The Visual Copywriter:
Using both sides of the brain

Most copywriters think verbally, placing great emphasis on selecting words; then combining them into phrases, sentences and paragraphs. To most, the art director or designer is responsible for making all of those words look pretty.

But design folks cannot do the job alone. Writers must use both the verbal and visual parts of their brain, to do their part to assure that the copy is written so that the art director can make the copy easy to read and highly scannable.

Scanability: The marketing communication
professional’s “secret weapon”

When I work on a piece of copy, I try to make sure that the copy has a high degree of scannability. My test is whether or not a quick scan of headlines, subheads and bullets communicate important points even if the copy is not read complete from beginning to end.

You see, it is rare for a piece of marketing communication copy to be read front to back in its entirety. Most people will tend to scan it first to see whether or not it is worth reading. Then, they will tend to read the sections that interest them most, skipping sections that interest them least. Some will even read pages from back to front.

I call scanability a “secret weapon” because many of the brochures and direct mail packages I see don’t track well at all. The writer has assumed that the audience will read every word in strict order. Depending on that assumption is a peril to good communication.

Give your art directors important
visual communication tools

Some of the tools for enhancing scanability include:

• Generous use of subheads, every few paragraphs or so, that help readers track through the copy
  
  
• Using call-outs, quotes pulled from the copy and run alongside in larger type, that communicate important messages that may otherwise be buried
  
  
• Keeping paragraphs short, to make the copy seem less burdensome to read
  
  
• Use of captions for pictures, charts and graphs. Studies show that captions have higher readership than body copy
  
  

Art directors can’t do their part to create visually compelling pieces unless they have the tools to do so. So before you send that next draft to the designer, be sure it passes the scannability test.

         -Richard Bloch

Specializing in: 
• Direct response
• Sales lead generation
• Technical writing
• Email & Web
• Articles
• White papers
• Newsletters
• Brochures
• Data sheets