A great copywriter knows how to trim the fat from any article to craft relevant, engaging content that wins an audience. Anyone can write huge chunks of content. A more challenging task is writing a piece that gets to the point and captures the readers’ attention.
“I apologize for the length of this letter, but I didn’t have time to make it shorter,” Pascal
Chris Garrett recently wrote an article for Copyblogger Media titled ‘Are You Too Lazy to Write Less?’ It tackles the question of how long an article, blog post or landing page should be. His answer: “As long as necessary. And no longer.”
As in many areas of life, it’s easy to over-indulge in certain things—donuts, wine, great food, and writing. Most writers know that “less is more,” but how does a writer convey facts and information moderately?
How can I best achieve brevity in content marketing?
In content marketing, your audience wants you to get to the point. If you want your piece to be shared, it must not bore people into a coma. Here are 3 things to consider when writing your piece:
- Concise writing is the hallmark of purposeful, economical, and effective communication. You can often shorten your article 20 percent or more without losing content.
- Don’t write a piece to meet a certain word count. Write the content and worry about the word count later.
- It takes more work to write a short post. You may find you spend more time editing than you do writing.
When you create content, what matters most is the quality. Here are tips for creating well-written, readable, and brevity-conscious content:
- Lengthy content does not work for one simple reason: attention span. Most people have short attention spans, so the more efficiently you make your point, the more attention you receive. A short but strong message hits the target.
- Use a thesaurus to find smaller words and phrases to write about complex ideas instead of writing lengthy content.
- Use bullet points, headings and subheadings. Readers can skim your article more easily and decide if there’s value. It also presents your ideas in an attractive and orderly fashion.
How can I write better sales copy?
In sales copy, long copy sells, but the “long” is that you have covered all the important facts your prospect needs to know. It does not mean you ramble on to “flesh out” the copy, meet a word count, or fulfill a desire to be heard. If you have ever listened to a long-winded and droning car salesman, you will understand.
It is important to write everything relevant, but if your content looks too long, the reader will not bother to find out. Write an article that offers useful information in a deceptively easy-to-grasp manner. By doing so, you pull the reader into your writing and have them wanting more.
Words have the most impact when you get to the point.