Samuel Taylor Coleridge — in my opinion, the greatest poet in the English language, with the possible exception of Shakespeare and Bob Dylan — once defined the difference between prose and poetry. He said that prose is words in their best order, whereas poetry is the best words in the best order.
Besides being a reasonable definition of poetry, this could plausibly also be a definition of effective marketing content. If you want your content to rise above the ocean of mediocrity out there, it’s not enough to use the “right” words. You need the best words.
Poetry and marketing have more in common than you might think. Both are designed to go beyond your conscious understanding and appeal to your unconscious emotions.
Of course, this isn’t always a good thing. While it’s not exactly subliminal, it does tend to bypass reason, which means it can be used to promote anything from fraudulent claims to dodgy political agendas.
On the other hand, this approach can also be invaluable for cutting through doubts and excuses when your offer really is exactly what they need. It’s up to you to ensure that you’re using marketing techniques ethically, rather than to cheat.
The English Language — Six Words for Every Meaning
The English language has a very complex history. Essentially a West Germanic language, it was heavily modified by Norse, Latin and French, and later borrowed extensively from Greek. Quite apart from all this, it’s pilfered words from languages as different as Dutch, Hindi and Chinese.
The result is that it has a vast number of words, with multiple alternatives that mean more of less the same thing. There are also often a number of different ways of phrasing sentences — and all of them are right. For example:
- “as if” vs. “as though”
- “wonder if” vs. “wonder whether”
- “I thought I’d do this” vs. “I thought that I’d do this”
- “try to do this” vs “try doing this”
None of these options are actually wrong. Sometimes (the last two, for instance) one is more formal and the other more colloquial. Other times, though, it comes down to which feels better — which tastes better, you might say.
The same is true of individual words that mean more or less the same — but not exactly the same. The difference is often in the word’s subtext, rather than in its dictionary meaning, but that can have a powerful psychological effect on your reader. And that’s crucial in marketing.
Three examples of this:
- Cheap vs Inexpensive — Cheap is shopping at Aldi. Inexpensive is finding a bargain at Waitrose. Both are perfectly valid, but you need to know where you’re positioning your offer before you decide which to use.
- Need vs Require — If someone needs what you have to offer, there’s a suggestion they’re dependent, whereas if they require it, that means they’re in charge. Where do you want to imply that the power lies?
- Growth vs Expansion — Growth has a natural, organic feel that isn’t threatening, whereas expansion can convey aggression. Are you portraying yourself as a tree growing or an empire expanding?
Being Clever Isn’t Clever
Now, you might think from the comparison with poetry that I’m saying marketing content has to be clever. And it does, of course — but perhaps not in the way you think.
In general, good writing means being as simple as you can be while still conveying the full sense of what you’re saying. If you’re trying to get a complex scientific concept across, of course, it isn’t really going to be simple, but that’s still no excuse to make it unnecessarily difficult.
In his seminal work The Complete Plain Words, Sir Ernest Gower suggested two quotes that he described as “perfect English”. One was Shakespeare describing sunrise:
“Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchymy”
The other was a notice that used to be displayed in every post office:
“Postmasters are neither bound to give change nor authorised to demand it”
Gower’s point was that both, in their very different ways, used precisely the right words to convey what the writer intended. This principle isn’t always followed in business, though. I’m sure you’ve come across dictionary-swallowing sentences like:
“The aforementioned provision is deemed to represent the most advantageous opportunity for optimising the desirable outcome.”
It’s actually far cleverer, as well as clearer, to say:
“This will work best.”
Keeping It Simple
The best type of writing for marketing is invisible writing. This means the reader doesn’t notice the words at all — they simply provide a window through to the meaning.
For some reason, when people try to write their thoughts down, they seem to default straight into formal language. Sometimes this is appropriate, of course — for a legal document, for instance, or if you’re tendering for a government contract.
For the purposes of marketing, on the other hand, you’re addressing ordinary people, and the best way to do that is to write how you speak — and then turn it up just a notch or two. This means writing in a colloquial way, and that includes using contractions, such as isn’t rather than is not, or they’re rather than they are. Unless you happen to be Data from Star Trek, of course.
Try to keep your sentences reasonably short, too. Long sentences aren’t automatically wrong (one of my favourite authors, Iain Banks, sometimes wrote sentences that were half a page long and were still perfectly clear) but you have to really know what you’re doing. Sentences of around 20-25 words are the sweet spot.
That doesn’t mean every sentence should be the same length, though, as that can get repetitive. In general, try to avoid too much repetition, whether it’s repetition of words, rhythm or sentence structure.
The exception, of course, is if you’re doing it deliberately, for effect. Consider Churchill’s famous speech:
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills”
Repetition as rhetoric is a great tool — just avoid doing it unconsciously. That can read awkwardly.
Grammar Isn’t Scary
Some advice about marketing suggests not bothering about grammar. It’s true that you don’t need to be obsessive about it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary. Don’t worry, though, because grammar isn’t something invented by academics to torment you — it simply makes your meaning clearer.
Which would you naturally say:
“a big red bus”
“a red big bus”
If your instinctive reaction was the first, it means you understand one of the most complex and obscure laws of English grammar. That’s the order adjectives have to come in, according to their category. In this case, size always comes before colour, but there’s about a dozen categories — and, if you’re a native English speaker, you’ll always instinctively get it right.
That’s because it isn’t a rule made up by bored academics. It’s simply the way the language is used by native speakers. It’s part of the 95% of grammar that you learnt by the time you were five, without really trying.
So how hard can the other 5% be to learn as an adult?
Do you want to know more about marketing with the best words? Why not arrange a Zoom meeting with me?