If you want your copywriting to be just like you bought it from the shop, it needs to be tight.
But what does ‘tight copywriting’ really mean?
Imagine your copywriting as a wet towel.
You have to wring out all the excess water before you can use it, and that’s what ‘tightening’ your copywriting is.
It’s getting rid of excess adjectives, superlatives, metaphors and …waffle.
You might be wondering how your blog post, web copy or brochure can possibly be interesting once you take out all the ‘good bits’.
Painting a mental picture for your reader is important, as is telling a story. However, copywriting that’s too wordy wastes your reader’s time and makes your message harder to understand. It’s also a sign that you don’t know what you want to say.
Good copywriting doesn’t use a single unnecessary word. That’s what tight copywriting is.
Here are some handy tips to help you wring out your copy.
Declutter your copywriting
We’re all tempted to pad out our writing with unnecessary words and they should be the first to go. Try cutting words like great, some, many, quite, only, even, that, really, and actually (to name a few) from your copywriting and see if your sentence still makes sense.
I bet it does.
Use the active, not the passive voice
A passive sentence describes something being done to someone or something. It doesn’t ask people to do something; it describes things that have been or will be done. Passive sentences feel impersonal and indirect. You want to speak directly to your readers so:
Passive: Your query will be addressed by our marketing manager.
Active: Our marketing manager will call you or email you soon.
In the above example, the sentence describes what’s being done to your query.
Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.
It’s tempting to think that more words equal more expertise, or that longer words mean a more trustworthy voice. Complexity is not a sign of intelligence.
Look for phrases, jargon and other language that can be simplified.
Due to the fact that… Because
Endeavour… Try
Assist… Help
Ensure… Make sure
Please don’t hesitate to call… Please call us
Enquire… Ask
Commence… Start or begin
In error… By mistake
In regards to… About
Keep your paragraphs short.
Long paragraphs encourage readers to skip right over them. Keep paragraphs short and to the point. They’ll be easier on the eye so easier to read.
As you break up long paragraphs, ask yourself…. do I need all these extra paragraphs? What point am I making that needs all this copy? When you can remove entire paragraphs at a time, your copy will be rippling and beach-ready in no time.
It’s important to be ruthless during your editing phase. Ask yourself: Can I make my point without this word? And this one? And that one too? I bet you can.
Good luck!
Belinda
10 Responses
Awesome tips as usual Belinda 🙂 I’m a big fan of Simplify.Simplify.Simplify.
Thanks Astrid. Me too 🙂
I’m going to print these tips up & pop them onto my notice board for future reference. Thanks Belinda.
Thanks Colleen! I like having visual prompters too. I’m glad it’s such a useful post!
If content marketing is not going to surpass my business expectations to monetize…I’ll stick to creating a targeted copy on a website with a couple authority pages! This post is a brilliant example of why copy needs to be far more tight than exhaustive.
Copy is only ever as good as your product…and i contend most long form copy opens up the possibility of disappointing the buyer. Why? Most copy i see tends to be better than the business solution offered.
Better to undersell, but sell well, and exceed expectations after purchase…then upsell and generate referrals.
Most B2B and highly informed business solutions do needs long copy, but the average B2C really do not need it!
Brilliant blog post and a guidance for anyone intimidated by the fact they think they must always use long copy…you don’t!