Trust Your Copywriter (more than Grammarly)

When you hire a copywriter for a marketing project trust them more than you trust Grammarly.

While everyone in marketing should have a general grasp of grammar and words, you likely outsourced the project because writing creatively and strategically isn’t any of your team member’s top skillset.

And that’s typically the copywriter’s assignment: using words to convey a brand, unique value proposition and call-to-action in a way that’s different from the organization’s previous blogs, social posts, newsletters, press releases, white papers, etc.

Wordsmithing = Creativity + Strategy

After I’ve conducted the research for a copywriting project and outlined the word map from brand to call-to-action, many times the piece will “write itself.” The added value I bring, however, is editing it to incorporate specific words, punctuation and copy blocks that cause readers to nod while processing, raise their eyebrow at a new concept or even smile when the words spark a connection to the brand.

Grammarly won’t edit your copy to resonate with your audiences, but your copywriter will.

I use Grammarly and, as a freelance copywriter, it’s a very helpful tool. I don’t subscribe to the thinking that Grammarly is always right though. Even if I select the “expert,” “formal,” and business” goals, it seems that Grammarly wants me to write basic subject + verb + object sentences. (But recommends “however” for every transition) I also know that my clients’ audiences are more sophisticated readers than Grammarly assumes. (It once told me that even a knowledgeable audience may be unfamiliar with the word “succinct”) I also give these audiences more comprehension credit than Grammarly’s frequent suggestions to always eliminate passive voice and to break compound sentences into two sentences.

Copywriting shouldn’t follow a predictable format, and surprise, unconventional style choices in words and punctuation keep readers engaged. As William Strunk, Jr. advised in The Elements of Style, “But a writer may by making his sentences too uniformly compact and periodic, and an occasional loose sentence prevents that style from becoming too formal and gives the reader a certain relief.”

Yes, there are some nonnegotiable grammar rules that I appreciate Grammarly always flagging. But effective marketing copywriting allows for some creative license in bending the rules. Remember that the purpose of grammar is to make sure that the reader comprehends the intended message of the writer.

So understand that your copywriter likely already did a Grammarly double check. I’m not telling you not to do a Grammarly triple check, but before you track change something, consider if it’s a subjective AI suggestion that doesn’t factor in the nuances of the piece and the sophistication of your audiences. Or, to put it in Strunk terms, if the reader can find merit in the sentence construction that compensates for the grammar violation, perhaps you should trust your copywriter’s style choice.