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Buzzword overstatement abounds in biz-speak. It’s easy to mock; we’ve all secretly played CEO bingo during an endless afternoon meeting. But we also know that those expressions have communicative value. Going forward, we all know that to think outside the box and stay on a pro-active glide path so that we’re all singing from the same page, correct?

Exclusive environments generate their own language. From the patois of a jazz trio to the playcalling in an NFL huddle, whole conversations can occur where an outsider would be absolutely oblivious to intent. The boardroom is no different.

There’s one huge qualifier in business banter, however, especially among marketing pros: we have a responsibility to ensure client understanding at every turn. A big part of this responsibility is setting and achieving realistic expectations of how any initiative will perform.

A ubiquitous — and dangerous — phrase that permeates marketing pitch-speak is the promise to “exceed customer expectations.”

Hold on a second, how can we exceed your expectations unti we’ve agreed upon what those expectations should realistically be? And once that’s locked down, shouldn’t we concentrate on hitting them precisely? If you order a cheeseburger and I come back with a bacon-wrapped fillet Mignon, you might be happy, but you might think: “Hey, that ain’t what I ordered.”

Like so many client-oriented expressions, “exceed your expectations” is so pervasive that it has become meaningless. And in many ways, it’s just downright dishonest. It presumes that we already understand your expectations before we’ve even begun the fact-finding necessary to shape the most effective strategy. Good communications begins with knowing what your expectations are in the first place, and even (if you’ll permit us) helping you determine what those expectations should be.

So, at the risk of causing paralysis by analysis, we’re going to encourage everyone to right-size “exceed your expectations” right out of your vocabulary. Let’s start by listening to what clients want, identifying and prioritizing the right objectives, and then concentrating on doing the job well.

On one side, we have fellow marketing pros, many of whom maintain that measuring social media ROI is at best speculative, if not simply impossible. Why, goes the collective logic, is there this obsession with ROI in the first place? Does every marketing effort have to be extrapolated to the balance sheet? There are countless components in any business that don’t carry the same demand. Who, for example, contemplates the un-opened box of paperclips and wonders whether or not it will be good for the bottom line?

On the other side, we have profit-minded clients who, understandably, want to know how much marketing muscle they’re getting for their investment. Whether it’s traditional advertising or web-presence awareness, most business owners feel justified in asking for some way to measure impressions, and in turn determine if those impressions translate to income.

So who’s right? Personally, we refuse to take sides. Not because we can’t commit, but rather, because we think both perspectives have merit. For marketing pros, determining just how effective influence efforts can be is a definitive challenge. You can spend millions on a campaign that flops like an Eddie Murphy movie. And then you can take thirty seconds to send out a cute tweet that catches fire and brings you more site traffic than adding the words “barely legal” to your service description.

If pressed, we have to admit that, of course, marketing efforts need to demonstrate effectiveness. The hard-boiled business reality? Dollars are the unit of measurement in the marketplace. That said, we embrace, rather than retreat, from the idea of social media ROI. But how do you make the connection?

We’re testing a slew of strategies. One of the most successful thus far is a combination of measuring increased engagment (site visits, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, etc.) and using set benchmarks to adjust efforts. When a client hits a certain threshold (say, a few hundred followers on Twitter) then it’s time to supplement informative tweets with special offers and service incentives. Let’s just see if this growing audience is ready to pony up, so to speak.

We’re still studying the results of several efforts, but the effectiveness is promising. The idea of good content driving any social media effort isn’t going anywhere. But we want to match it to smart, business-focused outreach that provides a faster route to our clients being engaged beyond their expertise. We want to see a boost in requests for services — the most direct route to fresh revenue.

That, for us, is the start of honest social media ROI measurement.

A side-effect of this push? A few folks have noted that while our Twitter feed is fairly active, our blog doesn’t get updated a whole helluva lot. Why, some wonder, don’t we practice what we preach? Why aren’t there at least weekly if not daily posts on Off Piste?

There are two key reasons:

• Our field, web presence/social media/content marketing, is saturated with experts (both self-proclaimed and credible) who inundate us with good content. We’ve found our time a bit better served monitoring feeds and skimming posts/articles for info we like, then Tweeting it. This creates a steady visibility pulse, rather than more erratic surges of richer yet redundant information.

• We want to put our energy and effort into better understanding our clients’ industries. We already know about the techniques and issues of our industry. We know what strategies we want to implement, how to customize campaigns for clients, and refine our efforts. Do our clients need to know this in painstaking detail? Prolly not. They’re more interested in results, and results come from our learning what’s happening in their fields. We’re better served keeping up with software development, healthcare, lead generation, cloud computing, consumer electronics, etc.

That said, we know it would be foolish to overlook at least semi-regular blog posts. Generating original content is imperative, but people don’t need another Top Ten list explaining why social media is important, or guidance on how to pick a logotype color scheme. What they need is greater visibility and credibility, so that’s where our muscle goes.

Believe us, when we’re hit with what we think is an insightful idea that adds something new to the conversation, you’re the first to know!

So it’s official, the holidays are upon us. Let loose a barrage of seasonal greetings and gift-giving you hope finds a slice of attention in the midst of all the Black Friday-to-New Year’s Day static. By all means, don’t abandon your plans for polite, professional holiday outreach. Do consider, however, being a bit more selective with major announcements and big kickoffs. This is a time when many of us are AWAOD — Absent While At Our Desks. Our minds are on the next party, our screens are secretly clocking shopping sites, and everyone’s work ethic is essentially swimming in eggnog.

What does this mean for your marketing efforts? We certainly wouldn’t suggest stepping away entirely, but you do need to prioritize. If you have a major announcement in the wings, consider whether it will get lost in holiday hubbub. It might do better waiting until after the National Championship Game.

In the meantime, you can maintain steady, if less-intense visibility efforts — lighthearted blog posts that make easy reading for those with nano-second attention spans, or perhaps an end-of-year eNewsletter that recaps 2010, thanks clients, and alludes to forthcoming efforts. At the very least, a quick holiday eCard blast can express best wishes on your behalf.

If you have news especially relevant to the holidays (e.g. you’re pushing something that would make a great gift, or you have an irresistible end-of-year incentive for your services) take the time to craft messaging and time delivery so that, again, it doesn’t get lost in the swirl. If there’s one thing folks are looking for in this economy, it’s a deal, so your one-time discount might be right on time.

Long story short: However you plan close out the year, keep in mind that the calendar is just as important as the content when it comes to messaging.

And to all, a good night . . .

Then, some Web 2.0 guru comes along and tells you to relax, assures you that it’s all manageable. Download a few apps. Integrate your calendars. Align your platforms. Don’t worry, they proclaim, you can control it all, account for it all, and what’s more, absorb it and ultimately benefit from it.

Bull.

The amount of info is beyond overwhelming. It’s simply impossible to keep up with every source, feed, stream and conversation. So stop trying to.

To preserve your sanity and still enjoy all that content and interaction, you need a little inverse logic. Don’t try to participate in everything. Instead, we now need to be more selective than ever. We need to skim headlines and decide instinctually whether or not the content is worth our time. If it’s not, don’t hesitate, don’t wallow in guilt — move on. Pick up the paper and check the front page. If something jumps at you, fine. Nothing? Get the weather, get the scores, then get moving.

We’re seeing too many friends, acquaintances and co-workers succumbing to social media informational overload. They’re on the verge of tears, especially when they try to balance it with all the pop culture obligations we’re also asked to absorb. You’re trying to digest a magazine article, responding to an IM, re-organizing your email inbox, updating your Twitter feed and Facebook status, and someone has the temerity to ask whether or not you saw Modern Family last night, or are digging in for the MLB division series.

We say enough. Stop trying to please everyone. Stop thinking you’re obligated to engage in every conversation. Pick the few that are most important to you; disengage on a daily basis from the unessential. That will be different for each of us, and will change constantly, but you need to do it if you don’t want to drown. We’ve been there ourselves, meeting deadlines, maintaining our online presence, finding time for social media efforts as well as face-to-face interaction. In the midst of all that, there’s also family, friendships, and that nearly forgotten concept of personal time.

Physician and wellness champion Andrew Weil recommends taking intermittent “news fasts” — weekly breaks where you don’t pick up a newspaper, access a news website, or turn on your TV at 11 p.m. Taking a few of these ourselves, we’ve seen the benefit of disengaging from all that informational stimuli. You get back in the mix with a much sharper sense of what’s important and what is worthy of your time. Give it a try, then see how you approach managing your web presence, social media participation, and informational inflow. Odds are you’ll quickly determine what can be culled, and what is really worth the trouble. Once you know what involvement matters most to you, you’re ability to manage those spaces and concentrate on generating truly relevant messages is bound to be better.

(Of course, you should still read Off-Piste . . . )

Featured speakers where a trio of execs and experts from Eloqua, a company that has created a very successful marketing automation platform. PeakTwo founders Mike and Jay cut their online teeth managing targeted online marketing campaigns during the dotcom boom (RIP LifeMinders). It was a meticulous and labor intensive. The intellects at Eloqua have found a way to automate, manage, and refine that process with a level of speed and precision that, frankly, blew our minds a bit. It was like explaining supersonic flight to a couple guys who used to be motorcycle mechanics. Very cool.

What’s the impending impact on today’s marketing efforts? We’re sussing that out for ourselves, but the potential seems massive. Eloqua’s clients can already attest to that. After the presentation, we knocked a couple back with Senior VP Andre Yee, who elaborated on a couple of compelling presentation points. Overall, however, he was emphatic about the mission of marketing:

It’s about revenue, and that there is a direct correlation between effective marketing automation and good ol’ profit. In so many words, he explained the critical importance of understanding customers. The right targeting coupled with informed follow up relevant to their initial interactions is almost a lock to generate revenue. It’s not intuition; it’s science, and Eloqua is committed to perfecting the formula. With more than 250 customers having already logged two billion interactions with the software, Eloqua is generating a pretty accurate process for generating revenue within specific industries. Now, it’s poised to really turn it up.

I cite this exchange because I understand how Jules feels upon hearing an especially annoying term again and again. In my case, it’s the use of meaningless market-speak. Brainstorms are rotten with expressions that sound significant, but upon further review mean absolutely nothing. My current favorite is “Best of Breed”, which seemed to be on the outs pre-recession. For some reason, it’s enjoying a comeback and I’m fighting it with every ounce of strength I can muster. What is this, the Westminster Kennel Club? You can’t tell me you’re the best at something and then use some nondescript term with the hope that I don’t scrutinize your assertion. What breed are you talking about? The product itself? Your company’s industry? The micro-niche you’re hoping to fill? Chesapeake Bay Retriever? Meaningless, over-wrought drivel.

We all appreciate the value of concision. We all strive for clarity. But good communication also requires some heavy lifting. Take some bandwidth to explain what it is you mean in plain English. You can’t throw up a smokescreen of corporate-bingo bs and hope we don’t press you for the details.

If your medium doesn’t allow for too much detail, then a key part of your message has to be inviting your audience to follow up for more info. That means prioritizing messaging for your websites, print ads, and collateral — which have a relatively small amount of space. That doesn’t mean devoting that precious real estate to terms so vacuous and vague that they fall apart under just a bit of scrutiny. Give us an essential point. Encourage us to contact or click deeper for more info. It’s okay to ask audiences to work a bit, especially if there’s an informational reward.

Apologies for the rant. I’m in a transitional period and I want to help you.

But we also know that our skills can too easily be taken for granted. There’s an inherent “here’s how I would do it” impulse reverberating through the client/creative relationship. Write a line of content, pick a color palette for a website, and there’s going to be someone on the client side who wants to change cyan to cerulean, or “happy” to “glad”. This hairsplitting is part of the process, though at its worst it can bury deadlines and cause costly, contentious delays. Often, of course, the feedback is welcome and even warranted — part of the healthy back-and-forth any client and consultant should have.

Our challenge, and something we diplomatically try to address with clients, is asking that we be allowed to simply do our job. Most folks get this from day one and projects progress as planned. There are those times, however, when someone is set on having his or her fingerprints on every phase of a project. Our line of work invites that kind of involvement.

Why? Communications and design are deceptively accessible. What we do is hardly mystical. We write, we talk, we draw pretty pictures, whether on paper or on screen. Unlike lawyers and physicians, or even mechanics and carpenters, we don’t present distinct skills possessed only by well-trained professionals– at least at first glance. Everybody can write. Everybody can sketch a stickfigure on a cocktail napkin.  Not everyone can decipher tax code or prescribe medicine; when those professionals speak, we tend to take their counsel as gospel.

Not so in our case. It’s comparatively easy to share extra ideas, impress vision, and exclaim, “I took care of this for you guys!” Can we offer our grateful thanks, but also ask that you allow us to get something into a workable status before the duck-biting begins? If that sounds snarky, we apologize, but a bit of tough love is sometimes warranted. We know trust is something we have to earn, but we also know that we need to run fairly untethered to do our best work, and therefore earn that trust. Grant us that, and we guarantee you’ll be pleased when the dust settles.

First things first: Too Long; Didn’t Read. That’s its meaning, but what is its significance? Perhaps it’s symptomatic of an information-saturated online culture that doesn’t have the time to soak up every tasty detail. The audience wants the bottom line, the takeaway, as quickly and concisely as possible.

Certainly, you could go on and on providing detailed examples supporting your point of view, drop in references and citations to other works, link to corresponding content, and season the whole thing with copious quotes. But that is so much reinforcement to whatever it is you’re trying to communicate.

The reality is that online audiences are not hasty because they are so easily distracted. They actually want to remain hyper-engaged. They want all the essential info, but they’re scrolling through RSS feeds, skimming aggregators, checking their karma and threads, and contemplating — for the briefest of moments — whether or not your content is worth their engagement. All of that is contingent on a continuously evolving ability to prioritize content based on headlines, pull quotes, and search-engine summaries.

You might find TL;DR an inelegant phenomenon. It suggests we’re all just too damn busy to read anything, but the opposite is true. We want to read everything. We just want to get it as quickly as we can. If you’re going to ramble on, make sure you respect the reader’s need to get the good stuff as easily as possible. The writer/poster who couples TL;DR to a one-sentence thesis is demonstrating welcome online civility. It’s an acknowledgment that we’re busy and appreciate getting the highlights if we don’t have time to read something in its entirety. What’s more, if it’s done well, it can actually determine whether or not someone will take the time to read something start to finish.

TL;DR: We don’t have the time or patience to read everything we want.  Keep content concise and if you must expound, respect your audience by providing an easy-to-spot summary.