5 Steps to More Credible Articles (and Other Marketing Content)

With the popularity of AI and Google algorithm standards that emphasize trustworthy content, I’ve considered how to write more credible articles.

Because generative AI may “hallucinate” or spin facts and sources, you can question the accuracy of what you read these days. On the other hand, Google E-E-A-T standards rank pages with credible sources that answer readers’ questions higher.

As I’ve learned, beyond the obvious options to write more credible articles, you can foster customers’ trust in surprising ways. When the usual tactics have failed, they may revitalize your marketing and win you better clients. 

1. Admit your faults early – As Robert Cialdini wrote in “Influence,” if you must reveal a product or service flaw, do it early “so the credibility it provides will color the rest of the appeal.” Afterward, stress the strongest argument or feature, which can outweigh the negative.

Example: In 2009, after a focus group video surfaced, in Domino’s Pizza’s Pizza Turnaround campaign, they admitted their pies weren’t up to par. They featured customer feedback that criticized the taste and quality. They then introduced a new recipe. To regain customer trust and loyalty, they also accented fresher ingredients and their commitment to a better taste. By 2017, the company had become the #1 pizza chain in the U.S.

2. Add trust-building terms – In an ad, a car service firm stated “You can trust us to do the job for you,” which scored well with customers, at 33 percent. The words and phrases “fair treatment,” “quality,” and “competency” also ranked highly. Conveying an expectation of trust showed they trusted customers. Customers then trusted them (“Brainfluence” by Roger Dooley). This wording could work especially well in business taglines and calls-to-action.

3. Make statistics relatable “Made to Stick” authors Chip and Dan Heath suggest you use statistics as a way to inform rather than support your beliefs. Besides writing figures (which can be skewed) to show that connection, express them in concrete terms.

Example: “For less than the cost of a burger and fries every day, you can buy a week’s worth of nutritious meals for a hungry child.”

4. Win with your title – As shown in “Influence,” a person’s title affects our actions more than their claims. With the “halo effect,” we tend to consider a credible authority a trustworthy expert. A newspaper editorial by an authority has a “large and lasting influence over readers’ opinions.” In one set of studies, that amounted to 20 percentage points higher, regardless of the author’s age, sex, or political leanings. 

5. Establish social proof – According to research, as part of a “herd mentality,” we tend to follow others’ actions for cues to proper social behavior. If you lack specific evidence for the effectiveness of a marketing campaign, rely on rising interest, such as customer buying patterns. For example, restaurants sometimes spotlight popular menu items. If you have numbers to back that up, they can yield even better results.

Writing more credible articles is one way to sharpen your image. What we reflect we tend to attract. If your copy is sloppy or doesn’t speak in your brand voice, seek to win better clients with better content.

How do you build trust and credibility with your content? Feel free to comment below.

Quotes

“The most essential quality for leadership is not perfection but credibility. People must be able to trust you.” ~ Rick Warren

“Accuracy builds credibility” ~ Jim Rohn

5 Ways to Simplify Complex Concepts in Your Writing

1. Find the core – Chip and Dan Heath, authors of “Made to Stick,” believe that “the curse of knowledge” hampers our ability to simplify complex ideas. We struggle to share what we know because we can’t readily recreate our readers’ states of mind. One way around this problem is to make your ideas “sticky” or memorable.

They suggest you find “the single most important thing.” To get to the point, weave this central idea into everything from articles to slogans.

2. Compare – The Heath brothers also recommend you tap into existing schemas. Schemas consist of information stored in our memories, like when someone tells you they saw a sports car, and it brings to mind the image of a red sedan.

Analogies, such as similes and metaphors, draw their power from schemas. Such comparisons also ease our understanding of concepts.

Example: The internet is like an ocean (simile); the internet is a sea of information (metaphor).

3. Reframe it as a story  This method can work well to explain technical terms. For example, in the movie “The Big Short,” singer/actor Selena Gomez and chef Anthony Bourdain periodically tell stories that explain financial concepts.

4. Structure it – Breaking down your ideas prevents you from delivering them all at once, resulting in information overload. Simplify your ideas through:

  • Numbering steps in a logical order
  • Separating sentences or phrases with bullet points
  • Showing a map or a diagram, such as a concept map that shows relationships between different ideas

5. Simplify – The bigger the idea or more complex the wording, the harder it can be to understand. Cut the clutter through:

  • Giving examples
  • Turning jargon or technical terms (gibberish) into everyday English through shorter words and phrases
  • Avoiding puns and other forms of wordplay
  • Writing as if you’re explaining the concept to a 12-year-old; instead of dumbing it down, “show” rather than “tell.” Example: In explaining how to tie a Gordian knot, you could start with the statement “Imagine you have two strings, like the ones you use to tie your shoes. Let’s call them String A and String B.”

For more insights on how to simplify complex concepts in your writing, read 5 Ways to Think Clearly to Write Clearly.

Discover how business writing coaching can help you simplify complex wording and ideas.

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How do you simplify complex concepts in your writing? Feel free to comment below.


Quotes

“Use the ‘Will my Mom understand this?’ testing method before you publish.” ~ Amy Higgins, Senior Director, Content Strategy, Twilio

“The Golden Rule is the ultimate model of simplicity: a one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning to follow it.” ~ Chip and Dan Heath, “Made to Stick”

5 More Ways to Find the Right Word

1. Word association – To find the right word, think of a term that sounds like the one you’re looking for. Ask yourself which one pops into your mind first. Words to Use takes this further, providing sentence prompts based on parts of speech to help you find the right word.

Word association has been used in psychology and in marketing; Carl Jung’s word association tests explored how the unconscious mind influences human behavior. Marketing researchers have analyzed terms with positive connections, such as power words and sensory words. Use them to find the right word and vary your choices.

2. Play it by ear – Say the word or phrase linked to the term aloud. See if your mind will fill in the gap with the ideal one. If it still won’t come out, ask yourself what the word looks or sounds like. Is it a noun, a verb, or an adjective? Or a person, a place, or a thing? How many syllables or accents does it have? A rhyming dictionary can guide you to similar words.

3. Get specific  Describe the word you’re looking for. The right image might come to mind. Concrete terms also let readers see what you describe.

  • Example: A bowl of fruit
  • Revised: A basket of bananas

If you’re learning English, a picture dictionary can be helpful as it shows images with the words they represent.

4. Try thesaurus tools – Among my favorite alternatives to a thesaurus is Related Words. Beyond word searches, the One Look Thesaurus lets you enter phrases related to the term.

5. Ask – In a roundabout way, this worked for George Harrison. Talk to someone good with English or seek advice in online forums. We’re here to help each other.

For more insights, read 5 Ways to Find the Right Words.

Coaching tailored to your unique writing challenges can help you find the right word.

BOOK A FREE COACHING CONSULTATION

How do you find the “write” words? Feel free to comment below.


Quotes

“I do not choose the right word. I get rid of the wrong one. Period.” ~ A.E. Housman

“The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter. It’s the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightening.” ~ Mark Twain


Comments? Suggestions? Need help with your communications? Contact me.

5 Steps to Effective Business Writing

1. Clarity – This aspect tops William Zinsser’s four principles of good English and many writing teachers’ lists. Effective business writing is easy to understand. It leaves readers without questions. Clear thinking leads to clear writing.

As part of effective business writing, a fountain pen writes on a lined sheet of paper in black ink.

Example (blog post): The Elder Law Center of Kirson and Fuller: How Much Money Can You Give Away and Still Qualify for Medicaid?

One way to test writing for clarity is to check the readability level. The longer the words and sentences, the higher the reading level, which goes by grade-school levels. Grammar experts suggest that effective business writing for professionals read at a sixth-grade level.

Depending on your readership, aim for higher or lower levels. Measure them with the Flesch-Kincaid scale or the Hemingway App, which calculates the readability and highlights passages in a work that affect it.

2. Conciseness – Concise writing includes only the information a reader needs to understand it. As Strunk and White advised in “The Elements of Style,” every word or sentence doesn’t have to be short, but every word should “tell.” Essentially, remove passages that detract from the meaning of the work, are vague, or repeat the same information. Concise content is written in plain English — like you speak — free of jargon.

Example: In order to process your order, we need more information.
Revised: To process your order, we need your shipping address.

3. Correctness – Effective business writing meets basic grammar rules and contains proper spelling and punctuation. Beyond that, views on style vary. Depending on the style you prefer, you may format words or punctuation differently.

Example: The term “health care”: some organizations don’t place a space between the words (“healthcare”).

Regarding facts, AI software can “hallucinate,” or make up information and sources. Verify any data and prefer reputable sources.

4. Tone – Zinsser calls this “humanity.” Your target audience, your subject matter, and the type of document you’re writing can determine the proper emotion to convey. In some contexts, humor requires care because not everyone can get the joke or find it appropriate. AI software could write in a flat tone. Sentences written in the passive voice are also emotionless, as they avoid referring to the subject (“Mistakes were made.”). While you write to them, slip on your readers’ shoes and imagine how they think and feel.

5. Scannability – Online, people tend to skim rather than read text fully. Formatting for scannability also aids accessibility. If you think more verbally than visually, you can overlook this part of effective business writing.

For example, sort items in a series with bullet points or organize related, but separate sentences into a numbered list. Separate blocks of paragraphs with graphics or subheadings. (If your paragraphs are long, they might need more editing.) Words highlighted with hyperlinks stand out.

To assess whether to format for scannability, the Digital Marketing Institute suggests taking the five-second usability test:

  • If you see a web page for five seconds, can you recall important parts of it?
  • Did you notice the purpose of the content?
  • Did you see which steps the author wanted you to take next?

Boost your business writing with one-on-one advice that solves your writing problems.

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What do you think are hallmarks of effective business writing? Feel free to comment below.


Quotes

“Never use jargon words like ‘reconceptualize,’ ‘demassification,’ ‘additudinally,’ ‘judgementally.’ They are the hallmarks of a pretentious ass.” ~ David Ogilvy

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” ~ Lee Iacocca


Comments? Suggestions? Need help with your communications? Contact me.

5 Steps to Write a Good Newsletter Article for Business



A "mail" icon on a computer screen. Testing how your emails look in email software can help you write a good newsletter.

1. Explore Your “Why” to Get to Your “What” – Businesses usually send newsletters to get more leads. How do you write a good newsletter article? If you know why you’re sending a newsletter and have already decided on a theme for it, fit your article into that overall topic. Otherwise, brainstorm subjects based on any existing customer data or what’s trending.

To refine your topic, link your article goals to the different stages of the buyer’s journey: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision-Making. Artificial intelligence software can prompt ideas that align with your customer data and your goals, too. 

2. Finding the Format: Another Way to Generate an Engaging Topic – Narrowing down the subject refines the article template. The format may also frame the topic. Common newsletter articles include:

  • A news brief
  • An editor’s or “welcome” note
  • A teaser for a blog post

3. Consider Storytelling – Your article should be useful, or in marketing terms, offer value. To help readers identify with you, tell a story. Michael Katz, who teaches professionals how to understand marketing, details his storytelling method effectively. To find good stories, list interesting things you saw or experienced recently, such as a colorful rainbow or a fun trip. Think about experiences you’ve shared.

Tie one to a useful business lesson or insight connected to your expertise. Then describe the experience, elaborating on the lesson. 

Example: HORNE newsletter: Uphill Goals and Downhill Habits

4. Get Organized – Newsletter articles tend to be brief and pull text from other sources, like blogs or landing pages. Research, is easier before you draft an outline. As you plan the beginning, middle, and end, outside of listicles, consider the basic AIDA format (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action). When you write, follow the guidelines outlined in the AMA Handbook of Business Writing, which include using a title that attracts curiosity and short, focused paragraphs.

5. Prepare Your Article – To apply the finishing touches, edit and proofread and check for scannability and accessibility. Ensure the content has breathing room and that it follows a logical order throughout.

This is a shorter version of How to Write a Newsletter Article, which covers the process more in-depth and features advice about using artificial intelligence and interesting quotes.

How do you write a good newsletter article? Feel free to comment below.

Quotes

“You can’t go wrong by providing value to your readers. If you know your readers well and you have expertise that can help them solve some of their common problems, email newsletters are a great place to share that expertise. But make sure to provide content that is truly unique and informative. You want to make sure you’re offering value and not adding to the clutter.” ~ Kathy Bryan, Electives

“A personal story is effective because you can tie it into writing a newsletter article effortlessly.” ~ Carmine Mastropierro, How to Write a Newsletter: Step-by-Step Guide

Comments? Suggestions? Need help with your communications? Contact me.