According to Financial Advisor magazine, poor communication is the No. 1 reason clients leave their financial advisors. And during times of volatility, timely and effective communication is doubly important.
But that does not mean advisors should rush out to write something. Going too quickly can often result in poor quality, which can be almost as bad as never communicating.
Luckily, following a few copywriting golden rules, you can write an effective message while still saving yourself time. Read on to learn more about these five rules and how you can use them to improve your client communications.
1. Use The Right Formatting
Always think of your reader when formatting your writing. What do they want? Like most of us, they’re looking to receive the information they’re looking for as quickly as possible.
The best way to do this is to ensure your message is concise. Consider headers and sentence breaks, and never write in large, blocked paragraphs—in short, make your writing skimmable.
Readers can then determine what information they deem is worth their attention and move between sections with ease. Effective formatting can also be used to help highlight certain elements of your message. For example, a link in an email will stand out better if it isn’t surrounded by other text.
The exact format of your message will depend on its content, but whether it’s a blog or email, the writing style will remain much the same.
2. Write As You Speak
Formal writing is often the standard in business, but in many cases, a lighter approach can be more effective and relatable. Readers want to feel like they’re reading something from a person, especially if that person is handling their finances.
For this reason, try using conversational language in your communications when possible. Of course, how lighthearted you get will depend on your brand. So only write conversationally when appropriate.
Such an approach can benefit all forms of communications, from emails and blogs to social posts. For example, a social post that’s more relatable often garners more engagement. After all, people prefer to connect with people rather than brands.
3. Write For Your Customers, Not Yourself
The main goal of copywriting is to prompt the readers to action, whether that’s getting them to sign up for a newsletter, get a quote or make a purchase. That’s why it’s important to write for your customers, not for your company.
But beyond formatting, how can you do that? A great place to start is to look at your company’s testimonials and messages. What sort of language does your audience use? What kind of problems do they want to be solved, and how can you present yourself as a solution?
You want your clients to know that your content is timely, so your research must be as recent as your customers’ concerns. That’s also good for your prospects, because timely research demonstrates your expertise and awareness to them and improves the chances they contact you.
4. Use Imagery To Support Your Copy
You can get your points across with good copy, but it’s not the only way to share messages. Images can be used to share data, describe concepts and break apart your text, effectively improving your engagement with clients.
In fact, research shows that content with images receives up to 40% more shares than imageless counterparts.
Since humans can interpret images faster than they can a large wall of text, pictures are able to instantly communicate messages the text can’t. That means readers can more easily skim the articles, which have become more engaging to them.
Besides offering graphs and data, images can add levity to messages, especially in emails and social posts. And visuals help strengthen your brand.
5. Prioritize Active Voice
When you use active voice, it makes your writing more engaging and clearer, which are essential qualities in client communication and marketing as a whole.
Compare these two sentences, for example:
• Your marketing will be handled by us.
• We’ll handle your marketing.
Both say the same thing, but the second sentence is easier to read. It’s more direct; in fact, it’s shorter. And it’s written in the active voice.
That doesn’t mean a passive voice can’t work its way into your writing. Just aim for an active voice as often as possible.
Next time you’re writing an email, a blog or a social post, consider these five golden rules to write faster without compromising the quality of your communications.
Susan Theder is the chief marketing and experience officer at FMG Suite.