What are some messaging do's and don'ts for a technical audience?

Generally, when messaging for a technical audience, I have two rules of thumb:

1. Simple is best. If something is too complex to make sense to a layperson, it means you're not explaining it clearly enough. Generally, I've seen messaging for technical products fall into the trap of using too much jargon. Don't follow that temptation! Use plain English as much as possible, keeping in mind that the audience does not have nearly as much context as your internal employees. As an old copywriter friend used to say—the best copy should be simple, and easily understood if shouted from the bleachers during the sixth inning of a ball game. Simplicity is the ultimate sign of sophistication.

2. Leverage internal experts. This may sound obvious, but take the opportunity to run your messaging by the developers who built the actual product! Just last week, I was developing messaging at You.com for our API offerings and had a wonderful breakthrough after a jam session with a couple of our engineers who deeply understood the product (and fit into the buyer persona). I asked them to review the copy and describe each feature in plain English. This quick feedback led to a number of breakthroughs and was well worth the time. It was also a wonderful opportunity for the engineering team to have ownership of how their product goes to market, and build closer ties with the marketing team.