After more than 30 years of business writing, I’ve developed a few pet peeves. It drives me crazy, for example, when business bloggers waste great marketing opportunities because they don’t get to the point quickly enough. People today rarely take the time to read past the headline or first paragraph unless the content answers one important question: So what?
Once you get a prospective customer or client to look at your blog, Facebook post or Tweet, you need to immediately tell them why they should continue reading. Your headline and first paragraph should establish an emotional connection between your product and the reader. Be clear and direct, but remember that you want to spark their curiosity not bang them over the head with hype.
Relax! You don’t have to be extremely creative. In fact, clever headlines rarely rank very high in search engines because they don’t clearly define the subject. Puns, word play and shock value can also backfire. Consider this classic: “Teacher strikes idle kids”. The best headlines take into account common search engine terms for that product or service.
Strive for simplicity throughout each post. Don’t make readers interpret that you are trying to say. For example instead of writing, “This product has positive effects on sleep quality”, tell readers “Using this product may help you wake up feeling more refreshed and energetic”.
Make every word count. Extraneous words and phrases detract from your messaging. So for every sentence in your next blog or social media post, ask yourself: Does this pass the “so what” test?
We write interesting and relatable social media content that supports our clients’ marketing campaigns. It’s a lot of fun for us, and it frees our clients to focus on other areas of their businesses. Call 952-697-5269 to learn more about our content development services.
