I was recently listening to a client gripe about an inter-work email spat.

I smiled and nodded waiting for the conversation to return to professional interest. Then he said something truly interesting.

“She began a sentence with ‘actually.’” He gasped “that is just wrong!”

“Why is it?” I asked.

My client stared at me perplexed.

Apparently, you can’t begin sentences with adverbs. Why not?

Actually, there is no hard and fast rule with this. Beginning a sentence with an adverb can change the rhythm of a piece drawing attention to new information. Refer to your favourite style guide for clarification.

My client could offer no explanation either way. He only had a vague memory of a person who knew more words than him telling him that this is correct. Probably a well meaning school teacher.

I challenged this. He then began to doubt my credentials as a writer and grammarian.

What drew my attention was not the rule itself. It was my client’s indignation that his colleague had broken a rule but having no evidence either way.

Carrying out a process with no evidence or scepticism is not only madness - it is bad business. Hopefully, you would not approach any other element of your business with this attitude. Can you imagine if you never reviewed your invoices or your interview processes?

Why would you do this with your copy?

Formulating formulas

Web Design and copywriting have rules. Naturally, web design has stricter rules. You build websites with code which involves mathematical language. You can’t casually decide that 2+2=5 when you want to zhuzh up your code. (this is why Carlo does the coding and I do the copy)

Copywriting and marketing have their own rules. Marketing books are full formulas and rules. There is the ever present AIDA formula (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action). Then there are more streamlined methods like the 4Ps (Promise, Picture, Proof, Pitch) better suited to social media posts.

Attention itself depends on novelty.

Novelty can never be achieved through a formula. It is like dissecting lightning or trying to catch a joke in a bottle. It is fatuous.

The purpose of the blog is not to analyse every copywriting formula. Here is a very interesting blog about shortcomings of copywriting formulas.

The purpose of this blog is to question what we learnt about writing. The poor way some of us were taught the English language can be found in poor website copy.

It vacillates between two extremes:

• Meaningless sentences that fail to convey meaning

• Long, grammatically complicated almost Victorian sounding sentences

Think of grammatical rules and marketing formulas - like training wheels on your first bike. They provide support and guidance while you find your own personal balance. They provide a structure you can use to explore your path.

Writing is personal

But remember that you are writing for an audience. Copywriting should be personal to your audience. This is why research is so important. It is not just about finding the medium to engage an audience or the pain points that you can relieve. It is about understanding their register - the voice they use to communicate with their peers. This is true for the words that you use and for the grammar rules that you follow. 

Does this mean patronising an audience by filling it full of phatic language and slang? No.

Does this mean trying to impress them by using the word armamentarium correctly? No.

It does mean knowing which audiences might baulk at the idea of a double negative. Or may glance twice at an adverb at the beginning of a sentence.

Neither of the above features of language says anything about the quality of your copywriting or about your audience's intelligence. They are frameworks, like any other tool in the copywriter’s arsenal. Tools you use with thought and flexibility.

Conclusion

The first step should always be to listen rather than to impress or correct. 

Learning how to speak your client’s language will be more rewarding than adhering to grammatical rules we half remember from school. 

The above blog illustrates how easy it is to get lost in the world of copywriting. Even the most knowledgeable and attentive writer can become lost in the weeds. If you need new copy for your website or your social media presence needs more impact contact  Wehi Web  today.