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Why good writing is important
When we communicate with each other we send and receive a variety of signals. These include body language, pitch, tone, expression and choice of words. In addition to this, communication is coloured by the values, experience and prejudices of each person sending and receiving the message.
In marketing, the aim is to cut across all of this and deliver a strong message that will be understood (and hopefully acted upon) by its target audience. Words are the most important part of this message. In the world of design we use colour, shapes, layout and other techniques to support the message, but without words there is no clear message.
This is also the difference between commercial design and art. In art there is still a message but we leave it up to the audience to interpret what it is. In commercial design, the audience must leave with the message we intended otherwise we have failed.
Example
Our company offers a wide variety of goods and services that will help you to make your life much better in many ways.
Above is a typical example of bad writing. The message is in there, and it is essentially the same message that every company has - ‘buy what we sell because you want it’. You’re unlikely to succeed if you simply say this however, so some skill is required. Here are some tips to turn bad writing into good:
Use as few words as possible
Analyse each word in a sentence for what it contributes, and be ruthless about removing excess baggage. What is the difference between a variety and a wide variety? Better and much better? Is there any point to saying ‘in many ways’ if we don’t say which ways? If we don’t make this clear, we leave it up to the audience to decide their own meaning - this is what we’re trying to avoid. The above sentence could instead read:
We offer a variety of goods and services that will help make your life better.
We’ve gone from 23 words to 16 while still saying the same thing. Nevertheless, this is still bad writing.
Capture the intent
Don’t be afraid to completely restructure sentences and entire paragraphs if it results in something that sounds better. In this example, our company is trying to convince people that its products can make their lives better, yet this is the very last thing mentioned even though it is likely to be the most interesting bit to the reader. This is not about the company, it’s about the customer. Try restructuring the sentence like this:
Want a better life? We offer a variety of goods and services that will help.
This immediately becomes more appealing. We have changed the sentence and added a question while retaining its original intent.
Be informative
Our sentence is sounding better but it still offers little information to the reader. What do we mean by a better life? What goods and services are we talking about? How will they help? In this example, let’s assume our company sells sleeping tablets. By asking a question and giving an answer we have already set up a simple problem/solution structure. We need to make clear what the problem is and how we can solve it.
Want to sleep better? Our range of sleep supplements can help.
Finally we’ve come clean and made it clear what our company offers. And instead of simply announcing that we sell sleep tablets, we’ve also indicated why someone might want sleep tablets in the first place. In addition, we’ve used the word supplements instead of tablets. Tablets have a negative connotation suggesting there’s something wrong with you, while supplements are non-threatening and simply complement something you would do anyway, like drink a glass of water. This subtle shift in meaning makes a world of difference. We’ve also changed ‘will help’ to ‘can help’ so that we can’t be held accountable if our sleep tablets don’t in fact help someone sleep better. This simple difference could save millions of dollars in lawsuits later. Notice how I just said ‘could’, not ‘will’?
Choose the right words for your audience
Our sentence is now clear, concise and easy to read, but it’s boring. What makes our company’s sleep tablets any better than another’s? More importantly, how are we demonstrating this through our choice of words? Perhaps our sleep tablets are the best, and if so we should say so, and provide information from people who have said so who have the authority to say so. That’s one approach. Another might be to use a clever phrase or gimmick that will stick in people’s minds. It depends what your message is. What you are trying to do through writing is to establish a connection with the reader and make them feel you understand them. If you achieve this they will be more likely to choose you over someone else regardless of whether your product is actually the best or not. Try this:
Tired of sleepless nights? The solution you’ve dreamed of is here.
The message here is the same as before, but we’ve now added emotion and empathy which will be more likely to resonate with the reader. We’ve also made some clever choices of words. In the problem stage we’ve used the word ‘tired’ to emphasise its negative meaning in both contexts. Conversely, we’ve done the same thing with the word ‘dreamed’ in the latter half. By using the word ‘solution’ we’re being obvious about what our product does while also alluding to what it is - a tablet mixed with water. Even if it’s cliche, this demonstrates what good writing is about. You might even finish with a slogan:
Insomniax™ - don’t take it lying down.
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