My Primary Focus When Writing Marketing Copy

Writing is about communication. It’s about connecting with people and sharing information. The key word being connect. To connect with someone you have to be clear, and personal.

There’s nothing personal about being talked at, which makes it easier for people to skim or just completely ignore you. Put down the megaphone and stop yelling. Just because they can hear you doesn’t mean they’re listening.

However, connecting on a personal level is not my primary focus when writing. It’s a focus, yes, but not the primary one. My primary focus is clarity. Without clarity, there’s no point in trying to build a personal connection.

Writing is not about showing off your vocabulary. I’m saddened when I force someone to grab a dictionary. Everything I write is for other people. While I love writing and feel great when I finish a story, my goal is to connect with others, not feed my ego. I use words my readers will not just understand, but words they use themselves when speaking and writing.

This is why I’m always thinking about the reader. Before I start, I think about what they can learn, what’s the value to them. While writing, I make sure I’ve included all those points and done so in the best order. During the review phase, it’s about clarity. I step away from everything I write for at least a few hours, sometimes days. Then I come back as the reader, trying to figure out what the writer (me) is saying. This should be easy.

When writing for the purposes of marketing or advertising, a lot of focus goes to the call to action. The very last line or paragraph. This shouldn’t mean you assume all your readers get to that line. We need to make sure the reader has enough reason to get to that last line. We need to be clear and connect with them. They’re more likely to click if they know what we’re saying.