Following the blog theme – we will
now look at writing copy for documents and promotional printing and hope this will
provide a bit of extra help and advice.
Tip 2: TIPS FOR WRITING
COPY
“Keep it Short and
Sweet”
There are
people who advocate circumstances where both long and short copy may be
appropriate. My view is that in modern
times the shorter the copy the better – in all circumstances.
We are now
in the age of Twitter and social media and our content is often determined by
the number of characters in our message.
Always follow
the old adage that “your copy should be as long as it needs to be and no
longer”.
As we are
all increasingly so short of time – everything has to be presented faster and
in words we can scan and comprehend quickly.
A simple
tool is the “Fog Index” which measures the average number of words in each sentence.
Try and keep this around 10 words per sentence as an average. If it is any more edit ruthlessly.
The golden
rule is to know your audience. Your copy
has to be targeted and relevant to their needs.
You need to understand what makes them happy? What are their biggest problems?
Your writing
style should always be based upon how you want them to feel. Do you want to simply state facts or do you
want to amuse or entertain?
This will
depend on what you are writing for.
Obviously, there is a difference when preparing legal documents or sales
literature. When preparing copy for
business documents or training manuals you need to avoid descriptive terms and
stick to the relevant points.
You always
create an image through your writing.
You also may need to build up a mental image of the product or service
you are trying to sell or the message you are trying to communicate.
Anecdotes
and Case Studies make a very effective theme for copy writing because they help
to trigger the imagination of the reader.
These “hooks” can also help memory – because a picture is easier to
remember than text.
5 simple guidelines to writing
effective copy
1 1. Have a Clear Objective
Be very
clear about the objective of the copy – is it to sell, educate or to
persuade. Avoid trying to put too much
information. Keep referring back to this
objective regularly to see whether what you are writing is “on track”.
In terms of
priority the best points should be made early rather than hidden away or held
back. It would be better if they were
repeated later for extra emphasis.
2 2. Follow a theme
The more you
write the more likely that the reader will “turn off” or “click away” if you
are writing copy for digital media.
You need to
make every point in the most concise way possible. Adjectives and adverbs are just “filler”. Try and make every word tell.
Like a good
speech, try to grab attention immediately (the headline) and always try to have
a good beginning and finish off with a good end. The end is usually the call to
action.
If the theme
has not been followed it is unlikely to prompt the desired response.
There are
certain buzz words, action words, descriptive words and emotive words that can
be used to add effect.
Buzz Words
|
Free, Now, New, Here, At Last, Today
|
Action Words
|
Buy, Try, Ask, Get, See, Ring, Write, Call, Click, Send, Cut, Taste,
Start, Enjoy, Replace, Renew, Repair, Examine, Consider
|
Emotive Words
|
Splendid, Excellent, Amazing, Delightful, Gorgeous, Wonderful,
Beautiful, Explode,
|
Descriptive Words
|
Economical, Inexpensive, Satisfying, Rewarding, Value, Time Saving
|
3 3. Do not overwrite
Your copy
should have a logical flow in keeping with your theme and style. Your introduction would normally follow on
from the headline by carrying the case forward in clear and unambiguous
terms.
Complexity
is not a sign of intelligence. Don’t
overstate any point and always avoid superlatives. Try and keep sentences short – more like “The
Sun” rather than “the Times”. Use the “Fog Index” to measure.
4 4. Address your audience personally
Write in the
present tense. Use the word “you” not
“we”. For example – “You will receive
your documents tomorrow” is better than “We deliver all our digital printing within
24 hours”.
By
personalising your message the chances are that the audience will be more
receptive.
Variable
data is a means by which you can mail-merge images and text to great effect –
adding the recipient’s name throughout the body of your message.
Including
testimonials or a customer quote can add to the personal nature of the message
– particularly if they are regarded as a credible third party.
5 5. Proof read and edit
Do some
editing. Cut out any unnecessary words
and consolidate your ideas – this should reduce the amount of text by between
30% and 50%. Then walk away and do
something else. If you have time revisit
your copy next day. This will give you a fresh perspective on your content.
Do some more
editing when it has been printed out.
For various reasons people are better able to edit the printed word
easier than the words that are displayed on a screen.
Try reading
your copy out loud to confirm the rhythm and reads as you would speak.
Needless to
say your copy should be thoroughly checked for any spelling or grammatical
errors by a third party. We are all
prone to make mistakes even with word processing spellchecks.
We recently
printed a brochure that had apparently been supplied print-ready and proof-read
by ten people only to find on our final proof more than 15 errors. Many of these words also passed through the
spell check. However, printing and
distributing this material would have seriously damaged the original objective
of presenting a high value company image.
How to Write Effective Sales or
Marketing Copy
In most
cases you want to persuade or sell something, particularly in your marketing
copy.
Sometimes it
is subtle and sometimes it is to the point – but in all situations it requires
a considerable amount of planning and preparation. There is
only one question to answer.
What’s in it for me?
This is the
only relevant question when preparing any sales or marketing message.
Your copy
has to be your very best “salesmanship in print”.
The secret
is to put into words benefits rather than features. The product or service is far less important
than its ability to fulfil customers’ needs.
There is
nothing worse than seeing printing companies with an equipment list of their
machines on websites and in brochures – they would mean nothing to the majority
of their clients.
A good
technique is to list all the features and then add an extra column which
converts the feature into a benefit. This
is simply done by adding a column headed by “which means that” or “so what” –
where you carry on the sentence by converting the feature into something that
the audience would value (i.e. a real benefit!).
If any of
these are unique to your product or service they are unique benefits and will
give you a competitive advantage. The
process described above is an invaluable exercise if you operate in a
competitive market. And these days this
applies to virtually all of us. Anything
that can give us an edge – no matter how small can sometimes win a major
contract or new client.
Now you are ready to add visual
stimulation in the form of colour and photographs to help communicate your
message.
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