{"id":5167,"date":"2018-02-21T08:30:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T16:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/?p=5167"},"modified":"2019-07-25T13:50:19","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T20:50:19","slug":"write-better-copy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/write-better-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"Write Better Copy: a Lesson from Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Copywriting is stylistic, so for every rule, there is usually an exception. Oftentimes, to impart a conversational quality, it’s fine to overlook certain grammatical rules \u2014 split infinitives like Star Trek<\/em>‘s “to boldly go” or adverb\/adjective confusion like Apple’s “Think Different” may rile linguists, but they’ve proved memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I myself flout grammar rules all the time. I start sentences with conjunctions like but<\/em> or and<\/em>. I end sentences in prepositions. But I do adhere to a few principles: Go easy on the exclamation points. Show, don’t tell. And most importantly: never use two sentences when one will do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pride myself on keeping copy tight and don’t have patience for useless fluff. Useless fluff is especially prevalent in web copy, where, for SEO purposes, articles usually need to meet a minimum word count. When writers lack something to say, they look for filler words and phrases. They create sentences that take up space but do nothing to impart meaning or convey beneficial information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best embodiment of filler and fluff that I can think of is the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So let’s use his speaking style as a teachable moment in copywriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald J. Fluffington<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"better-copywriting\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our chief executive is often described as a master of branding. There’s no question that decades from now, the “Make America Great Again” slogan will define his term in office. It’s a potent tagline\u2014succinct, aspirational, and indelible. Still, for a president who claims to “know words” and “have the best words,” he has a verbal tic: he uses fluff words as a crutch to fill dead air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his first 100 days in office, the president’s most-Tweeted word<\/a> was great<\/em>. Who hasn’t seen a clip of Trump touting his “great, great wall on the southern border,” or greeting the “great men and women of our military”? Last year, National Journal<\/em> analyzed transcripts of Trump’s conversations with world leaders and counted 78 adjectives, including great, tremendous, fantastic, incredible, special, wonderful, terrific,<\/em> and big.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Washington Times<\/em> commentator Wesley Pruden writes<\/a>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hyperbole is the affliction of our age, where life is lived on the surface, entertainment is all and synthetic excitement is as good as the real thing. Why end a sentence with a period, when you can use an exclamation point, or even two? Or three… But even a president \u2014 indeed, even President Donald J. Trump \u2014 does not live in a world where everything is wonderful, tremendous, fantastic and incredible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Why fluff has no place in your copy \u2014 and how you can fix it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While some may find the president’s speaking style refreshing, more find it vapid and unappealing (check the poll numbers). Like Trump, copy that’s chock-full of hyperbole is difficult to believe and even harder to trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a copywriter, your duty to your brand is to develop a voice that inspires people to respond positively. Positive reactions might mean buying a product, sharing an article, or following the brand on social media. To evoke these reactions, your copy must cultivate confidence, respect, even admiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How? First, trim the fat.<\/strong> Strike any sentences that don’t add information, like “you’ll love it,” “the possibilities are endless,” or “there’s something for everybody.” Then, use the Find\/Replace function and delete any uses of very<\/em> and really<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 you don’t need them. Next, look for any Trumpian adjectives<\/strong>. With each one you find, feel shame. Subcutaneous, loathing, flagellating shame. Finally, demonstrate actual knowledge and writing acumen by transforming your copy from vacuous to valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following table may help in this endeavor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If Trump described his border wall as “inventive” or “effective” instead of “great, great,” it would still be a stupid idea. The point, however, is that it wouldn’t sound<\/em> as stupid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth, your copy may not be able to sell a worthless product or salvage a hackneyed ad campaign. But at least any reflection of your own writing skill will be spared. Write well, even if what you have to write about isn’t “great.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t just fill space. Say something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Copywriting is stylistic, so for every rule, there is usually an exception. Oftentimes, to impart a conversational quality, it’s fine to overlook certain grammatical rules \u2014 split infinitives like Star Trek‘s “to boldly go” or adverb\/adjective confusion like Apple’s “Think Different” may rile linguists, but they’ve proved memorable. I myself flout grammar rules all the time.Continue reading <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"What the president can teach us about writing better copy:","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[44,46,43,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing","category-copywriting","category-marketing","category-tools"],"yoast_head":"\nWrite Better Copy: a Lesson from Donald Trump - 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Copywriting Tips to Start Using Today Watch out for repetitive redundancy ATM\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Copywriting"","block_context":{"text":"Copywriting","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/category\/marketing\/copywriting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"improve-copywriting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5529,"url":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/writing-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5167,"position":1},"title":"Four Writing Apps to Improve Your Copy","author":"Kim Kohatsu","date":"June 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"An editor is a luxury we copywriters don't always have. That's when writing apps can help point out mistakes we might not see in our writing. Listed below are some of my favorite writing apps and add-ons that I use regularly. Hemingway Hemingway offers a free online editor or a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Copywriting"","block_context":{"text":"Copywriting","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/category\/marketing\/copywriting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"improve-copywriting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5369,"url":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/who-or-whom\/","url_meta":{"origin":5167,"position":2},"title":"Who or Whom? – The Easiest Way to Know","author":"Kim Kohatsu","date":"May 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Who or whom? There's an easy way to know, without needing to know about subjects, objects, and prepositions. Use who whenever you would use he Who\u00a0should be used as the subject of a sentence, in the same way you would use the word he. Take this example: (Who\/whom) just texted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Copywriting"","block_context":{"text":"Copywriting","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/category\/marketing\/copywriting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"improve-copywriting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4909,"url":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/between-among\/","url_meta":{"origin":5167,"position":3},"title":"Between Us, Among Them","author":"Kim Kohatsu","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In today's edition of #WritingWednesday, let's discuss between and among. If you're a grammar nerd like me, you might think you know where this piece is going. The common wisdom is that you use between to describe two things, and among for any quantity greater than two. For example, This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Copywriting"","block_context":{"text":"Copywriting","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/category\/marketing\/copywriting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"improve-copywriting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5485,"url":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/own-your-gerunds\/","url_meta":{"origin":5167,"position":4},"title":"Own Your Gerunds: The Grammar Mistake You Might Not Know You’re Making","author":"Kim Kohatsu","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I've heard eloquent speakers make the same grammar mistake: instead of using a possessive determiner (my, your, our) to describe a gerund, they use a pronoun (me, you, we). But what the heck does all that mean? And have you been making the same mistake? Let's break it down. What's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Copywriting"","block_context":{"text":"Copywriting","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/category\/marketing\/copywriting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"improve-copywriting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4823,"url":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/guest-post-pitches\/","url_meta":{"origin":5167,"position":5},"title":"Horrible Guest Post Pitches I’ve Actually Received (and Good Ones I Accepted)","author":"Kim Kohatsu","date":"August 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Even before Charles Ave Marketing became Charles Ave Marketing, I have been the\u00a0Managing Editor of the Menuism blog. I'm proud to say Menuism has been a client for four years and counting. In those four years, I've managed our team of writers, contributed\u00a0my own posts, developed content partnerships, and worked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Content Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Content Marketing","link":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/category\/marketing\/content-marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"improve-copywriting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/writing-wednesday.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5167"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6497,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5167\/revisions\/6497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlesavemktg.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}