Help the reader to find information quickly
I’ve always loved creative writing. But I’ve come a long way since writing a story as a ten year old in which I ultimately died but had somehow written about it afterwards. I was sternly instructed by the Headmaster to remove the final line – “And then I died.”
In fact I have since been a runner up in a Psychologies Magazine competition which called for a 500 word essay depicting dramatic changes in life. Writing that was a major lesson in editing! Being rather prone to verbosity, I rattled out the piece which was nearer to a thousand words. Then I set about hacking out all the irrelevant bits of information. Afterwards every word had to justify its place. If it didn’t bring impact and drama, it had to go.
It taught me a lot because the finished article was indeed powerful. It didn’t allow the reader to meander through the story. It really made you sit up and gulp.
Clear Copywriting
So it’s the same with copywriting in our printed and virtual marketing materials. Given that a visitor to your website via a search engine result will make a judgement to stay or leave within 5-7 seconds, there is little time to lose. And not forgetting also, that depending on their search they may well land on any of your website pages. So they all need to serve their purpose well.
Every word must deserve to be there, every sentence must inform and educate and be compelling. If they’ve arrived because they’re choosing a manual practitioner for the first time, how will you let them know they’re in exactly the right place before they toddle off to look at your neighbouring chiropractor’s bright, shiny website?
Hearty Headings
These must be powerful and instantly grab attention. That’s why I abhor the one word on so many websites which fails in its duty! The word ‘welcome’ is invisible because it is everywhere and really means nothing. Use that top spot for something that WOWS! Something like ‘Did you know we love to treat pain?’ or ‘Gently easing you back to health’ will work well because it will very often be an absolute revelation to those taking a peek at Osteopathy for the first time. And that top spot is a cracking place to deal with the public’s general misconceptions.
Lovely Language
It is also imperative to use the correct kind of language. We must be aware of who the written word is aimed at in order to make it resonate with them.
Marketing materials are about the reader – not about the writer.
In my case, my marketing materials must speak clearly to those Osteopaths who are unhappy with the status quo. It must connect with those who want to change and improve their businesses. Because whilst I could help any small business in the world, I make sure my words resonate with Osteopaths.
For example, I’m constantly tweaking and perfecting my pages, adding in any common problems I hear time and again and how I will address them.
In Part II we will be looking at presenting information in an easily digestible form and copywriting specifically for the reader.
