Copywriting 101: Mastering the “Eye Treat”

The following is an installment from the weekly teaching of Leadership Laboratory, an international cohort of 100 leaders who share a desire to build better leadership capacity and design better teams. Curious? Find more information at HoldTheStandard.com now! ———

There’s something you can add to your list of “Things that Have Never Happened!” Here it is:

No one has ever listed “Reading Large Blocks of Text” as a favorite hobby. 

That’s why as a copywriter (or someone who writes words with the goal of getting the reader to do something as a result of reading your words) you’ll need to think beyond the content of your writing. You’ll have to consider how it looks! 

The Godfather of Copywriting, Gary Halpert, called this the “eye treat.” 

Does your writing look appealing to the eye? 

You’ll notice that this text is laid out in a manner that does several things:

1. No section is particularly daunting in terms of length. 
2. There are formatting accents like this list, bolded statements, and alignment adjustments to make it more visually enjoyable. 
3. Brevity and simple language are prioritized. 
4. If you squint, the page looks more like poetry and less like a novel. 

All of the information contained in this simple digestible chapter could be delivered in long, complete sentences in well defined paragraphs. It could provide all the same value for you, the reader, to create your own copywriting value and turn your writing into more revenue. But, 60% less people would read it. 

And, who does that help? 

No one. Well, 60% less people to be exact. 

The next time you’ve got to create value with your writing, do your best to bring remarkable content, but don’t forget to make it an eye treat, too.