Make good writing a cornerstone of your brand
Between the bloggers, Bullfighters, Cluetrainers and other lovers of language, we’re making great strides in eliminating buzzwords, cutting through bafflegab, and getting corporations to speak in a recognizably human voice. The people that get it really get it, and that’s good.
That said, even enlightened businesses suffer from the widespread epidemic of plain bad writing. Cringeworthy, first-draft quality, high-school, sometimes even grade-school level; stuffed with not just buzzwords, but unfunny jokes, too. I’ve read things that no one should have to endure, and as an editor, I try to both protect the public and polish up the image of the client. After all, words live forever in Google’s cache; more brand guardians should be mindful of them.
The following series of posts will address how to create good structured writing with crisp, clear, lean-and-mean prose.
After the jump: a “backwards” strategy for copywriting.
Always know where you want to end up, and work backwards from there. Unclear goals kill prose dead. If you start writing a piece without any clear idea of where that is, or who you’re talking to, a document can meander aimlessly and pointlessly. That means you need to know:
- First: What action you want the reader to take upon finishing the piece - to go visit the site, call the sales department, buy the product, make a donation.
- Second: Who the audience for the piece is. This means research.
- Third: What arguments or appeals are best suited to this audience - and the strongest one should be your closer.
- Work backwards from there through logical steps (simply asking “why?” at each stage is a good way to determine content)…
- …Until you end at the beginning - state the original problem that needs to be solved.
Using this work-back model, create an outline of topic points which can then have paragraphs crafted around them. Here’s a fictional example for Erewhon Bicycles Unincorporated:
- End action we want taken: buy an Erewhon bike.
- Who’s the audience? People that want quality and high technology in a bike, but can’t afford expensive boutique brands.
- Best argument we can offer this audience: Erewhons are 50% less expensive than competing bicycles but offer all of the same advantages.
- Working backwards: explain the advantages and/or how Erewhon can sell so low, etc. (“we use bamboo instead of carbon fiber!”)
- End at the beginning, with the statement of the customer’s original dilemma. “Boutique quality bikes at outlet prices, only from Erewhon.”
May 21, 2006 11:00 AM
Comments
thanks. By the end of this, you’ll be a regular Writin’ and Fightin’ Marine.
wrote AJ Kandy on May 24, 2006 6:07 PM
Great essay. Ouch, I feel like I just got my ass kicked, but thanks for the inspiration! Very helpful.
Candy
http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/
wrote Candy Minx on May 24, 2006 10:09 AM