There’s no doubt about it, ‘cutback copy for the concentration-challenged’ is how to write for a marketing Webworld.

As online business flourishes, today’s writers must script for a new and increasingly younger audience with a gnat-like attention span of, if you are lucky, 5 seconds - which has to be the most gloriously successful benefit imaginable of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

This is because the average virtual-space hopper does not read. They scan. Rapidly. This demands an instant-gratification writing style aimed at maximum stick and minimum bounce. For the uninitiated, ‘bounce’ is the swift response of a dissatisfied surfer to a website that doesn’t deliver the goods quickly enough i.e. now. In a flash, they hop from one site to another until a clever one captures their interest and speeds them successfully towards the required action.

As always, money’s behind it, what with online budgets overtaking offline budgets faster than you can hit a ‘Buy Now’ button. Focus is moving from traditional, passive promotional paths to digital, mercurial marketing at a rate of knots.

So, goodbye (well, not quite, but getting there) to newspaper advertising and direct mail (a 40% drop in market share according to some sources), and hello to websites, search-engine-optimised text, podcasts, texting, blogging, social networking, YouTube et al. The list is long and evolving at a brain-boggling rate.

So here’s how writing for Webworld shapes up:-


Get To The Point Pronto – state the problem and solution swiftly and succinctly;
Highlight Benefits Immediately – save time and cut to the chase;
Use Short Sentences – bite-size chunks of easily-digested information;
Use Plain-speak – concise, objective Standard English for direct communication;
Keep It Conversational – zero formality for total connection;
Ban Bureaucratese & Jargon – honest, no-barriers straight-speak at all times;
Tailor To Your Market – e.g. write for Youth and you can sling slang willy-nilly;
Keep Text To A Minimum –plenty of elbow room for the great god White Space;
Pepper With Bullet Points – lots of these for the terminally impatient.

Just as pre-Webworld designers responded to a developing digital scene by migrating from drawing boards and traditional skills to computers and design software, so too have trend-spotting writers drawn upon honed capabilities such as good communication, flexibility and discipline to meet the needs of a burgeoning online market.

Having hoofed the distance to write in this growing Webworld, they are super-fit for purpose which has to augur well for a progressive business community that values a contemporary capability supported by a proven pedigree.

So, if you ever wondered why well-scripted websites support a cutback style of copy, it’s because it pays big dividends, competing successfully in an ephemeral and demanding market that cannot resist an astutely-crafted path to the ‘Buy Now’ button in all its guises.

Posted by Helen at 9:46 AM

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