Don’t use complicated technical language that baffles people. Keep it simple and relatable.
— — —
Submitted by Jessica Hodkinson
Stay humble; stay curious.
There are timeless concepts that work consistently, but how they are expressed can change over time or by audience. Become best friends with testing and obsess over your prospect.
— — —
Submitted by Cody Lee
Make sure your intended reader has a “this is for me” moment—early.
Invite your target audience in or call them out in the headline/opening paragraph.
— — —
Submitted by Cody Lee
When writing copy, use trigger words like:
“You”
“Because”
“Instantly”
“Free”
“Now”
These power words are proven to drive people to take action.
— — —
Submitted by Rashmi Agrawal
Rhyming is more important than you think.
Take this key quote from the OJ Simpson trial of the century: “If the gloves don’t fit, you must acquit!”
Rhyming makes your phrasing catchier, improves its staying power and makes your arguments and your copy more persuasive.
— — —
Submitted by Richard Mort
Saying something incredulous or counterintuitive, then following it up with a "Let me explain."
— — —
Submitted by Vincent Rendoni
This is probably the simplest tip out there and hopefully, everyone puts it in action already: use the language your audience will understand.
Feature terms and industry buzzwords are great, but try to remember that your customer could come from anywhere — and your goal is to make sure they understand what you do and why they need your product.
Anything that gets in the way of that must be dropped.
— — —
Submitted by Sanjana Balaraman
Cut the adverbs.
You’re not a high school student trying to get to a certain word quota anymore.
— — —
Submitted by Rebecca Posner
At some point in your writing, break the rules of how you are supposed to write.
On LinkedIn, that looks like occasionally breaking the classic 3 line hook, heavy emphasis on whitespace, and other staples of LinkedIn posts.
— — —
Submitted by Tyler Burch
"Never write like you're the best person in the room, but write like your reader is."
Too often, we trip over finding clever copy or jargon-laden explanations to launch us into "thought leadership" stardom. But that copy doesn't do anything for us.
Writing like your audience matters most humbles our (at times) verbose styles and keeps us focused on our readers.
— — —
Submitted by Shelby Rogers
Consider the outcome that your recipient would like, rather than the product/service you want to sell.
If you're selling hammers, picture hooks, frames and piano wire — sell the resulting picture on the wall.
— — —
Submitted by Steve Fair
I trapped my finger in a door this morning, so apols for typos bcs it's red as a beetroot and weeping all over my keyboard as I type!
My problem with IMAGINE is that it's a cliche. Also: bad style.
When we read how Buffy the Vampire Slayer screamed at the vampire LOUDLY, we wonder how else she might have screamed. Here's an unnecessary qualifier that gets in the way of what's being shown. Turns out the loudness is inherent in the scream, and the gooey blood now oozing from my finger is merely something I invited you to imagine without clubbing you over the head with the word IMAGINE to make a point. If you like, I can squeeze my finger and see what happens next.
— — —
Submitted by Steve W.
Use strong command words like “can” and “will” and “do”.
Avoid passive words like “may” and “could” and “perhaps”.
Strong command words give your copy confidence.
— — —
Submitted by Emily Eudall
Attribution is the least interesting part of the sentence, put it at the end.
— — —
Submitted by Kendall Walters
Use active voice as much as possible to make the reader feel part of what you're writing.
Passive voice just sounds, well, passive.
— — —
Submitted by Heideli Loubser
Use en dashes/em dashes — in place of commas — when possible.
Makes the copy easier to read.
— — —
Submitted by Xuen Lee
Read your writing out loud.
It’s the fastest and easiest way to check if your copy is actually natural and conversational.
— — —
Submitted by Kendall Walters