7 Essential Tips for Reviewing Copy
Are you selling your products or yourself? You can’t do both.
If you want to succeed at selling, don’t try to sell your product and yourself simultaneously; it won’t work. Doing so will overload your customer’s buying decision with choices, each of which requires its own assessment — so much for short-circuiting the decision-making process (which is what advertising is all about).
There’s simply not enough time in our increasingly busy lives to analyze both ourselves and whatever we’re thinking of buying.
So if we really like what we see when we look in the mirror, chances are good that we’ll be favourably inclined toward whatever caused this favourable reflection.
The same goes for copy reviews. If someone likes the writing style, he or she is likely to overlook a lot of other things that would otherwise be considered negative. On the other hand, if someone finds writing samples as dull as dishwater, he or she will probably stare at what you’re selling with a jaundiced eye and look for reasons not to buy.
In short, the way your copy looks on paper colours what prospects think of you — and your product. A new suit can’t compensate for having an unshined shoe; you’re still going to get rejected even though you put yourself out there looking your best.
But enough about people in general; let’s talk about marketers specifically. What happens when poorly written copy tries to sell something? The effectiveness of your marketing efforts becomes crippled because readers simply won’t finish reading what you’ve written — so they can’t fully appreciate your wonderful products and services.
In other words, an internal barrier will exist between your marketing message and its audience because of the way you’ve presented information. It doesn’t matter how good a job you do if people never get past the first paragraph; all that work simply goes down the drain.
So unless you want to ensure failure, follow these seven rules for avoiding a lacklustre review process:
Rule #1: Don’t Assume Your Writing is Clear
The purpose of writing is to convey ideas from one mind to another as effectively as possible — not just an idea, but those which are important to the person receiving them.
Remember this when evaluating writing samples because being so up-front about your marketing efforts directly affects how people perceive you. If what you write is truly unimportant, then it’s also unimportant that someone else reads it — because no value has been added to the communication process.
Focus on audience comprehension at all times and try not to be too clever with your copy; because, technically speaking, it’s neither clear nor concise if readers must struggle to figure out what you mean.
What does this mean? It means writing should clarify, not obfuscate; simplify instead of complicating. Your voice should sound like the person next door rather than James Joyce (after whom one college creative writing department was actually named).
Rule #2: Don’t Make Reasonable People Do Unreasonable Things
If you ask people to do an unreasonable thing, they will hate you for it. This is especially true if the job you’re asking them to do requires more effort than necessary, like reading something that’s poorly written or complicated because of unnecessary jargon and other needless complications.
Because you’re asking them to do something difficult — and possibly unpleasant — people are likely to avoid your copy until the task becomes so painful that there’s no choice but to read it through.
Obviously, giving people what they want hasn’t worked out too well for Hollywood lately; otherwise, our malls wouldn’t be filled with zombie-like consumers who trudge from store to store without any real purpose except perhaps avoiding uncomfortable emotions (guilt over buying we don’t need).
The point is that if you want to sell things, then your marketing message has to bring a significant amount of value to the table — and poor writing doesn’t do that. It’s not about making people do what they don’t want to do; it’s about giving people what they want and need so much that they willingly move toward you.
Rule #3: Use Active Verbs
Marketing copy is often dull simply because it consists of passive verbs which rarely contribute anything important or meaningful. Writing in the active voice means using verbs which state who is responsible for taking action instead of hiding behind words like “was” and “had”.
Being vague doesn’t help anyone and certainly won’t serve your marketing efforts well — so rather than telling readers how something happened, describe who is responsible for making it happen.
Here’s an example of how the passive voice works against you: “The research was conducted last year”.
This might be a necessary part of your sentence, but this is a better way to write it: “We conducted the research last year”.
See what I mean? The latter sentences tell readers what you did and more importantly — as far as marketing is concerned — who did it. Don’t tell people where things are going on unless they need to know. Otherwise, focus only on those details which directly contribute to people understanding why they should care about what you’re saying.
Rule #4: Keep Sentences Short and Simple
People lose interest quickly if they have to read a lot of words to understand what you’re talking about. Remember, they want to know why something is important so they can decide whether or not it’s worth their time — and long-winded sentences rarely provide them with the comfort and confidence needed to keep reading.
In marketing copy, keep your sentences as short as possible — no more than 20–25 words for maximum impact — and use a conversational tone whenever possible.
If writing in the active voice is great, then writing directly to people is even better because you’re speaking to a single reader who wants something from you instead of trying to impress everyone else by sounding smart and educated (which usually means being complicated).
You don’t have to dumb things down or be less intelligent when interacting with customers; you only need to be more businesslike and straightforward.
Rule #5: Cut Out the “Filler” Words
Filler words like actually, basically and very often do nothing but clutter up your message and make it more difficult for people to understand what you’re saying.
They also tend to create a sense of uncertainty in readers which — when combined with long sentences and poor writing — creates an impression that you don’t really know what you’re talking about or are just plain unclear.
Here’s another example of how the passive voice can lead to problems despite being grammatically correct: “Your request will be processed as soon as it is received”.
You might think this sentence is merely bad English, but it accomplishes nothing and leaves readers feeling uncertain (which is never a good thing in marketing). It’s also one of those sentences which can be shortened even though it’s technically correct: “We will process your request as soon as we receive it”.
People like to think that writing shorter means they’re stupid, but you should focus on clarity rather than wasting time coming up with unnecessarily complicated ways to convey simple messages.
Just because you learned how to write doesn’t mean everyone else did so stop worrying about impressing people by using big words and instead use the simplest language possible — as if you were talking to a 5th grader.
Rule #6: Proofread for Errors
Just because our society has an obsession with social media doesn’t mean errors don’t matter anymore. In fact, today more than ever before marketers need to be as professional as possible if they want people to take them seriously — and that means pitching your copy as carefully as you would a new product or service.
Here’s an example of how errors can turn customers off: “This offer is not available for those who have active accounts”.
This sentence might seem like it makes sense, but it doesn’t and therefore leaves readers feeling uncertain and/or confused (which also isn’t a good thing). Even though the intention was probably to say “This offer is not available for those who already have accounts,” there are several other variations that all convey the same message in a way that sounds professional and doesn’t make people feel stupid.
“This offer isn’t for customers with active accounts”.
“This offer isn’t available for current members”.
“Only qualified customers are eligible for this bonus.”.
The choice is yours, but the message you convey should always be professional regardless of what you’re selling or who your audience is. If people feel stupid or unsure about anything associated with your company, they won’t buy from you — which means you blew it and have no one to blame but yourself!
Rule #7: Remember Your Audience
How many times have you read something that was technically correct only to discover that it didn’t say anything? You might not even understand why that happened or how because there doesn’t seem to be any reason at all behind the omission — which is exactly why it needs to be taken seriously.
Many marketers are guilty of using “marketing speak” when composing their copy, but this often comes across as insecure and/or dishonest when used in business communications. People want answers or results, not corporate babble or jargon which fails to give them anything of value.
Here’s an example of how technicality can come back to haunt you: “The check is in the mail”.
Technically speaking, the above sentence means someone will send a check soon based on what they said. However, most readers assume it means that person already sent the check so there was no reason to say something that wasn’t true — and no one likes getting burned.
The same goes for written communication: Readers need to feel secure and in turn, will expect your text to not mislead them.
“Your check is in the mail”.
“The check has been mailed and you should receive it tomorrow”.
“We’ve already sent the check and there’s nothing more we can do at this time”.
You get the idea, but whenever possible it’s important that people know exactly what they’re getting into — and if you want people to take you seriously, then make sure your copy doesn’t lead them astray!
