If you can’t explain it simply you don’t understand it well enough – Albert Einstein
It used to be marketers (and writers, for that matter) had to justify their positions and expertise, so we created these beautiful sentences meant to be read aloud in public squares with fervor and gusto and appropriate pausing for effect. Or maybe that was just in my mind. But those days, alas, are no more. The amount of content people digest (and by digest I mean gobble with the ferocity of a hot dog eating contest contestant) is enormous. There is no such thing as a leisurely reading of a blog post or web copy.
If you have a product, service or membership you are selling you must simplify your copy — all of it. Use images to speak for you (yes, we’ve almost regressed to the point of hieroglyphics but if that’s what people pay attention to, you must too). Choose meaningful language not over-used marketing speak. Focus on concise, powerful and/or colorful ways of communicating your message. Your words should act as a vehicle with which your skimmers (we no longer have true readers) can gain access to your organization’s world. No product or affiliation is too complicated to break down into simple text. Leave the convoluted, high-brow language to Niles and Frasier (outdated pop-culture reference), or Sheldon (for you youngins ). Keep it simple. Keep it concise. Make it useful.
Go reread your content. What do you see?
