the making of an engineer.
But sadder yet would be the missed opportunity of excluding engineers from your content marketing. Engineers should be involved in the creation of engineering-related content but getting an engineer to play along, for the reasons outlined above, can seem like Mission Impossible.
We know firsthand. After more than 15 years and 15,000 articles, we’ve learned a few things about what to expect from engineers. We’ve had the rare engineer who can write - that improbable intersection of the Venn diagram. But more often than not, creating a good engineering story takes the time and effort to find an engineer with a hint of writing talent, develop their skills, and edit, edit, edit their work until it's just right. And keep in mind the end goal, the reward: to have a steady stream of engineering content written by the experts themselves.
We hope you can use some of what we’ve learned in your organizations.
In a series of blog posts, we will provide you tips and processes to foster collaboration between your engineering and marketing teams and ultimately deliver useful and interesting marketing content geared at an engineering audience.
Let’s start with the simple question Why? If I have a dedicated marketing team, why should I involve engineers? Fair enough, but as Jack Nicholson would ask, “Can you handle the truth?”
Quite simply, engineers trust other engineers. Everyone else…not so much. When communicating with engineers, the message will resonate better, have more impact, and establish trust if written by a peer with experience in the field. Sure, marketers have strong research skills, but engineers can spot a non-engineer from a mile away. They will immediately dismiss an article as “marketing fluff” or worse at the first offending statement, or God help you, an incorrectly used unit or inconsistent use of significant digits. If you had to Google that, we have made our point.
Here are some specific benefits that come from having engineers involved in the content creation process. Engineers can do the following:
Do it properly and you will provide engineers the chance to shine within the company, as well as in the outside world – for those so inclined, it helps establish them as thought leaders and builds their personal brands.
Also, you will be fostering collaboration between marketing and engineering which, in many companies, is lacking. Marketers know engineers are necessary but find them boring. Engineers don’t think marketers could find their way home without them, like astronaut Michael Collins at the beginning of our story. There is a natural tension between the two roles, and working together goes a long way towards building empathy and respect.
When implemented with proper guidance, sensitivity, and oversight, the benefits of having your engineering team “pitch-in” are clear. More impactful content drives greater credibility, which increases the odds that your content will be shared with a broader engineering audience.
Like most good things, the process takes hard work and often comes with its share of frustration and challenges. Let’s examine some of the obstacles that can come along the way. We will break these down more in future segments of the series.
