When Writing Copy Ask This Question

If I was the reader, will I engage with this copy?

I was recently reviewing the LinkedIn profile summary of a client.

As I went through it, I noticed that he had written a good first version of the summary, but he has said too much. 

You see, LinkedIn has a 2000-character limit for a summary at the time of this writing.

And the words he wrote took 4000 characters.

A very long copy is ok for a landing page, but on a LinkedIn summary, less is better.

I asked him whether he would read such a long summary if he came across it and how often he reads summaries of LinkedIn profiles.

He understood that it is not wise to think that our users behave differently than us.

Next time, you are writing an important email, copy for a landing page, or a social media post where you want another person to take action or engage with what you wrote.

Ask yourself if you will engage if you came across those words as a reader.

If the answer is yes, then go ahead and publish.

If the answer is no, then go back and edit or rewrite until you make it so that you’ll be excited to read and happy to engage with it.

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