You may or may not be familiar with the hashtag #TLDR. If you’re not, allow me to introduce you to the most useful 4 letters you’ve heard since F–…ahhhh I almost had you there, didn’t I?
So what exactly does #TLDR mean?
I’m sure this sounds familiar to you…
You’re scrolling along reading a facebook post and you click the (See more) link and all of a sudden the post expands into oblivion and you lose interest and keep on scrollin’. Reading that novel is way too much of a commitment.
Or you’re reading a page on a website (services pages, I’m talking to you!) and start to lose interest in the copy so just scroll down the to the part you actually care about–the price.
And I bet you’ve been reading a blog post (hopefully not one of mine!) and you just lose interest and click away because you really don’t care what the author is saying because it doesn’t apply to you.
So why should you care if your stuff qualifies as #TLDR?
I know sound like a broken record here if you’ve read any of my other blog posts, but if you aren’t getting to the point and delivering the goods in a way that people can quickly grasp as they scroll, then you’re going to lose that reader–and in some cases the sale! This applies to most, if not ALL of your brand messaging (think emails, social media posts, blog posts, etc.).
So how do you avoid people #TLDR-ing you? Here are three things to remember:
- Make your text scannable. Not sure how to do this? Stay tuned for next week’s post.
- Have a really strong hook for your post and include a call to action of some kind so that people want to engage with you.
- Keep it short and sweet. I know you’re tempted to include every detail of the story you’re trying to tell, but don’t. People don’t have the attention spans.
But my #1 tip: Include a #TLDR (or P.S.) at the end of a long email or post just in case people are scanning and miss the important points you’ve made. Include anything specific you need people to DO or KNOW so if they didn’t read anything else, at least you have a chance of having them take the action you need them to.
You’ll thank me later for that tip! Well, I’m not going to waste your time with some snazzy sign off – I don’t want you to #TLDR me.
Thank’s for reading friend! I’m out. ✌🏻
