Using the Inverted Pyramid Style of Writing for Ad Agency New Business

invertedpyramid

The inverted pyramid style of writing works well to produce the kind of content that generates significant targeted traffic to your agency’s blog for new business leads.

I recommend using the inverted pyramid style of writing used by journalists where you place the most important information first with a text. It is a common method for writing news stories but works extremely well when writing for online versus writing for print.

Journalism on the Web is definitely different from print journalism. How most people read online?… Continue reading

Use Brevity for Ad Agency New Business

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If you want to reach prospective clients online, copy for email, eNewsletters, blog posts, etc. should contain half the word count of conventional text. People read a lot online plus they receive a ton of email. A majority of your readers won’t have time to read your lengthy copy.

The most frequent advice study participants had for newsletter creators was  - “keep it brief.”

Nielsen Norman Group ’s research found that 79 percent of their test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.

… Continue reading

6 Writing Tips to Make Your Ad Agency’s Blog Effective for New Business

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Writing for the Web is definitely different than writing for print.

Many who are accustom to writing for print have a difficult time writing for Web. In order to write effectively online you must understand how people read on the web.

Nielsen Norman Group ’s research found that 79 percent of their test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.

On the Web, users are engaged and want to go places and get things done. The Web is an active medium.

… Continue reading

How do users read on the web? They don’t … they scan

Butterfly_eye

One of the main keys for an effective ad agency blog is to understand how people read on the web.

And how do users read on the web? The answer is, they don’t ... they scan.

Nielsen Norman Group ’s research found that 79 percent of their test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.

For your agency’s blog to be effective, your text must be scannable.

Jakob Nielsen offers this advice:

  • highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)
  • meaningful sub-headings (not “clever” ones)
  • bulleted lists
  •  one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)
  • the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion
  • half the word count (or less) than conventional writin

Nielsen’s research also found that users detested “marketese”; the promotional writing style with boastful claims.… Continue reading