Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 4 Whether you’re creating an email campaign or updating your company’s blog, the last thing you want is for your customers to mistake your message for spam. Content that is littered with typos and basic grammar mistakes can have a negative effect on your brand. A lack of attention to detail in your marketing materials can telegraph a sense of carelessness to your customers—after all, if you can’t even spell correctly, why would they trust your products or services? Spam accounts for up to 90 percent of all email traffic, and approximately three billion messages are sent every day. Internet Security Expert Bianca Stanescu explains why spam is often written in such bizarre English: “To evade spam filters, spam is usually based on templates that change words automatically to random synonyms. This is meant to make the message look unique.” Because of it’s, shall we say, creative grammar and spelling, writing errors have become the hallmark of spam. Legitimate marketing messages with sloppy grammar may end up getting filtered out by email software if the errors are bad enough, but more likely they’ll be thrown away by frustrated recipients. Online Marketing Specialist Allison Tetreault writes, “I receive sales emails so replete with grammar inaccuracy that I delete them before finishing them. I definitely don’t reply to them. If you’re a sales prospector or marketer, this is certainly not the reaction you want readers to have to your content.” How can you ensure that your marketing messages aren’t mistaken for spam? First, proofread. Next, proofread again. Third, get someone else to proofread for you. If you think we’re stressing the whole “proofreading” thing too hard, consider the following examples: Many of lifes failures, are people who not realize how close they were to sucess when they gavel up. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. The Thomas Edison quote is less than inspirational when it’s riddled with errors, isn’t it? A missing apostrophe, a misplaced comma, a word left out, and misspelled words are all common writing errors. Spell check won’t necessarily catch everything—it didn’t notice the missing “do” in the example above—so don’t rely on your word processor to proofread for you. Of course, advertising copy sometimes plays by its own rules. The famous catchphrase “Got milk?” is grammatically incorrect, as is McDonald’s latest slogan, “I’m lovin’ it.” Imagine if instead they’d used proper textbook English: “Do you have milk?” and “I am loving it” just don’t have quite the same ring. Marketer Lisa Gerber recommends ignoring rigid grammar rules in favor of getting your message across as quickly and succinctly as possible to “an easily distracted, very rushed audience who probably won’t even notice we said ‘less’ rather than ‘fewer’ and certainly won’t boycott the product over it.” We tend to disagree—and studies have shown that spelling and grammar errors cost online retailers millions in lost sales. However, there are errors and then there are creative liberties with the language. A casual tone can be more appropriate for a blog post or email blast because it speaks to customers in a relatable way. Writing for C-level executives would use different vocabulary and syntax than a message addressed to summer camp counselors, and in general business-to-business communication will be more formal than content aimed directly at consumers. The trick is in listening to your stakeholders to determine the best way to talk to them. Even if you opt for a laid-back tone, however, that isn’t an excuse for laziness or lax proofreading. Always check your text for accuracy and consistency before you publish; there’s a big difference between breaking the rules on purpose and just plain making a mistake! Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article was written for Business 2 Community by Connor Brooke.Learn how to publish your content on B2C Author: Connor Brooke Connor is a Scottish financial expert, specialising in wealth management and equity investing. Based in Glasgow, Connor writes full-time for a wide selection of financial websites, whilst also providing startup consulting to small businesses. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, and a Master’s degree in Investment Fund Management, Connor has … View full profile ›More by this author:ACH Crypto Price Prediction 2022 – Is it a Buy?Lucky Block Partners with Dillian Whyte ahead of Heavyweight Showdown with Tyson FuryNFT Pixel Art – The Best NFT Collections for 2022