Original image source – tumbler
Remember the days when advertising looked like this? You probably don’t as most people reading our blogs aren’t of that vintage, but I’m sure you’ve seen references, right?
There was a time that the good folk trying to gain weight would actually stop to read every word of this ad.
No more. Our attention spans have decreased and the number of objects/platforms vying for said attention is constantly on the rise.
So, what to do? Concise answers only please.
3 tips to keeping it bite-sized:
- Say it simply.
- Remove words that aren’t essential to the message.
- Speak to your audience, that saves a lot of explaining – and words.
Remember, this is a blog on keeping copy short. It works in many instances (might I say most?), but there are times where you could and should let the cup of your replete vocabulary run over and over to enjoy the raft of rapturous responses. Whew!
To sum up – quotes from the masters:
“An ad is finished only when you no longer can find a single element to remove.” – Robert Fleege
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.” – David Ogilvy
1 Comment