Feeling lost on how to act natural with your marketing messaging. These simple do's and don'ts can help you write in an engaging and welcoming way. It's not as hard as you think. Made by Avery Wagner at Hoot Design Co.
7. Make these changes:
1. Limit exclamation points
2. Avoid clichés
3. Avoid passive voice
4. Focus on the benefit to the reader
5. Act like a real person
6. Write like you speak
○ Contractions
○ Weird structure
○ Formal words/phrases
9. Times to avoid using exclamation points
● Selling stuff
● When you already have an
exclamation point somewhere else
If it feels forced, it definitely is.
10.
11. Appropriate times for exclamation points
• Genuine
encouragement
• Genuine excitement
12. Ways to resist
using exclamation
points
Warm up your writing:
● Try a different sentence structure
● Switch out words
● Vary sentence length
13. Does it sound fake?
Judge if an exclamation point is appropriate:
14. Does it sound desperate?
Judge if an exclamation point is appropriate:
18. Passive voice diffuses responsibility + slows the reader down
Passive voice = verb comes after subject
● Passive: The problems have been fixed.
● Active: We fixed the problems.
→ Take responsibility
→ Be assertive
Helpful trick: “...by zombies” test
19. Passive voice = clunky and often a sign that a sentence needs work/a thought
isn’t finished
Taking apart a sentence that uses passive voice:
● Do the fonts used by the organization remain consistent across all applications?
● Do the fonts the organization uses remain consistent across all applications?
● Do the organization's fonts remain consistent across all applications?
● Are you using your fonts consistently in all applications?
● Are you using your fonts consistently every time you create something?
23. Show, don’t tell
Example from Nicely Said, pg 53:
With our intuitive design tools creating the site you’ve always wanted is
easier than you ever imagined. (www.godaddy.com)
Choose from simple templates or customize your site over FTP.
24. Questions to ask
yourself
● Does anyone care about this?
● Am I talking about myself or
am I helping the reader?
● “Ideal after” exercise from
Digital Marketer
25. 5. Act like a real person
= be a friend
= be authentic
26. Act like a real person
Emotions and motivations
27. Real people like being clever when representing themselves (like Allie)
29. Real people like to
get positive
reinforcement –
ex: by getting a
laugh
30. Helpful tricks for
acting, posting,
sounding, creating
content like a real
person
Social media:
● Would I/my mom/the dream client
express something like this on
[platform]?
● Does this make me react?
Newsletters/email:
● Would this be helpful/motivating if it
showed up in my/my mom’s/the dream
client’s inbox?
EVERYTHING:
● Does this sound like selling?
32. Write like you speak: use contractions
I cannot believe that!
→ I can’t believe that!
Who would have guessed?
→ Who would’ve guessed?
You will want to stay all day.
→ You’ll want to stay all day.
33. Write like you speak: loosen up your phrasing
An example from Nicely Said:
We regret to inform you that this item was so popular that it has sold out.
→ We’re sorry, this item is out of stock. Want us to email you when it’s
available?
34. Write like you speak: don’t push your word choice
Link to source
35. Read what you wrote
out loud – does it
sound like a
conversation?
