Although it has been disputed, there is evidence to suggest that the average human attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish. With infinite amounts of copy available online, you need to find a way to make yours stand out. 

What’s making a potential client feel compelled to buy your hand-crocheted baby socks after reading your brand story, instead of your nearest competitor? One way you can distinguish yourself is through easily accessible, engaging copy. Here are some of our top tips for upgrading your digital copy.

  1. Chunk your copy. If someone is skimming for quick information, whether it’s about a product or service you offer, make sure the core of your offering is out there quickly. People have short attention spans and the more simply you organise your information, the more chance you’ve got of it being retained and the less chance your reader will get distracted by unnecessarily long prose: break up your article or copy, into varying sizes of paragraph to keep your reader engaged.
  2. Lead with your key information. If you’re only holding a reader’s attention for a short period of time, make sure you get your key pieces of information out early. Tell your reader what you’re going to tell them, then tell them it in more detail. This way, if you lose your reader’s attention after a couple of paragraphs, you’ve already conveyed your key points or benefits.
  3. Surprise your audience. There’s nothing like the unexpected to keep your audience transfixed. Tell them a story they’re not expecting, or throw in a quirky anecdote that will stay with that. Whilst we’re on the subject, storytelling is vital in marketing. Harvard Business School did a study that showed powerful character-driven storytelling can cause your brain to synthesize oxytocin – the happiness chemical. So it’s worth telling a story for emotional attachment (a key part of buying customer loyalty) and retention.
  4. Make them an offer they can’t refuse. If the ultimate aim of your copy is to get more customers for your product or service, then make your offering irresistible. Whether you offer them a free trial, a free 30-minute consultation or a dynamite testimonial, take advantage of all of your digital platforms to get your product out there and gather some good feedback.

Looking for more advice on copywriting? Horberry & Lingwood’s Read Me is a great place to start.

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