As more and more people get used to reading pithy online copy, attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Print copy is increasingly being influenced by this trend as well.

These are all important considerations when creating sales brochures, letters and direct mailers.

Try to imagine that you are only given 20-30 seconds on stage to tell a very well informed audience why they should be contacting or buying from you. You probably won’t waste too much time second-guessing what you think customers want to hear and you’re more likely to go straight to the point as quickly as possible.

How would you do that eloquently in print? Here are some suggestions.

1. Find out what’s out there

It is useful to do a quick search to find out what analysts and the media are saying about your industry. Keep in mind some key points you may need to cover in your sales materials, in order to demonstrate that your company is on top of industry developments.

Find out how competitors describe themselves and find a way to distinguish your company from the phrases and terms they use.

2. State your arguments upfront

You have the same target audience as all your competitors, so don’t end up saying the things you think your customers want to know – because everyone else will be saying the same thing.

Keep the company description very brief (not more than 150 words if possible) and state the arguments for being the better choice for your customers very early on in the content. Provide the answers to “why choose us?” as quickly as possible.

3. Stick with 3 key corporate messages

What are the most crucial “take-away”messages? Be disciplined and keep them to just three (short) points, because that’s all people are likely to remember. Repeat these points throughout your sales materials if you can.

To help identify these corporate messages, ask yourself:

• How do we meet our customers’ needs better than the competition? Can we substantiate this?
• How do we want to be remembered for?
• What are some key (search) words we want to use?

4. Keep it punchy

Keep your sentences to the point or use lists for your:

• Products or services
• Customer benefits
• Ways that customers can contact you
• Where customers can find you

Here are some tips on sentence structure.

• Keep your sentences to 20 words.
• Have each sentence convey one core idea, not two or more.
• Remove words that are not necessary. For example, “good copy writing requires that a writer first understands his/her client’s brief” can be shortened to “good copy writers understand their clients’ briefs”.
• Make sure each sentence has value. Otherwise, don’t hesitate to crop it out.
• Use sub headings and words in bold to help readers to grasp your key points immediately.

5. Use “call-out” boxes and other graphic tools

Help create side bars or boxes to highlight key points instead of burying them in your main copy. Highlight contact details, offer deadlines, instructions on how to order, why customers prefer your company etc.

Use diagrams and photos to illustrate product or service features, your value chain, how your teams work to solve a customer problem or operating instructions.

6. Make your headlines “sell”

Specify benefits, guarantees or your call-to-action in your headlines.

Use questions that are directed at your customers’ needs and then lead into how you meet such needs.

7. Substantiate

In order to convince your customer to reach for their mouse or phone to contact you, show them:

• Proof (newspaper headlines, customer testimonials, case studies)
• Comparisons
• A summary of your best technical details
• Third party research
• Your own analysis

8. Create a compelling call-to-action

Use compelling words such as ‘proven’, ‘scientific, ‘revealed’ and ‘breakthrough’.

Spend time on understanding what are your customers’ ‘trigger points’. If your customers are most likely interested in tapping future trends for example, make your contents forward-looking and tell your customers to contact you so that you can help them take full advantage of upcoming opportunities.

Or you can make an offer to them for a limited time period only.

9. Personalise it

Always remember, people make decisions, companies don’t.

Personalise your copy. Bold the salutation with your customer’s name in it. Get hold of the newspapers, websites or magazines they tend to read so you can write in similar language. Do not however, use jargon.

10. Digitalise it

Last but not least, don’t forget is to create user-friendly versions of your sales materials for hand-held devices, especially iphones, blackberries and tablets!