The best marketing campaigns break through mental filters by speaking our language, touching our emotions and making a meaningful connection. Words and images work together to create a campaign that resonates.
It’s an undeniable fact that we live in a visual world. Images in print, online, on television and everywhere else dominate our mind space. The bombardment of visual messages increases regularly in spite of the warnings to marketers that the consuming publics’ mind is over saturated. Yet the visuals keep on coming—to the tune of thousands per day in every medium and in mediums yet unknown.
All of this ocular stimulation makes effective copy writing even more important. The visual is the hook—the thing that makes you stop and pay attention. Once hooked, the written message must payoff, reinforce and inspire you to read on about a product or service. The written word takes what you’ve seen and makes it worthy of your time, trust and your dollars.
Simply put: Words mean things. They have the power to inspire confidence and trust in a product or service. Words—more so than images—shape opinions. How you use words, regardless of the chosen medium, speaks volumes about your business.
The best marketing campaigns break through mental filters by speaking our language, touching our emotions and making a meaningful connection. Words and images work together to create a campaign that resonates. But consumers respond when they understand how they benefit from using a product or service. Words enable the consuming public to understand, “what’s in it for me?”
Choosing Words Wisely
What, then, does it mean to write well? Well written copy is clear and concise. It’s that simple. Of course, it’s not that simple. If it were, everyone would write well —and that’s not the case.
Well written copy reflects the planning, research, knowledge of the subject and the intended audience that took place prior to writing. To the end user, process does not matter as much as the finished product; but a little insight into process can increase understanding between all parties.
In a first draft, a writer will include everything he or she has learned through interviews and research. Nothing is held back. The next step is self-editing, where eyes are fresh to catch mistakes and be critical of the words chosen. More likely than not, the writer will find words and phrases to edit from the piece.
When a writer has the luxury of working with an editor or proofreader, the objectivity of a different set of well-qualified eyes can only improve what has been written. Writers must have thick skin when it comes to working with an editor and recognize it as the valuable learning opportunity that it is.