5 Questions Your Audience Really Wants to Ask

To cut through the clutter, communicate effectively and boost engagement, you need to know and anticipate the questions that are really on your target’s mind.

After working in corporate communications for 15 years, I’ve noticed common questions that audiences want to know – but don’t always ask for directly.

Build brand trust by proactively answering these common questions in every communication you prepare:

1. So what?
Share how your message is relevant to your audience’s needs. Specifically, how will your ideas impact their lives?

2. Why should I listen to you?
Establish your credibility up-front to encourage your audience to pay attention to your message. State how your individual experience or company’s expertise make your ideas meaningful for your audience.

3. What’s in it for me?
State the benefits your audience will gain from making time to absorb your message. By including specific benefits, you may compel your audience to act.

4. What do I need to do?
Include a clear, concise call to action. Be specific when telling your audience what action you need them to take, such as subscribe, contact us or download now.

5. Why now?
To motivate your audience to act, include a deadline — even if it’s arbitrary. People will respond more promptly if you give them a time limit. Timeliness is particularly important if your audience includes editors or journalists, as the media thrives on new information.

Using these tips will help you connect and engage your customers; however, they also apply to internal communications for your colleagues.

What other questions does your audience really want to know?

Lisa Goller helps businesses tell their story. As a Strategic Freelance Writer & Editor, she helps executives and entrepreneurs stand out, look good and save time. Learn more at lisagoller.com

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Web Writing S.O.S.

In today’s sink-or-swim world of business, your company needs to be online – and use website copy that advances its strategy. Use these 25 web writing tips as a lifesaver to make your company’s digital content stand out:

Writing basics

• Write clear, simple content. Plain language is easiest to read.
• Cover only one topic per paragraph.
• Remove unnecessary words.
• Write in active voice.

Length

• Limit page length. A page on the web should be half the length of a similar print document, so aim for 300-700 words for online content.
• Create headlines and copy that stand on their own, independent of other sections.

Tone

• Use a conversational, upbeat tone.
• Use the active voice and avoid jargon. Online readers find such bureaucratic writing out-of-place and simply ignore the message.

Be concise

• People read 25% slower on-screen, so choose short paragraphs, short sentences and short words.
• Use an ‘inverted pyramid’: Start with a broad overview and narrow your subject as you go on. Put the most important content in the first paragraph.

Scanability

• Think of reading a web page like reading a newspaper: Readers scan for headlines that capture their interest.
• Use headlines, bullet items, text formatting (bolding, italics) and clear navigation.
• Make your headlines and navigation items meaningful.
• Choose lists over paragraphs. Avoid long blocks of text.
• Consider pull quotes: Place a relevant phrase in large font to the side of the text.

Links

• Write clear links; use 1-5 words for effectiveness.
• Exclude the phrase ‘click here.’
• Make your links stand out by using a different colour and keeping the underline.

Focus on your audience

• Give your readers the information they need.
• Help them complete the tasks they want to achieve.
• Use your readers’ language, not yours.
• Choose keywords your target uses for online searches.
• End with a call to action, such as a link, a phone number, a form, etc.
• Use images sparingly, as they can increase page download time.
• Only publish a website you can manage. Check each piece of content at least once every three months so readers receive accurate, timely information.

With these web writing tips, your company can attract web surfers and compete effectively online.

What other web writing best practices would you add?

Lisa Goller helps businesses tell their story. As a Strategic Freelance Writer & Editor, she helps executives and entrepreneurs stand out, look good and save time. Learn more at lisagoller.com

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Sources:
New York University Styleguide
London School of Economics Web Editors Guidebook

Case Study: Measuring Marketing Success

Situation
One of my clients serving pharmaceutical companies relies on email campaigns to communicate with clients. However, the company did not measure the performance of  three potentially lucrative email campaigns.

Approach
To understand the client’s process, I analyzed the three campaigns and considered:

• Who received each email?
• What is the call to action?
• Did the copy explain the benefit of completing the call to action?
• Did the client provide sufficient time to complete the call to action?
• How did the client keep track of each recipient’s status?

Recommendations
My analysis yielded problems, which I addressed with these suggestions:

• Respectful reach: There’s a fine line between tenacious repetition and irritating spam. Since several recipients received more than 6 emails per month, I recommended combining messages to streamline communications.
• Keep it simple: Originally, one of the three campaigns contained a whopping 7 calls to action. Now there is only one call to action per email, simplifying readers’ lives and improving visibility into the status of each email recipient.
• Share what’s in it for them: The campaigns now stress the benefits to the recipient of performing the call to action. The messaging is placed up front rather than buried at the end.
• Create a sense of urgency: The original campaign did not contain a deadline. To impel readers to act quickly, the client now provides a 5-week timeline to complete the call to action.
• Track recipients: Originally, the client did not measure the marketing impact of the email campaigns. Now the client assigns account managers to track recipients’ status, provide specific help and proactively follow up to prompt action.

Results
After implementing these best practices, the client’s engagement vastly improved. Email response rates increased by 67%, a team effort that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings and sales.

How do you measure your marketing impact?

Lisa Goller helps businesses tell their story. As a Strategic Freelance Writer & Editor, she helps executives and entrepreneurs stand out, look good and save time. Learn more at lisagoller.com

 

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