3 Tips for Writing Reader-Friendly Marketing Messages

I've borrowed these 3 tips directly from Harvard Business Review that recommended them as 3 Tips for Writing Reader-Friendly Memos. The exact same advice works excellently for marketing messages.

1. Avoid complex phrasing. Writing elegantly is not important; delivering smart content is. Let the message stand out more than your language. (perfectly said)

2. Be concise. Many memo (marketing) writers get hung up on "flow." But flowing sentences tend to be long and dense. You don't need choppy sentences, just hardworking ones that deliver content concisely.

3. Skip the jargon. Jargon can be a useful way to communicate among experts, but you should never use jargon if it's meaningless, if you don't understand it, or when your audience isn't familiar with it. (Hint: be sure you understand your audience.)

My advice: Too many people think for marketing you need to write to impress people. Really you should be aiming to write in a way that persuades people. Keep it simple enough for your audience to easily understand - and be sure to include a clear call to action. Let them know what they should do next if they want to move forward.

Great Example of Temporary Web Page

It is one of the worst marketing sins these days - to promote a new website and have a lazy 'under construction' message displayed. But I've just seen a great example of how to do it properly. Even if your complete website is not written, make sure you project a suitable image, and at least have basic contact details.

Kombi Love is a specialist car hire website that was mentioned in this article on Sydney Morning Herald website.

It looks good, includes the main details, a contact enquiry form and phone number all easily displayed. It aslo shows the future pages in the navigation bar - encouraging for people to know what else could be available from the business.

There is Science Behind This Fundamental Selling Mistake

This article on Fast Company mentions a phenomenon I think is very common in sales. It's when we are doing the selling and assume the client has a particular attitude based on a certain behaviour we observe (or a response we receive from them).

Fundamental Attribution Error:

The judgment (that we make) is what’s called, in psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error. Meaning that we tend to attribute people’s behavior to their core character rather than to their situation.

The take-away: When selling, don't jump to conclusions about what the client is thinking based on a certain behaviour, or response, from them. Look for other clues as to what might be driving the behaviour. You should attempt to discover if it is the situation that is causing them to react in the way you observe. Maybe they don't act/think/talk like that all the time.

Maybe you can even ask them about it.

Example: "Mary, I notice you don't seem very interested in (mention a certain feature or benefit). Is that right? Can you tell me why?"

Remember your motto when selling: Seek first to understand.

Study shows Aussies Prefer UK Accent in Video Voice Over Test

An interesting result - and one that shows Australians have a much higher preference than people from other countries for UK accents versus American.

Results come from Which Test Won, a website that reviews website and email marketing split tests.

If we broaden the implication it is useful to keep this in mind for any communication - especially online - that may have American origins.

This preference against US-origin is something I have seen many times in relation to sales training. The American style is often perceived as too 'aggressive' and fast-paced for the typical Australia audience.

What do you think? Your comments are welcome.