Writing Subheads, Captions, and Closings
Copy can be improved with good subheads, captions, and closings. This article
from The Business Marketing Association gives some helpful suggestions.
Writing Subheads
Subheads help break up the body copy into short, easy-to-read sections. And
thoughtfully worded, informative subheads provide quick reference points for key
information (descriptive subheads are preferable to too-short subheads). They
also enable your reader to scan the page and come away with an outline of your
message.
Subheads permit rapid communication with readers who have no time to waste.
They also contribute a path for the eye. This can make your work look
uncomplicated, and increased readership can result.
Write your subheads to tell a story by themselves, so you’re communicating
even with the reader who only skims your copy.
As with headlines and captions, you can often extract subheads from the body
copy you have already written.
Writing Captions
Exhaustive studies measuring readership show that many more
people read the captions under illustrations than read the body copy. Using an
illustration without a caption is wasting an important opportunity to enhance
understanding.
Other research has shown that caption material (coupled with an illustration)
is retained better even than a headline or an illustration alone!
Your caption should include a reference to your product or service and a
benefit. The best captions are self-contained advertisements in themselves.
Of course, your illustration should be directly related to your message. As
you can imagine, if your reader sees no connection between the illustration and
your copy, their attention evaporates.
Writing Closings
Beware of weak closings! Just because this is the end of our
business/industrial copy doesn’t mean the closing is unimportant—just
the contrary. This is the last thing your reader will remember. And he or she
may remember the entire piece as having the characteristics of the closing.
Try to leave your reader with one simple thought—preferably what to do next.
If you want the reader to call your 800 number for more information, say so. But
remember to give her a good reason to call. You may want to reiterate your main
selling point, or repeat an example from your copy.
If you’ve made many points throughout your copy, you’ll want to summarize. But
do this before the last paragraph, so you can hold to one point in your closing.
Source: www.marketing.org
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