6 Tactical Tips and Tricks for Writing (Solo Edition) - The Marketing Millennials

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Marketing Millennials Episode: 6 - Tactical Tips and Tricks for Writing (Solo Edition)
Host: Daniel Murray
Release Date: March 14, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 6 of The Marketing Millennials, host Daniel Murray takes center stage in a solo edition dedicated to enhancing your writing skills for effective marketing. Drawing from his experience in crafting the podcast and managing social media growth, Daniel offers six actionable writing tips designed to help marketers create content that is engaging, shareable, and memorable. This episode is a goldmine for anyone looking to refine their writing approach and break free from the mundane, robotic corporate jargon that plagues much of today's digital communication.

1. Start with a Hook That Grabs Attention

Timestamp: [00:27] – [02:00]

Daniel emphasizes the critical importance of the opening sentence in capturing your audience's attention. He states, "Most people decide if they're going to keep reading in the first two seconds. If your first sentence is weak, you've already lost" ([00:40]). To avoid this early dropout, Daniel advises making your first sentence impossible to ignore by being bold, calling out common mistakes, or being relatable. For instance:

Bold Statement: "Nobody is reading your emails. Here's why."
Calling Out Mistakes: "Most people write like this. They shouldn't."
Relatability: "If you ever open an email and immediately regretted it, look at your last email social post article you wrote."

By crafting a compelling hook, you set the stage for readers to engage with your content fully.

2. Cut the Fluff

Timestamp: [02:00] – [03:30]

Fluff and verbosity can dilute your message and disengage your audience. Daniel urges writers to "write like you talk" ([02:05]). He contrasts a bloated sentence with a clear, concise alternative:

Before: "In today's fast paced world, communication is essential."
After: "In this fast-paced world, clear communication is a must."

To achieve clarity, he recommends reading your writing out loud to ensure it doesn't sound awkward or robotic. Additionally, using tools like Google Docs' voice-to-text feature can help produce more natural-sounding content, which can then be edited for precision.

3. Make a Format for Skimmability

Timestamp: [03:30] – [04:30]

With readers often skimming content rather than reading it thoroughly, Daniel highlights the necessity of making your writing easily scannable. He suggests:

Breaking Up Text: Avoid large blocks of text by using short sentences and paragraphs.
Utilizing White Space: Leverage spacing to make content less intimidating.
Highlighting Key Points: Use bold text to emphasize essential information.

Daniel challenges writers to take a paragraph they've written and restructure it into shorter, more skimmable sentences, demonstrating how much easier it becomes to read and comprehend.

4. Have a Strong Opinion

Timestamp: [04:30] – [05:30]

Daniel believes that having a strong, clear opinion is crucial for content to resonate and provoke engagement. He advises against lukewarm statements like, "AI is changing communication," and instead advocates for more assertive takes such as, "AI won't replace writers, but the lazy ones" ([04:50]). By adopting a passionate stance on topics that matter to you or your audience, you not only spark conversations but also attract devoted followers—even if that means garnering a few detractors.

5. Make It Feel Human

Timestamp: [05:30] – [06:00]

Authenticity is key in making your writing relatable and engaging. Daniel underscores the importance of writing that makes the reader feel seen and understood. He mentions, "The best writing makes the reader feel seen" ([05:40]). To achieve this, aim to:

Be Direct: Avoid unnecessary fillers and get straight to the point.
Reflect Real Conversations: Ensure your writing mirrors how you speak.
Encourage Empathy: Let readers see themselves in your content.

In the age of AI-generated content, maintaining a human touch is more important than ever. Daniel advises asking yourself, "Does this feel like a real person wrote it?" before publishing.

6. End with a Conversation Starter

Timestamp: [06:00] – [06:06]

To foster engagement and interaction, Daniel recommends concluding your pieces with a question or prompt that invites readers to respond. Examples include:

"What's the worst writing advice you've ever seen?"
"What's the last sentence that made you stop and pay attention?"

Encouraging engagement not only boosts interaction but also enhances the deliverability of your emails and the visibility of your social media posts.

Conclusion

Daniel Murray's sixth solo episode on The Marketing Millennials provides a comprehensive toolkit for marketers seeking to elevate their writing. By starting with a strong hook, eliminating fluff, ensuring skimmability, expressing strong opinions, maintaining a human touch, and ending with conversation starters, listeners are equipped with practical strategies to create impactful and engaging content. Implementing these six tips will help your writing stand out in a crowded digital landscape, ensuring it gets read, shared, and remembered.

Key Takeaways:

First Impressions Matter: Craft an attention-grabbing opening to retain readers.
Clarity Over Complexity: Remove unnecessary words and simplify your language.
Readability is Crucial: Structure your content for easy scanning.
Express Yourself: Don't shy away from sharing strong opinions.
Stay Authentic: Let your personality and humanity shine through your writing.
Engage Your Audience: Use questions to invite interaction and foster community.

Implement these strategies to transform your writing from mundane to memorable, ensuring your marketing efforts resonate with your audience.

Transcript

A (0:01)

Welcome to the Marketing Millennials, the no BS Marketing podcast. I'm Daniel Murray and join me for unfiltered conversations with the brains behind Marketing's coolest companies. The one request I tell our guests stories or it didn't happen. Get ready to turn the top.

B (0:27)

Welcome back to another episode of the Marketing Millennials. Today I'm solo and I'm going to chat about some writing tips and tricks I learned from writing the Marketing Millennials and growing social media. And I'm just going to give you some tactical tips that you can take and use today. A lot of writing out there from brands. You've seen it. It's boring, it's over explained. It's stuff with fluff that nobody asked for. If you ever spend time on LinkedIn, Twitter, or honestly just reading emails, you know what I mean? It's full of robotic corporate speak that makes you just want to tap out immediately. So I'm going to break down six simple tactical ways to write in a way that actually gets read, shared and remembered. Number one tip is start with a hook that grabs attention. Most people decide if they're going to keep reading in the first two seconds. If your first sentence is weak, you've already lost. Here's the rule. Make it impossible to ignore. So you could say something bold like nobody is reading your emails. Here's why. Or call out a mistake. Most people write like this. They shouldn't. Or be relatable. If you ever open an email and immediately regretted it, look at your last email social post article you wrote. Does the first sentence make you stop and think? If not, rewrite it. So that's tip number one. Tip number two is cut the fluff. Write like you talk. Nobody talks like a college essay, so why are you writing like one? Here's the before in today's fast paced world, communication is essential. Here's the after to this. If you can't write clearly, nobody will listen. See the difference? Your writing should feel like a conversation, not a lecture. So here's something you could do today is when you're writing, read what you're writing out loud. If it sounds awkward or robotic, rewrite it. Another tip you can also do here is open a Google Doc or Notes and just talk to text what you're going to say. It usually comes out better that way. And then you can edit it down. Tip number three Make a format for skimmability. People skim. If your writing looks like a giant wall of text, they're out, they're gone. So break it up. Use short sentences. Use white space to your advantage. Bold the key points make your writing easy to read. And here's something to think about. Take a paragraph from something you wrote. Break it into shorter, skimmable sentences. Watch how much easier it is to read that. Another tip to help whatever you're writing is having a strong opinion. Nobody shares lukewarm content. Say something that makes people react. Instead of saying AI is changing communication, you could say something like AI won't replace writers, but the lazy ones. Maybe what I would do is take a topic you really care about or your audience really cares about and now turn up the heat on that take. Have a stronger opinion. People want a stronger opinion. To have raving fans of your content, you're going to have to have haters. Tip number five make it feel human. This should be easy, but sometimes we mess this up. I do it sometimes. I know a lot of brands out there don't make it feel like a human. The best writing makes the reader feel seen. For example, we've all stared at a blank page thinking I have nothing to say. Or your boss doesn't need another five paragraph email. Get to the point. If people see themselves in your writing, they will keep reading. So before you publish something, ask does this feel like a real person wrote it? Especially in the age of AI, does this feel like a real person wrote it? If not, just loosen it up a little bit. Read it out loud, write like you talk and last thing you could do is end with a conversation starter. Don't just say something. Invite engagement. Like what's the worst writing advice you've ever seen? Or what's the last sentence that made you stop and pay attention? Give people a reason to respond and especially your first email in a in a series or a newsletter. You want people to respond to that because it improves deliverability in your email. So encourage engagement. Even on social Encourage engagement. Social media is supposed to be social, so encourage it. So your next post email end with a question and see. Just see what happens. Those are my six tips. If your writing sounds like a textbook, please delete it. Make it punchy. Make it fun. Make it something people want to read. Try these six tips that I gave you today and DM me if you use them. I want receipts and I'll see you in the next episode. Bye.