Writing with clarity means making your content easy to read and understand. If your audience can’t understand what you are trying to say, what is the poenget?
Hi, I’m Alana, your friendly neighborhood blog editor. I spent most of my early marketing career in the public health field. We focused on a main writing principle: using ordinary language.
For years, I turned complex health information into digestible content. I translated complicated vaccination plans and long health insurance policies into simple guidance for consumers.
I still use common language principles to write clear content. But I also picked up some new tricks along the way. Here are all the strategies I use to communicate clearly and create value as a marketing employee.
Table of contents
Why write with clarity means something
Before we get into howLet’s start with why.
Why does it matter to marketing people?
My experience of health marketing taught me that Clear content respects your reader’s mental energy. It means something because it affects their ability to focus, think clearly and remain motivated to intervene.
Without clear writing, even the most glorious messages fall flat. Science shows that factors as simple as sentence structure affect understanding and recall as we read.
Therefore, clarity is critical. If you do not communicate effectively, your audience does not (or remember) what you want them to do.
This is how you can put this thinking into practice.
How to improve clarity in writing: the basics of marketing people
I have included six basic tips below to help you improve the clarity of your marketing content.
But I would be abandoned if I did not mention the ultimate clear writing hack: Start from an overview or template. Clarity starts with structure and that is exactly what templates (as those below) provide.
Save them for later when you’re ready to start writing. In the meantime, let’s get into the basics of writing clear content.
1. Know who you are talking to and what you want to say.
The Cardinal Rule of Marketing is this: Know your audience.
It is easier to communicate clearly when you understand what they need, what they want to know and how to reach them.
Let your audience guide your writing process. Before putting pens on paper (rather fingers to the keyboard), answer these questions:
- Who is reading this? In my case, this article is targeted at marketing people who specialize in content development.
- What is my main message? Writing with clarity questions in marketing and there are steps you can take to simplify your marketing content.
- What is the specific result I want to achieve? I will give my readers action -based strategies for writing clear content.
- How do I get them there? I want to introduce why it is important to write with clarity, start with some basic tips, give strategies at the expert level from my marketing colleagues and are wrapped with key picks for marketers.
The clearest content is satisfied with intention. Writing with clarity forces you to think about what you write – and who you write it for – before you start wasting words on the page.
2. Define unknown words (and do not assume knowledge).
Another simple technique of making your marketing content clear is to explain your terms. Depending on the context, even well -known words and phrases can confuse readers.
At the beginning of this article I defined Writing with clarity. Of course, it may seem straightforward to me. But all that took was twelve extra words to make sure we are in line when you continue to read.
Explain the most important terms early so your message is easier to follow.
3. Use a consistent style and voice.
Sometimes it’s good to be predictable. That’s a big reason for people to come back to your brand – they know what to expect.
Take Duolingo as an example. Chances are you noticed the duo The Owl on almost any platform where Duolingo is shopping. He is shown in all their marketing content and he has one very Separate voice and tone.
Take a page out of Duolingo’s book. Give consumers the same experience wherever they find you. This will help you establish a clear and recognizable brand identity.
4. Use short words, phrases and paragraphs.
Do you remember when science told us that we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish?
It was about ten years ago and it still applies.
The reality is that most of your audience does not read every word you write. Instead, people tend to skip whole words, phrases and even sections.
One thing that I am trying to do in my writing is to make my content scannable. This includes:
- Simplify my word choice (eg try use instead of Use?
- Targeting of 10-15 words per Sentence.
- Focusing each sentence on a main idea.
- Using section with single sentence to create natural pause points.
- Limiting sections to two to three sentences max.
Read this section again to see what I mean.
5. Highlight your greatest takeaways.
As readers, we love to foam.
So be sure to highlight your main points so they are not buried.
You can use bold To bring attention to crucial concepts or important statistics.
Bullets are also a great way to:
- Summarize your main ideas.
- Degrades specific steps or recommendations.
- Improve the overall readability.
Clear writing makes it easy for people to pick up what you put down (understand what you’re trying to say).
Here is an example of weight in action from another blog post I wrote:
6. Take advantage of free writing tools.
There are plenty of writing tools on the market to help you write with clarity. You can even ask your AI BFF to help your content read more clearly. (Talking to you, Claudie.)
However, I have to say these two are my favorites right now: Hemingway Editor and Grammarly.
Hemingway Editor is so good. You can copy and paste your content directly into the tool. It highlights long, complex phrases and common mistakes. Hemingway also marks unnecessary jargon and weak sentences in your writing.
The web -based version is free. You also have the option of downloading the desktop app for a one-time $ 19.99 fee or upgrade to Editor Plus for multiple features.
Grammarly is also a fabulous proofreading tool. In fact, I actively use the grammatical browser extension when writing this article. It provides content proposals, word choices and grammar checks in real time.
Grammarly has both a free version and a paid version with advanced features.
OK – now that we have covered the basics, it’s time to switch to expert state.
3 Expert Methods to Write Clear Marketing Content
Expert mode, enabled.
I reached out to three experienced content strategists (and dear, dear colleagues) for even clearer writing techniques. This is how they approach to write with clarity.
1. Follow on your argument and delivery of your promises.
Marja Vitti, Marketing Manager at Hubspot, says: “When I have my content written, I read it through and try to follow the flow of my logic. Here is an example of some questions I ask myself:
- Does my content deliver what I promised in my introduction? (If not, it’s a red flag.)
- Does the flow of my argument make sense? (This is crucial.)
- Does each paragraph make a specific point? (If not, reworked and remove something externally that does not earn the argument.) ”
I love this frame.
In the introduction of this post I promised to share “Strategies I use to communicate clearly and create value as a marketing employee.”
I also outlined the flow of my logic earlier in this post: “I want to introduce why it is important to write with clarity, start with some basic tips, give strategies at the expert level from my marketing colleagues and pack up with key picks for marketing people.”
I hope you agree that I was delivering.
2. Spend time building context before entering the weeds.
Amanda Sellers, manager of a blog strategy at Hubspot, says, “Use a frame so your audience imprint on the right things.”
She continues, “A What> WHY> How Structure can help build context before you enter the subject’s weeds. Spending time defining the problem will give your audience the words to get further context later, whether they understood ‘how.’
This is the exact structure I used here:
- I started with what: “Writing with clarity means making your content easy to read and understand.”
- I underlined why: “Clear content respects your reader’s mental energy. It matters because it affects their capacity to focus, think clearly and remain motivated to intervene.”
- Then I outlined how: “How to improve clarity in writing: the basics of marketing people” and “3 expert methods to write clearly marketing content”
Works like a charm I would say.
3. Ask yourself: Does this actually sound good when I read it aloud?
Curt del Principe, Senior Marketing Manager at Hubspot, says, “Read your work aloud. If you can’t get through it without stumbling, it’s probably not clear enough.”
It’s wise words if I’ve ever heard them. Plus, it is the perfect advice to wrap this tip roundup.
This article was brought to you by ten reading high and countless edits to flow. Talking through your piece and making improvements are the last clarity managers.
The clearest voice wins
Clear writing is not only good practice – it is a competitive advantage.
In today’s content -saturated world, brands win that communicating clearly. They retain more customers, build stronger conditions and drives better results.
Writing with clarity takes practice. Even after years of professional writing, I still catch myself in jargon traps or build too complex phrases.
The difference? Now I have systems in place to catch (and solve) these problems before reaching my audience.
The editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2015 and has been updated for understanding.