Whether you’re writing a direct mail marketing piece, copy for your Web site, or a print advertisement, the familiar refrain in marketing is that it’s the message that matters. But more often than not, copywriting is a hit-or-miss proposition. To break through in a media-cluttered world, your strategic communications must be sharp and persuasive, not wordy, confusing, or misdirected. Here are five surefire ways to improve the effectiveness of your copywriting in print and online:

1. Know your audience. Having a deep understanding of your target market will greatly reduce the chances of your message misfiring. Consider how the Eisen Management Group, a public relations and business development firm in Newport, Ky., promoted a new Indian restaurant in Cincinnati. “We figured our audience would be first-time diners who were taken to the restaurant by a friend who had already eaten there. We called them ‘Virgin Indians,’” says Rodger Roeser, president of Eisen. “It worked beautifully.”

2. Make numbers emotional. Statistics can often bog down marketing copy unless they’re used to imbue feeling and emotion. “Harry and David, the fruit growers in Oregon, talk about their pears by saying, ‘Not one person in a thousand has tasted one,’” says Robert Bly, author of The Copywriter’s Handbook. “Putting it that way makes it sound exclusive.”

3. Get to the point. Brevity is key in successful advertising copywriting, as is a focused message. Roeser offers two well-known examples: the famous “Got Milk?” integrated marketing communications campaign and one from Chick-fil-A in which cows urge diners to eat more chicken. “Everything you need to know is in a few words,” Roeser says. “It’s genius.”

4. Semantics matter. Referring to products and services in a fresh, new light can make all the difference. As Bly points out, “We don’t buy used cars anymore; they’re ‘pre-owned certified vehicles.’” One Texas company saw sales of its fruitcake increase 60 percent in one year after marketing the product as Texas Pecan Cake, he notes.

5. Feel their pain. Pinpoint a problem your prospects are experiencing. Then, offer a solution in your marketing copy. For example, if you’re targeting physicians beleaguered by rising costs and stubborn insurance companies, call attention to software that can cut expenses and increase insurance reimbursements.

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