3 Ways To Add Some Clarity To Your Copywriting

Copywriting can be a tricky sort of writing. And when it comes to being clear, there’s nothing more that you need to get right from the start.
Whilst you’re trying to think about the target markets and the branding and the benefits of what you’re trying to sell, you’ve also got to worry about all the persuasive techniques you need to gently drop in and don’t even think about forgetting the personality of the business owner you have to express!
And so with all of that swirling around, it’s very easy to forget one of the many vital ingredients in copy. That vital ingredient?
Clarity
I remember watching a video on ‘why comic sans should be banned’, and Tom Fauls, associate professor of advertising at Boston University College of Communication said something that resonated perfectly with copywriting.
And I quote:
Good typography should be like a wonderful, clear crystal goblet that holds wine. Much better than a golden goblet with jewels on the outside because the point of the crystal goblet is that you can see the wine that’s inside. You can appreciate the colours of it. You can see how, when you swirl the wine, how the texture of the wine clings to the glass and how quickly it drops down, back into the pool of wine.
Now, I think he’s making a fantastic point. And it’s not just about typography.
It’s about, in my opinion, all copywriting.
Copywriting, in the exact same way, should be clear. It should be completely transparent, allowing the reader to see the personality of the writer (or the ‘assumed’ writer) and the message it’s trying to convey. The reader should never be able to see the writing — so to speak.
And that’s why clarity is so vitally important. Because without clarity, your reader starts to see your writing, rather than your message. And that’s when they switch off.
So, how can you make your copywriting have greater clarity?
1. Write in shorter sentences.
As a copywriter, the general rule should be that your sentences are pretty short. I mean, sure. They can be long from time to time and, if you never had any heavy sentences, your reader would click away pretty fast.
But even within those long sentences, there should be a feeling of speed about it all. Your long sentences should be short sentences joined together with commas. And by doing that, you’ll get a lot more flow out of your writing — thus, making your message clear, and your actual writing less obvious.
2. Use more conversational language.
When you’re writing, don’t be afraid to be conversational! As long as you keep out all of the specific slang that your reader might not understand, being a bit conversational is fantastic.
The key here is ‘like’ conversation, not conversation itself. I don’t want you to create some faux interview with questions about the particular product or service that you’re writing about. Nor should you start writing ‘scripts’ about your offering. Rather, you should be using friendly, approachable language that your reader will nod along to. Try reading what you’ve written and then try saying it out loud. Now, it shouldn’t sound exactly like something you’d say out loud, but it should be okay.
Another idea is to actually record yourself (with a program like Audacity) and then play it back to yourself. After hearing yourself say it out loud, you’ll be able to zoom-in on those areas which sound a bit wooden and need a bit of life to them.
3. Throw grammar in the bin.
Please don’t get me wrong. I love grammar (a little too much than is healthy, I’m sure), but when it comes to copywriting? Ehh. It’s not so awesome.
Grammar is fantastic if you’ve got to write an academic essay or perhaps a legal document. But copywriting? Again, not so much.
Your copywriting, like I said, has to be slightly punchy and something you can skim over without having to work too hard. It should be clear, open and very readable, and so starting sentences with ‘and’ or ‘but’ is perfectly fine. The same goes for never having to use a semi-colon. Again, don’t be fooled. Grammar can work for you in a lot of ways — probably more than you realise. But if you’re not a fan, don’t feel obliged to check up whether you should have really ended that sentence with a preposition.
Ultimately, your writing should flow. If it’s got the flow, you’ll keep attention spans. And what happens when you’ve got others’ attention? You can relay that all-important message about your all-important product or service.