Give it to ‘em straight
by Stuart Clark
I really like reading. My problem is I buy books faster than I can read them. The drawers on my bedside cabinet are buckling under the weight of unread hardbacks, paperbacks, novels and non-fiction. I’ll be honest it’s starting to get me down a bit. Too much to read, too little time. Your customers have the same problem…
They’re bombarded with things to read every day. So if you’re planning on adding to their pile, you’ve got to make sure it’s easy to read. And there is one very simple way of doing just that.
Follow some very simple rules laid down by George Orwell. Yep, the guy who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm knew a thing or two about writing successful Direct Marketing copy too. Have a look:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
People get used to them and they fail to take them in. Say something fresh or different. Don’t say “at the end of the day” – say “in the end”; don’t say “put it to the acid test” – say “test thoroughly”. “Cutting edge” or “state of the art” mean “newest”
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
Complimentary – Free
Anticipate – Expect
Expectation – Hope
Authored – Wrote
Transportation – Car
Purchase – Buy
Ameliorate – Improve
Lifestyle – Life
Marketplace – Market
3. If you can cut a word out, always do so.
- “Miss out on” should be “miss”
- “Male personnel” is “men”
- “For free” is “free”
- “Crisis situation” is “crisis”
- “Meal solution” is “meal” or “recipe”
- “Research process” is usually “research”
- “Station stop” is “station” or “stop”
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Active is always shorter. A biblical example is “Esau was slain by Jacob” – better as “Jacob slew Esau”.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- “Interface” works better as “talk with”
- “Core competencies” means “what we do best”
- “Easy to use” beats “user-friendly”
- “Mission statement” is “our aim”
- “This is a non-smoking environment” is “No smoking”
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Another tip is to use the readability tool on Microsoft Word. Just go to Tools>Options>Spelling & Grammar>Show readability statistics. If you use that option it automatically tells you how readable your stuff is, every time you do a spell-check.
It works on the basis that the shorter your sentences are, and the fewer syllables each word you use has, the easier it is to read. Give it a go. You’re looking for a score of 60 or higher. This article scores 70… RESULT!
I learnt these tips from B2B copywriter, Andy Maslen in his excellent book Write To Sell. It’s informative, inspiring and, of course, easy to read. I’d recommend it to any would-be copywriter.
Tags: Advert Copy, advertising copywriting, Andy Maslen, Award-Winning Copywriter, B2B Copywriter, B2C Copywriter, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Direct Marketing Copywriter, George Orwell, Microsoft Word, New Media Agency, Online Marketing, Online Marketing Copywriter, Plain English, PPC Copywriter, Press Advertising, Readability, SEO Company, Write to Sell
