Wylie's Writing Tips

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Invite readers in with the imperative voice

Let people know what they can do with your Whatsit

We learned in third grade to call the imperative voice the command voice. And it can be a command: Do the dishes. Make your bed. Clean your room.

Invite readers in with the imperative voice
Just do it Imperative voice gets clicked, opened, read and shared. Image by Creativa Images

When you use it for communications, though, think of it as the invitation voice: Save money, save time, avoid effort.

Why imperative? Imperative voice:

  1. Boosts reading. Benefits verbs like add, open and try in subject lines increase email response according to a study by Return Path.
  2. Boosts opens and click-through rates. Words like celebrate, save and get your in subject lines increase opens and clicks according to research by Phrasee and Adestra.
  3. Gets shared. Imperative words like see, make and look can help blog headlines go viral, according to a Rippen analysis of 3,016 headlines from Buzzfeed, ViralNova, Upworthy and Wimp.

The research is in: The imperative voice improves communication. So, what are best practices for the imperative voice?

Show them what they can do.

Instead of writing about us and our stuff, focus on what people can do with your stuff.

“Don’t just show people your hiking boots. Show them what they can do with your hiking boots.”
— Pinterest

So steal a trick from this release lead from a Silver Anvil Award-winning PR campaign by Natural Resources Conservation Service:

As spring temperatures go up, it’s an excellent time for farmers, ranchers and gardeners to focus their attention down to the soil below them. A spring check-up of your soil’s health gives clues of your ground’s ability to feed plants, hold water, capture carbon and more. No fancy equipment required. Just grab a spade or shovel and prepare your senses to dig a little and learn a lot.

Grab a spade … prepare your senses … dig a little … learn a lot.

Invite readers in with the imperative voice.

How can you write content readers want to read?

There’s a lot of ME in social MEdia. And there’s a great big I in TwItter. No wonder social media thought leader Brian Solis calls content marketing the egosystem.

Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, our content-writing workshop on April 18

Unfortunately, talking about yourself and your stuff on social channels works about as well as it does at a cocktail party. But watch your social media reach and influence grow when you deliver relevant, valuable, useful content.

Learn how to identify what content readers want to read at Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, our content-writing workshop on April 18-22.

You’ll learn to your company as the expert in the field. Find out how to make sure your posts are welcome guests and not intrusive pests. And discover the power of the most-retweeted word in the English language.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.

Register for Get Clicked, Liked & Shared, our content-writing workshop on April 18