It’s easy to get lost in the message and forget the point of it. Regardless of what your business is – be it a brick-and-mortar retail establishment, a real estate agency, or something internet-based, like content marketing – it is important to remember that your audience is made up of people. Those people have specific demands when it comes to the content they consume, and a huge part of that is feeling involved in the conversation.
This is the biggest and most pervasive issue with passive voice: It detaches the reader from the message. The simplest solution to the problem is to ditch this writing style all together, and I’m about to give you five compelling reasons why you should.
What Is Passive Voice?
First, let’s examine what passive voice is. Simply put, passive voice excuses the subject from the action in a sentence. You can see some good examples here. It isn’t, “The suspect robbed the house.” Instead, the passive message would be something like, “A robbery occurred.” Note how in the second example, the suspect isn’t even mentioned? In passive voice, the action is often paired with a verb to make the statement much more imprecise. It should be obvious why this style of writing would disconnect your message from your audience. I promised five reasons why you should eliminate it, so here we go…
#1 – Passive Voice Is Impersonal
This is just a less wordy way of saying what I stated above. Your audience wants you to speak to them, not at them. It is very difficult to draw people in when you talk around them, and it spells the kiss of death in most kinds of marketing copy. There are exceptions, but they are few and typically apply to specific niches (like technical and medical subjects, for example).
Passive voice leaves questions in your readers’ minds that ought not to be there. Such questions include things like, “It great that the product does x, y, or z, but what has that got to do with me?” What motivation are you giving your readers to see themselves as part of the equation (or even want to be part of it)? That leads to my next point…
#2 – Passive Voice Removes the Reader from the Equation
As soon as you do that, you’ve lost the battle. If your blog is riddled with this kind of impersonal chatter, you’re losing the war, too. The good news is that as long as you have a good marketing plan in place, it is not difficult to make the changes necessary to focus your message.
Take a look at any random piece of written content on your blog and website and ask yourself if you feel immersed in the conversation. If the answer is no, you might be presenting a passive message without even knowing.
#3 – Passive Voice Clouds the Message in Your Copy
As I stated previously, straightforward, static presentation of information works well in specific settings but when dealing with the average consumer, it can make the message very fuzzy. When the focus is on anything but the reader, there is often going to be confusion as to what the reader is supposed to do with that information. People do what they’re told, and you cannot be subtle about it. That’s the problem with passive voice: It suggests that you do something with the information but never gets around to saying what.
#4 – Passive Voice Negates Calls to Action
The thing about passive voice is that it’s great at presenting the “what” but terrible at explaining the “why.” That second part is what seals the deal with your readers. It’s the thing that motivates them to respond to a call to action. I don’t care how well-presented your CTA is, if you haven’t made clear to the readers why you want them to respond, they won’t. It’s just that simple.
#5 – Passive Voice Redirects the Focus of Your Message
I think this one ties the other four together because this is where you lose most people. You may start out with the best of intentions. You might even think you are talking directly to your audience, but look a little closer. Take note of the pronouns you’re using and how you use them. If there isn’t a reasonable density of “I” and “you,” odds are that your message is too passive. See if you can catch the difference:
Passive voice: “Yosemite is a favorite destination for active families.”
Active voice: “Yosemite is a favorite destination for active families like yours.”
It’s hard to believe how simple and subtle the differences can be, but when you look at those two sentences, it becomes clear that there are two different messages here. In the first example, the focus is on Yosemite. In the second, the focus is on the family. If you want the family to visit Yosemite, the reader has to be allowed to see it happening inside his or her head.
Still Confused?
As someone who has written, edited, and reviewed more copy than I can even begin to recount, I can tell you this: If you want to increase engagement on your written content, it must be presented in an active voice. If you’re unsure of how to make this happen, a custom writing service, like BeezContent, can help decipher the underlying code in your copy and help you sharpen the focus of your message. Let the pros have a shot at it, and be open to suggestions as to how you can improve.