“You’re only as good as your last headline.” – Charles Clutter’s Mom
Every aspiring copywriter and journalism student is taught the importance of a powerful headline. Headlines act as stop sign in a crowded traffic jam of information overload.
Readers make snap decisions as they quickly scan a website, email or printed page. If you don’t grab them in a split second, they move on to something else.
That’s why rule number one in marketing writing is: headlines must convey usefulness, uniqueness and urgency. All that in twelve words or less!
Beyond the headline, your first sentence is a make-it-or-break it proposition. You may have succeeded in the seduction, but your marketing copy has to skillfully continue the caress.
Keeping the reader hooked after that is where most writers lose their steam. Creating compelling content is more about finesse than technicality. Marketing communication is a one-to-one relationship with the reader, it takes careful attention to nurture the connection.
And what’s the secret of good marketing copy?
It’s all in the KISS.
KISS – the guiding principle of good design – is an acronym that applies just as well to marketing writing. KISS stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” A more polite variation on the meaning is “Keep It Simple, Silly”, but I prefer the variation “Keep It Short and Sweet.”
Leonardo da Vinci said it long ago, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Henry David Thoreau preached, “Simplify, simplify, simplify.” Steve Jobs one-upped Thoreau with the ultimate simplification message: “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.”
Simplicity and clarity should always be the goal in writing. Unnecessary words and sentence complexity have no place in marketing writing.
When it comes to marketing communications, simplicity is power.