Good Copy? Less Is Often More

The main principle of copywriting is that the right words sell. And when sales are riding on the success of your words, it can be all too easy to fall victim to the idea that simple copy equals boring copy.

After a quick flick (or click, it’s the 21st century after all) through the Collins Thesaurus, all of a sudden you’re swapping ‘confused’ for ‘discombobulated’, ‘difficult’ for ‘arduous’, and so on. We’re here to tell you to step away from it! Here’s why brevity is the backbone of successful copywriting…

The power of keeping it simple

One of the biggest misconceptions about concise copywriting is that if you don’t use every single word available to you, your clients won’t fully understand what you do. To this we say, give them some credit!

A lot of the time, writing smarter means dumbing things down. When a business can sum up its services without beating around the bush, you demonstrate confidence in what you do. And when you’re confident in your own services, you’ll soon find that other people are too.

Depending on the industry and what’s being offered, it’s likely that most people will be able to draw a sound conclusion based on just a few sentences. One of the most famous examples of the power of concise copy is “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”, a six-word story usually credited to Ernest Hemingway.

Other examples of copywriting that’s concise and direct include the well-known slogans of three iconic brands: “Just do it”, “Finger Lickin’ Good”, and “The Happiest Place on Earth”. Our guess is that we don’t even need to tell you the names behind them, which only serves to demonstrate the power of choosing your words carefully.

Finding the right words 

So, how do you go about finding your “Happiest Place on Earth”? Often, you already have the answer. It comes out when you’re in a team meeting or chatting with your clients. There’s a reason why your go-to words are your go-to, and it’s because they tell the customer exactly what you’re trying to say.

Another way to refine your message is to establish your tone of voice. For instance, do you want to come across as cool, friendly, or bold? Each of these approaches to writing tend to include and exclude certain phrases and styles. Once you’ve decided what will perform best for your brand, and are clear on what these definitions mean for you, you can begin committing words to the page.

While quality copywriting goes far beyond the slogans we discussed earlier, the beauty of writing to-the-point copy is that you don’t actually need a lot of words to convey your message effectively – you just need the right words. 

Hammering it home

At MYC, our tone of voice is intuitive. We make sure every word on the page serves a purpose. It’s why they always have an impact.

Whether you’re looking to cut through the noise, tell a story, or simply hammer it home, count on our words to do the heavy lifting. Let’s talk.