Reporters hate PR quotes
What’s the least important element in a release — less important even than the dateline or the boilerplate?
Quotes, say one in four reporters surveyed in a study by Greentarget.… Read the full article
research
How to conduct observational research
Try WBHA, or writing by hanging around
You’ve heard about MBWA, or management by walking around? Try WBHA, or writing by hanging around — going to the scene to observe.… Read the full article
Do hashtags #help?
When it comes to retweeting, they do, says Dan Zarrella
Love them or hate them, hashtags may help you increase retweets.
Or so says Dan Zarrella, HubSpot’s viral marketing scientist.… Read the full article
Write email subject lines that get opened
Target the recipient to boost email analytics
Useful information is among the top three reasons people share information via email or social media, according to research by Chadwick Martin Bailey:
- Because I find it interesting/entertaining (72%)
- Because I think it will be helpful to recipients (58%)
- To get a laugh (58%)
Those findings echo research by three professors at Carnegie Mellon University.… Read the full article
How to find feature, benefit
Ask the right questions in the interview
Having trouble finding reader benefits? Maybe you need to ask different questions.
Ask your subject matter experts:
- What happens if our customers buy this product or service?
What is the writing process?
3 steps to writing better, easier & faster
While we talk a lot about what to write — More stories! Fewer words! Shorter sentences! — we don’t focus so much on how.… Read the full article
Redefine the way you define terms
5 ways to rethink definitions
When I was customizing an in-house writing workshop for a utility company, I wanted to see whether there was a better way to define kilowatt hour, or kWh, for consumers.… Read the full article
Make a scene
Description adds color to even the most drab story
Google: It may be the next best thing to being there.
The best way to get description is to go to the scene and observe.… Read the full article
Choose a writing structure that’s more likely to get shared
Features go viral more often, says Reuters Institute
While news stories make up the bulk of the content on three European news sites, most of the most-shared stories are features.… Read the full article
Why is clarity so important?
6 myths of complicated copy
Why make copy clearer and more readable?
In “Complex to Clear: Managing Clarity in Corporate Communication,” two researchers at the University of St.… Read the full article