One of the cherished exercises of those who run creative writing courses is to get the students to justify what a particular adjective or adverb, sentence or paragraph, adds to the sense of whatever it is the copy is about. It’s a useful exercise. Its strength lies in the fact that there is a promise, or rather threat, that at subsequent lessons the student will have to justify it to others on the course as well.

It can be seen that, even with copy such as this, it is vital to eliminate anything inconsequential. It’s not only your subscribers’ time you’re wasting as they are likely to delete a marketing email that wanders all over the place. They view their time is valuable. Ensure you do as well.

In normal circumstance, repetition of a particular point adds nothing to the narrative, but there are circumstances when it can be useful, such as when you feel it is essential to emphasise a particular feature of the product as this will tend to reinforce it in the mind of the reader. It should be notable by its absence elsewhere.

Irritating phrases such as ‘at this moment in time’ should be picked up at the editing phase as ‘at this moment’ or ‘at this time’ would do just as well. For email marketing, ‘now’ would be the most apt. Note that ‘the word now’ was not used. If you use an outside copywriter, don’t get fussed about wordage. About is good enough.

It is not just one word or phrase that is superfluous. Frequently, the point dealt with in one paragraph is often covered in the second paragraph as well. And why use ‘Frequently’? The way to overcome such slackness is to list the matters you want to cover in the copy of the marketing email, and put a line through each when you’ve done so. It’s well worth the effort.

Many suggest that editing email marketing copy is more productive than the creation stage. Set a high line to ensure that every word or phrase justifies its presence. Be utterly ruthless. Your red pen should require regular refills.