Why “Short And Sweet” Works Better Than You Think

Let’s face it – the average person’s attention span is shrinking faster than an ice cube in the Mississippi heat!

What does this mean? It means that your words have to work harder than ever before.

It can be easy to think that adding more detail is a better way to get your point across, but most times it’s actually quite the opposite.

In the world of marketing, sometimes less is more.

People Are Busy and Distracted

Marketing, especially in the digital space, isn’t slow-moving, and it isn’t always intentional. When people are engaging with your content, they are typically doing it while doing something else – in line at the grocery store, in their car waiting for their kids to get out of school, or just killing time in between meetings. With this in mind, consider how much more impactful it would be if you were to keep your messaging eye-catching and straightforward. You’d likely get more attention for your content, which would increase your chances of getting the response you wanted in the first place.

Shorter Messages Are Easier to Remember

If you think people’s attention spans are short, just think about their memory! That’s why it’s so important to have hashtags and taglines that are clear, concise, and easy to remember.

Think about some popular taglines you know:

  • “Just do it.”
  • “I’m lovin’ it.”
  • “Finger lickin’ good.”
  • “Nationwide is on your side.”
  • “Make Your Message Matter” (shameless plug!)

Look at how short all of these phrases are, yet they still hold impact. Sometimes, keeping it simple is best.

Most Interactions Will be Mobile-Friendly

The majority of interactions with your digital content will be through a mobile device. Although your content may look relatively short on a computer screen, when translated to mobile, the text can look overwhelming and time-consuming. Be mindful of this and break up the content into bite-sized paragraphs, ensuring the formatting is clean.

Simplicity Forces You to Focus on What Matters

When you practice limiting your words, you learn the importance of prioritizing what matters. This ultimately makes your overall brand voice stronger and more consistent. Yes, storytelling is excellent and still matters, but don’t make it go on so long or be so redundant that people get bored with you.

Keeping it simple and making things shorter doesn’t mean that you are removing all the good stuff. It just means that you are cutting out the excess and highlighting the main points without writing your audience a novel or making them feel like you are talking over their heads. Don’t worry about long, elaborate sentences or big, fancy words – talk to your clients naturally.

Let’s use an example:
Instead of saying: “Our large team of well-versed professionals is ready to provide you with first-rate content writing services for all of our amazing clients.”
Try this: “We are ready to assist you with all of your content writing needs.”

It’s a significantly shorter sentence, but it still lets the client know what you can do. Make sense?

Final Thoughts

The less time your audience has to take to figure out your point, the better. And the less time it takes to explain how you can solve their problem, the quicker they can do what needs to be done to help you solve it. Once you master this skill, you’ll be well on your way to making your message matter!

Ready to make your brand messages clear, concise, and powerful? J.D. Scribes can help you write content that connects — and gets results. Contact us to get started!

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