7 Ways to Cut Copy Ruthlessly

First of all, you can do it. I believe in you. It’s not that serious.  

Secondly, you’ve already read more than the average person will read of marketing copy. The first few words are crucial. After that, shoppers are either exiting, clicking, or skimming.

This is not to say that every bit of copy isn’t important. Every word is becoming increasingly important as attention spans get shorter and shorter.

1. Decide the hierarchy of information, from most important to least. Great merchants and marketing partners will often give us all the details. Some of it is going to end up on the cutting room floor. 

2. Eliminate redundancies: Phrases like "free gift" or "true facts" contain unnecessary words. A gift is always free; facts are always true.

3. Kill the fill. Adverbs like "really," "very," "just," and conjunctions like "that" or “but” can often be removed without changing the meaning of a sentence.

4. Cut the fluff. While descriptive words can add color, “amazing” “delicious” and “chic” are overused anyway.

5. Stay active. Passive voice tends to be wordier. For example, "The book was read by her" can be changed to "She read the book." That’s two less words which matters in some channels.

6. Merge, merge, merge. If you have two sentences that convey closely related ideas, consider combining them. For instance, "We offer free shipping. It's available for orders over $50." can become "We offer free shipping on orders over $50" which can become “Free shipping on orders $50+”.

7. Read aloud. Hearing the copy can help you identify wordy or awkward sections.

Few brands can pull off long blocks of storytelling and romance. Many brands reference Reformation as a leader in tone - but they may not realize that the average Ref email has 15 words. 

Let this serve as an example that whether the asset is a sign in a window, packaging copy, a benefit on a strip on a store shelf, a tag on a jacket, or an entire email, practicing the art of succinct storytelling is always a good idea.