Remember: 'Keep it simple, smarty-pants'

Norma Dulin, The Daily Record Newswire

Say the word “incision” to folks and, more often than not, they’ll fold their bodies protectively inward as if a blade were on its way.

I know because I’ve been recovering from knee surgery and have inquisitive friends and colleagues. They ask why the scars are so small and how the work was done. Well, I say, the doctor made incisions here and here then threaded a scope in here …

Their body language has been a constant reminder that words have power.

The surgeon’s handouts have been a case in point too. Do the recovery exercises, they blare. Then they go on to describe the four to start right away. A page or two later they name five required exercises, only three from the original list. (My follow-up inquiry to the doctor’s office earns the response, “Just look at the handouts. It’s all there.”)

As a longtime communications person I’ve seen countless examples of less-than-meaningful text. And all too often, especially when the text is focused on marketing, I’ve heard businesspeople say, “Don’t spend any time on that. Nobody will read it anyway.”

Sometimes — just for their sake — I hope they’re right. After all, in too many materials the most memorable bit isn’t that stellar work example or best-in-class graphic but rather that mistake.

My favorite example comes from an architecture firm’s long-used company overview text: “We believe in parody among all employees.”

While the mental image of architects acting out Saturday Night Live skits in the hallways has kept me laughing for a dozen years, it’s probably not what the firm intended — nor wanted a proposal review committee to recall.

Just for grins, let’s assume some people do read marketing information — that, in fact, folks who pull up a website or request a 50-page proposal will take a gander at what it says. They’ll probably read most of page one, unless it bores them silly. Then they’ll sift through other pages, picking and choosing what to read based on how the design steers them, what they already know, and want to know now.

You can’t control their path.

You can, however, make sure that whatever text they land on is easy to read and quickly grasp.

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, smarty-pants.

Chances are high that you have a body of knowledge and know-how that few of your marketing prospects or clients possess. So, don’t write for them as if they know the lingo, shorthand and complexities of your subject, or as if they even want to know anything other than its broad-based impacts.

Instead, keep it simple, smarty-pants. You’ll not only give your readers a better experience — and opinion of you — but, if the text is for a proposal, you’ll have an easier time meeting those length restrictions.

Achieve simplicity by providing only text that is immediately relevant or likely interesting to the target readers. At the marketing phase, it’s unlikely they’ll want to know every size of pipe you used in that treatment plant or the embedded energy in that marble facade. Readers will, however, find it meaningful that you completed an effort nearly identical to theirs early and under budget.

Slash and burn those extraneous words. Write “the project’s completion” instead of “the completion of the project.” If you use a name or technical term only once, don’t show its acronym — there’s no need. Many firms could cut a half-page from proposals using these two simplifying techniques alone.

Use type styles to help keep the reader moving — and in your court. There’s ample research showing that readers have far more difficulty comprehending capital letters than lowercase ones. Not only does this style demand more of the reader’s time but, in causing frustration, can elicit a negative impression.

Watch out for sentence length. One of my first journalism professors offered this advice (and deducted points for not taking it): When a sentence is longer than 35 words, rewrite it entirely or split it in two. Chances are strong that you can eliminate a handful of words, if not an entire sentence worth, along the way.

Overall, the key to good marketing text is to constantly bear in mind that readers shouldn’t have to study it in order to find it useful. They’re not, after all, relying on its guidance to help recover from surgery.

And, for heaven’s sake, proofread. Your audience is unlikely to remember much else if the project manager’s resume (from an actual firm’s proposal) makes the claim, “His motto is: ‘two ears one month.’ ” The reader just might conclude that it takes a month for a request to reach his ears. Who knows how long his response might take.

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Norma Dulin is a marketing and communications consultant who helps organizations involved in the built environment. Contact her at 503-313-2216 or at norma@leapstrategies.net.