Why writing with clarity matters in marketing (+ 9 ways to simplify your message)
By Alana Chinn
Writing with clarity means making your content easy to read and understand. If your audience can’t grasp what you’re trying to say, what’s the point?
Hi, I’m Alana, your friendly neighborhood blog editor. I spent most of my early marketing career in the public health field. We focused on one main writing principle: using plain language.
For years, I turned complex health information into digestible content. I translated complicated vaccination schedules and lengthy health insurance policies into simple guidance for consumers.
I still use plain language principles to write clear content. But I’ve also picked up some new tricks along the way. Here are all of the strategies I use to communicate clearly and create value as a marketer.
Table of Contents
Why Writing With Clarity Matters
Before we get into the how, let’s start with the why.
Why does this matter for marketers?
My experience in health marketing taught me that clear content respects your reader’s mental energy. It matters because it influences their capacity to focus, think clearly, and stay motivated to take action.
Without clear writing, even the most brilliant messages fall flat. Science shows that factors as simple as sentence structure impact comprehension and recall as we read.
That’s why clarity is critical. If you don’t communicate effectively, your audience won’t know (or remember) what you want them to do.
Here’s how you can put this thinking into practice.
How to Improve Clarity in Writing: The Basics for Marketers
I’ve included six fundamental tips below to help you improve clarity in your marketing content.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the ultimate clear writing hack: starting from an outline or template. Clarity starts with structure, and that’s exactly what templates (like the ones below) provide.
Save them for later when you’re ready to start writing. In the meantime, let’s get into the basics of writing clear content.
1. Know who you’re talking to and what you want to say.
The cardinal rule of marketing is this: Know your audience.
It’s easier to communicate clearly when you understand what they need, what they want to know, and how to reach them.
Let your audience guide your writing process. Before you put pen to paper (rather, fingers to keyboard), answer these questions:
- Who is reading this? In my case, this article is targeted toward marketing professionals who specialize in content development.
- What is my main message? Writing with clarity matters in marketing, and there are steps you can take to simplify your marketing content.
- What’s the specific outcome I want to achieve? I want to give my readers actionable, experience-based strategies for writing clear content.
- How will I get them there? I’ll introduce why writing with clarity …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
Author: Aaron
