As an English major, I could probably write an analytical essay in my sleep. It’s composed of a compelling hook, a thesis statement, and evidence paired with analysis to connect everything into a cohesive argument. There are usually a plethora of paragraphs, the exact number depending on how many are necessary to cover all of the material. My favorite professor once said that ‘Writing an essay is not an art, and it isn’t a science either. It’s a craft, like building a chair.’ Once I had gotten a handle of the craft, I felt so confident about my writing. I followed the set instructions, and after meticulous editing, an essay was formed. This summer, I took an internship at a marketing agency, where I was involved in content drafting for websites, positioning statements and social media. It showed me that the skills I employ for essays are not always the same skills needed for marketing, and furthermore, writing for marketing requires an entirely new set of tools I hadn’t acquired prior to this summer.
One of the first posts I wrote for Fortify’s LinkedIn was about Juneteenth. I spent a lot of time researching the history of the event. I gathered my evidence, and started stringing sentences together to fit an argument. I read back my work and realized I was incorporating my research into the post like it was a term paper. The post was long, thorough, and ready to submit to a college professor. For that reason, I realized quickly that it needed to be rewritten.
Before my internship, I never spent much time on LinkedIn. My only connections were with my close friends, and I didn’t think of it as an asset but rather as a thing everyone just had. I figured, in order to write a LinkedIn post, I needed to become more well acquainted with the platform. I noticed pretty fast after a quick scroll that people usually had a good hook as their first sentence. It has to be something that grabs your attention. This part was no different from an essay, but everything that comes after that initial sentence is completely different.
Actionable Advice for Transitioning to Marketing Copy
Isolate Your Hook with Line Breaks
A method I started implementing in my posts after noticing other people doing it is cutting up the first sentence from the second with line breaks. This method implores the reader to pause to see what is at the heart of the post. By formatting like this, it builds engagement through curiosity. But even with the reader’s attention gained, there’s still a risk of them scrolling. Therefore, it’s crucial to put as much important information—including the supposed “evidence” and analysis—in as few words as possible.
Condense Research to the Core Insight and Audit for Time, Not Word Count
LinkedIn posts are best written short and sweet. You can’t overwhelm your audience with a five page essay. After all, these posts aren’t being read by college professors and teachers with the job description of reading essays, but rather they’re being read by business professionals with grueling jobs of their own and responsibilities that don’t provide allocated time to read LinkedIn posts. Posts for marketing have to be written in a way that sticks in your head, like the short amount of posts that stuck in mine after I scrolled through when trying to understand the language of marketing.
Invite the Reader In with "We"
Another technique I’ve adopted is storytelling. I incorporated this for Fortify’s Bunker Hill and Juneteenth posts. In academic writing, I rely on formal quotes and historical context, such as “According to the History Channel, ‘Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when enslaved Texans learned they were free,’ showcasing that slavery was still rampant in America even after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.” But for LinkedIn, it’s important to put the reader into the story to hold their attention. For example, I wrote for Juneteenth that it symbolized “the second true Independence Day in America, yet the holiday remained largely unknown to the American public. In 2021, this important holiday was finally nationally recognized, and now, five years later, we celebrate both how far our country has come since then, and how much we still need to improve.” For the writing I do for my major, the use of the pronoun “we” is completely off limits, and is always scratched out in red pen by professors. But on LinkedIn, it places the reader in the situation with the event, making it more engaging and interesting.
Collaborate with Visual Elements
Another crucial aspect of writing for marketing doesn’t involve writing at all: it’s the infographics that go with it. When writing LinkedIn posts, I’m doing it in tandem with Kyle Garcia, Fortify’s graphic designer. With my words as part of the inspiration, he’d create a graphic that would pull the reader into the post even further than the initial first sentence hook.
When writing an analytical essay, you usually have ten to twenty pages to get your point across. With marketing writing, you’re lucky if you have a paragraph. By relearning how to write and finding the most effective ways to grab people’s attention through quick, informative sentences, I also learned the importance of examining the audience. Who is this post going to reach? How much time do we have until they scroll? How do we not only grab their attention, but keep it long enough to introduce our services? These questions informed my writing for the summer, and I plan to carry these marketing skills back with me as I finish my English degree at Boston College.