{"id":51325,"date":"2020-05-18T09:09:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T16:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?p=51325"},"modified":"2020-05-18T09:09:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T16:09:32","slug":"up-level-your-writing-tips-for-better-digital-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/up-level-your-writing-tips-for-better-digital-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Up-level Your Writing: Tips for Better Digital Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

From emails to Facebook, newsletters to Twitter to texts, the quality of our writing often determines that first impression across the digital landscape. In a content saturated world, it\u2019s a battle just to increase our odds of getting noticed, understood, and actually read. When our content is up against an endless supply of words and images behind glowing screens, we need to make sure we not only capture attention, but keep it. (Oh my god, it\u2019s like we\u2019ve manifested our childhood need for attention into a professional way of life.)<\/p>\n

From general writing advice to medium specific necessities, we\u2019ve got you covered, dear reader. We\u2019re going to take you through how to sharpen your language, adapt tone for different mediums, and perhaps most importantly, capture attention with direct brevity (and a little humor).<\/p>\n

Write Better Emails<\/h3>\n

Not only are emails the default form of professional communication, emails are your paper trail. Especially in the workplace, you want to make sure any verbal agreements are translated to paper \u2060\u2014 and that you’re writing as if anyone might read your words.<\/p>\n

You also want to make sure those emails actually get read. While email attention spans have grown<\/a>, here are some ways to get better results whenever you click send.<\/p>\n

Be direct \/ Be brief
\n<\/strong>I used to wonder why no one knew the information that was clearly stated in emails I sent. Spoiler alert: it\u2019s because no one read them. If the first few sentences don\u2019t highlight what\u2019s important\u2060 \u2014\u00a0 and you don\u2019t keep pertinent info in separate lines or at the top of the paragraph \u2060\u2014 they\u2019ll barely get glanced at.<\/p>\n

Make sure you have short paragraphs and lead with the most important information. If you can cut a paragraph down to 2 sentences, people will love you. Or rather, if you say in 2 paragraphs what could\u2019ve been communicated in 2 sentences, people will hate you.<\/p>\n

This all goes double for the subject line. What. Are. You. Emailing. About?<\/p>\n

BCC is your friend. Reply all is your enemy.<\/strong>
\n\"""\"<\/a>
\nOkay, so this isn\u2019t specifically about the actual writing, but if there were commandments for sending emails, these would be the first two. The other 30 people on that office-wide email chain don\u2019t need to be abreast of every \u201cokay\u201d and \u201cthanks.\u201d Spare them, and yourself, some grief by paying attention who is in what line of the To\/ CC\/ BCC trifecta.<\/p>\n

Write Better Newsletters<\/h3>\n

This is your most direct and intimate lifeline to your audience. When you saddle into their inbox, you\u2019ll be competing against dozens if not hundreds of other emails clamoring for their attention.<\/p>\n

Every blast should provide purpose, and if appropriate, a little entertainment. Studies show most people read emails between 9 and 11AM on weekdays<\/a>, so ideally you\u2019re sending that blast between 7 and 10AM (but make sure to check that against your own analytics).<\/p>\n

Grab attention with the subject and preview<\/strong>
\n\"""\"<\/a>
\nLet your readers know what they\u2019ll get out of your email. What\u2019s the value add? New projects? Discount codes? New products? Why should I care? If it\u2019s time-sensitive, make that clear. Words like \u201cbreaking\u201d and \u201curgent\u201d get clicks. Just make sure you use those bait-y words with purpose.<\/p>\n

Important information goes \u201cabove the fold.\u201d Why should someone spend their precious inbox moments reading what you have to say? What problem are you solving? Expand on the key words in your subject line with the preview text. For more in-depth tips, check this out.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sound friendly, but not overly familiar
\n<\/strong>Ahh, the fine line of tone. To take me for example, this vibe is fairly casual. It\u2019s a long form blog where I have the space to form intimacy. I don\u2019t assume to know too much about you, but I give you enough personality so that you might feel like you\u2019re getting to know me. People and brands that have distinct voices always stand. Find yours and use it.<\/p>\n

Master the image to text ratio
\n<\/strong>\"""\"<\/a>
\nIf you look at a heat map of where people\u2019s eyeballs go when they read an email, you\u2019ll see attention goes to headlines, images, the first two words of a paragraph \u2026 and then they trail off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To keep engagement, break up the text and include plenty of images. Whether it\u2019s a pop culture reference, charts and graphs, or a promo flyer, save those eyeballs from a text wasteland.<\/p>\n

Write Better Social Media Posts<\/h3>\n

Social media has become everyone\u2019s public persona. How do you present yourself, your brand, your company? Know thy audience, know thy medium, know thyself.<\/p>\n

Write for the medium
\n<\/strong>Instagram better have great visuals with a clever caption. Good lighting, clear images, or some sort of infographic will go far. The words are just there to support that. A lot of people won\u2019t even read them. On Twitter you better make those characters count. One sentence is ideal unless you\u2019re clever.<\/p>\n

Facebook can handle a combination of links, text, and photos. LinkedIn is, of course reserved, for professional accomplishments, events, and articles. Just like with newsletters, your personal analytics matter more than the general rule of thumb so check in with that.<\/p>\n

Give it purpose
\n<\/strong>Whatever you\u2019re using, make sure there\u2019s a value-add and a purpose. Now, that purpose can be a joke, but you better make your audience laugh in a non-cringe kind of way. Add a call to action to make it really count.<\/p>\n

Keep it casual \ud83d\ude46\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Especially for Twitter and Instagram, you can bend the grammar rules and play with hashtags and emojis. Adding a meta awareness to your posts can score you big points with younger audiences.<\/p>\n

Write Better, Period.<\/h3>\n

Write like a human person
\n<\/strong>When you get hyper formal, overly \u201crah-rah,\u201d or a little too fake, it\u2019s obvious and off-putting. Sound like yourself, or at least sound like a human. Gauge the level of formality needed for the situation and don\u2019t go beyond that. Unless you\u2019re working in an industry with antiquated formal standards of practice, tis better to err on the side of casual.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You will sound more likable.<\/li>\n
  2. You will sound smarter.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You know who writes in a casual tone? People who don\u2019t have anything to prove. If you actually know what you\u2019re talking about, it\u2019ll come off as confidence.<\/p>\n

    Of course, there\u2019s a fine line. Going too casual with an abundance of emojis, exclamation points, colloquialisms, and misspellings will have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n

    Cut unnecessary prepositions
    \n<\/strong>As a matter of fact, cut out all unnecessary words. Unless you\u2019re combing for the perfect metaphors to describe the sunset \u2026<\/p>\n

    KEEP
    \nIT
    \nSIMPLE<\/p>\n

    For example, instead of
    \n\u201cI\u2019m writing to inform you of a new propositions that may alleviate workflow issues you may be experiencing in your business.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    You can sharpen that to
    \n\u201cI\u2019ve developed a new proposition aimed at solving your business problems.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    Find the \u201cof\u201ds, the passive language, the qualifiers, and get rid of them.<\/p>\n

    Use action verbs where possible
    \n<\/strong>Chuck Palahniuk has an extremely frustrating, but insanely effective     technique<\/a> for creating dynamic prose. Go through whatever you write. Cross out the \u201cthought\u201d verbs (thinks, knows, understands, realizes, etc). Replace them with unpacked action verbs. He also insists including \u201cis\u201d and \u201chas\u201d verbs as well as \u201cloves\u201d and \u201chates.\u201d<\/p>\n

    While this advice was written for novelists and storytellers and certainly qualifies as overkill for most online media, there are a few really useful ideas behind it that will benefit anyone.<\/p>\n

    First, it forces active language. For daily writing it won\u2019t make sense to replace every “thought” and \u201cto be\u201d verb, but if you can replace a handful for every page of writing, you will arrive at your point faster and hold attention longer.<\/p>\n

    Second, it asks us to figure out what it is we\u2019re actually trying to say without short cuts. I love this \u2060\u2014 especially when working with buzz words. Instead of \u201cauthenticity,\u201d \u201cmanifest,\u201d \u201cabundance,\u201d \u201coptimize,\u201d \u201corganic,\u201d what are you actually trying to communicate? Are those the best words? Sometimes they are, but often they\u2019re BS.<\/p>\n

    You can even take this advice to a resume. The first line of every bullet point should have an engaging action verb like \u201cwrote,\u201d \u201cdesigned,\u201d \u201cproduced,\u201d \u201cimplemented,” not something like \u201chelped\u201d or \u201cwas the point person for.\u201d Specifics are everything.<\/p>\n

    Write now. Edit later. Always revise.
    \n<\/strong>Get the words down. Now. Don\u2019t get stuck on the perfect phrases. Practice spitting them out. Then go back. Edit. Revise. Hone. Reread. THEN submit. After all\u2026
    \n    \"""\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    About the author.<\/strong>
    \nAlessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From emails to Facebook, newsletters to Twitter to texts, the quality of our writing often determines that first impression across the digital landscape. In a content saturated world, it\u2019s a battle just to increase our odds of getting noticed, understood, and actually read. When our content is up against an endless supply of words and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":51326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUp-level Your Writing: Tips for Better Digital Communication | Creative Circle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The quality of our writing often determines that first impression across the digital landscape. 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