Storytelling is one of the most powerful marketing tools in business writing. Every web page, blog article, white paper, and case study is an opportunity for you to tell your company’s story. To maximize your content’s impact on your readers, you’ll need careful and strategic editing to remove unnecessary verbiage and strengthen your story.
Editing out clutter is a little easier said than done. You have to identify the fluff and maximize the impact of every word so your content delivers value to your audience. This will take some time and practice, but the more clutter you edit out, the stronger your story will be.
How cutting the fluff will strengthen your story
By definition, “fluff” is needless words, phrases, or sentences that don’t add value to your content. The language might seem redundant, or the information might be irrelevant to the message you want to communicate. Some business writers also drop too many adjectives and adverbs into their content, making for long, drawn-out sentences and paragraphs that sometimes lead to the reader losing interest.
Cutting the fluff when you edit your content helps ensure that each word and phrase is strong and impactful. Your message will be clear and precise instead of being muddled by fluffy language.
As a bonus, delivering shorter, stronger, and more impactful content to your target audience shows that you respect readers’ time. Your current and prospective customers are likely as busy as you are, so don’t waste their reading time with fluff—offer them a well-edited piece of content that makes the most out of every word.
Tips to identify clutter and fluff
When they learn the definition of “fluff,” most professional business content creators immediately begin cutting it from their drafts, thereby strengthening their stories. However, sometimes it can be difficult to identify the clutter that needs to be cut, especially if you self-edit rather than work with professional editing services.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to spot and remove fluff in your draft. Here are a few starting points:
- Stay focused on the content’s main purpose, and leave out irrelevant topics or tangents.
- Use active voice rather than passive voice as often as possible.
- Cut redundant words like “really” and “very.”
- Avoid industry-specific jargon that requires definitions or context.
Another way to strengthen your story and keep your audience’s attention is to consider the overall length of your blog and how long it’ll take the average person to read. For example, a 1,000-word blog generally takes about four minutes to read, and you can make your content longer or shorter depending on your industry norms and demographic.
Hacks to maximize every word
It’s hard enough to capture your target audience’s attention, and it’s even harder to keep them reading your content. You have to make every word count in each piece of high-quality business writing—but after you’ve identified and cut the fluff, how do you strengthen your story and keep readers engaged?
Start by incorporating stronger language and power words into your content. These impactful words lend themselves to your business’s story and evoke an emotional response or reaction from the reader. Common examples include:
- Exhilarating or thrilling instead of “exciting”
- Captivating or enthralling instead of “interesting”
- Inspired or empowered instead of “led to”
Another way to maximize each word and sentence in your business’s content is by adjusting the structure to accommodate your target audience. When people land on your web page or blog post—or when they receive a copy of your white paper—they want to see the text broken up with headings, subheadings, and (when applicable) visuals like images or infographics.
Instead of presenting your readers with an intimidating page full of text, give them some breaks. Write short three- or four-sentence paragraphs, organize your content under headings, and add in some interesting visual aspects. If you’re not confident that your writing is providing maximum value to your readers, just call in the experts for help.
Elite’s expert editors are here to strengthen your story!
We’re the experts in all things editing, from decluttering your draft to maximizing each word’s impact and helping your story resonate with your target audience. We can’t wait to help your business earn the attention and engagement you deserve with high-quality, powerful content.
Ready to build trust and create content that deserves attention? Contact us today—we’d love to help!
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