Tips for improving your marketing writing

Writing is one of the most important elements of marketing. Whether you are producing printed collateral or digital content, what you say and the way you say it has a huge impact on your financial institution’s image. It  affects how your organization’s message is received and shared by your target audience. Strong content also impacts search engine optimization and where your financial institution ranks in search engine results.

Last month, we began a two-part series on the importance of strong writing in marketing by definingwhat good writing is, providing the scientific effectiveness of good writing in storytelling and demonstrating the value of good writing for search engine optimization (SEO). This month, we share tips for improving your writing, which ultimately should improve your marketing content 

Know Your Audience

The way you speak to your customers or members in writing impacts their willingness to continue reading. If your business lending copy and your kids club newsletter have the same tone, that’s a problem. Speak the language your audience speaks, and promote the benefits most valuable to that audience. Your job is to sell them on the value of your financial institution. You can’t do that if you’re offending them or losing them in translation.

Be Concise and Complete

Consumers are bombarded with marketing messages. They are everywhere – online, on billboards, in stores, in the mail and on television, among others. People are not interested in weeding through paragraphs of copy to determine what’s in it for them. Say what you need to say, or better yet, what they need to hear, but get to the point quickly. Make your most important point first. Keep your sentences brief – shoot for a maximum of 20 to 25 words. Whenever possible, break up copy with headlines, sub headlines or bullet points. The faster you convey your product or service’s benefits to the reader, the more likely you’ll keep them reading.

continue reading »