Did you know that the average American reads at an eighth grade level?* Crafting content that’s both accessible and compelling is critical to achieving your marketing goals and fostering meaningful connections with your audience. In marketing, clear content leads to higher conversion rates, as readers are more likely to stay engaged with easily digestible material.
This principle transcends industries and applies to every marketer because readability is the cornerstone of effective communication.
Take the recent election, for example. Ballotpedia’s Readability Report found that the state of Colorado’s ballot required college-graduate reading level, making it one of the most difficult. This complexity poses significant barriers for many voters, particularly those with lower literacy levels or non-native English speakers.
In the medical device realm where I work, readability is a key pillar in patient-centric marketing to build trust. For example, patients who understand health conditions/treatments are 60% more likely to opt for recommended procedures (source). Moreover, when communicating with professionals, simplicity is often highly valued and can distinguish you from the overwhelming noise. Overall, readability can increase the perception of brand competency by ensuring that the audience grasps critical information quickly, empowering them to make informed decisions.
This begs the question: What value does a piece hold if it cannot be understood?
What is readability?
According to the Center for Plain English, “readability is about making your content clear and easy to understand. When you focus on readability, you increase the chance your target audience will actually read and interact with your content. For this reason, readability should be a natural part of your content management.“
Put simply, readability is the ease with which text can be read and understood.
What is Flesch Kincaid?
A Flesch Kincaid Grade Level is a readability metric that estimates the U.S. grade level required to understand a given piece of text, based on the complexity of its words and sentence length. This is a widely accepted standard readability metric, though other metrics slice and dice readability in different ways, such as the Gunning Fog Index.
Text that scores a readability grade level of 8 or better (8 or below) will be readable by around 85% of the general public.
Similarly, the Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease gives a text a score between 1 and 100, with 100 being the highest readability score. Scoring between 70 to 80 is equivalent to school grade level 8. This means text should be fairly easy for the average adult to read.
Readability Matters
Improving readability can enhance engagement, comprehension, and retention.
- Studies from the American Press Institute show that when the average sentence length is 14 words, readers understand more than 90% of what they are reading. At 43 words, comprehension drops to less than 10%.
- According to this highly recommended read, Writing for Busy Readers, author Todd Roger writes:
- When doctors communicate with patients, precise does not mean effective. Researchers asked what patients thought common medical phrases meant and found that patients often misunderstand medical jargon. One third of patients interpret “your cancer screening shows positive lymph nodes” as good news.
- In a recent survey, participants reported skimming nearly 40% of their emails and 20% of their texts.
- Presenting just a single link in the email resulted in 50% more clicks on that link than having multiple.
Tips
Ready to join the readability revolution? Here are some quick wins to get started:
- Shorten sentences: The easiest way to increase readability in your writing!
- Break up the copy with subheadings or by adding more paragraphs.
- Include one idea per sentence.
- Keep your sentences around 14 words to maximize impact.
- Reduce the number of long words:
- Use short, easy words with less syllables.
- Eliminate filler words.
- Cut adverbs and adjectives: Unless they are vital to the meaning of a sentence, cut the modifiers!
- Test your writing for readability: Aim for grade level 7 or 8, the average American literacy level, using a tool like Readable.com.
In conclusion, the readability revolution demonstrates that simplicity isn’t just a stylistic choice—it’s a powerful tool that drives better communication. Whether in healthcare, education, or any other field, embracing readability helps ensure that your message is not only heard but understood. In a world overloaded with information, the ability to communicate simply and effectively is more important than ever.
*The Literacy Project
Michaela Coon, Hospital Marketing Manager, iotaMotion
