Fluff is your enemy! The kind of fluff I am referring to here is the overly long copywriting, which takes your powerful marketing message and dilutes it into something weak and uninspiring.
To be or not to be?
When I started studying copywriting, back in the 1980’s, one of the first lessons I learned was the importance of brevity.
Think about it: Shakespeare spent decades, writing some of the best known works in history. Yet, his most famous quote contains just 6 words. None of the words have more than 3 letters:
“To be or not to be.”
Short. Powerful. Easy to remember. Perfect!
As a copywriter, I know that the sooner I can make a point, the more likely it is that people will read it. People have never been busier. They value brevity. They lack the time or patience to wade through acres of vague, pedestrian copy.
If I can get the value of a 1000 word blog post or article into just 300 words, I know I have achieved something. I will have taken 1000 words worth of value and concentrated them into a more powerful, compelling 300 word message.
How can fluff kill your business?
Most small business marketing has horribly poor conversion rates. It’s too wordy. It often rambles and usually tries to achieve too many different things at once.
In order for you to generate inquiries or sales, your marketing copy must motivate people to take some kind of action; buy from you, call you, click a link, email you, subscribe to your newsletter, etc.
If you want to see an immediate, measurable improvement in your marketing response rates, de-fluff your copy. Make each piece of content direct the reader to do one thing. Don’t deviate.
The power of clear, focused marketing
I know, with 98% certainty, that you are a business owner or entrepreneur. No, I can’t see you from here, but that’s who Jim’s Marketing Blog is aimed at. As a result, I have a highly targeted readership.
In short: Embrace brevity. Focus each message on just one desired outcome. Know your target audience and write exclusively for them.
