On the Molecular Unit of Communication

The molecular unit of optimization is the sentence. Every single principle associated with optimizing any form of marketing can be understood, perhaps best understood, in the context of improving a sentence. A sentence represents the basic grammar of life. Entity exists; subject “predicates”.

• There are only three ways to improve a sentence: to add, to remove, to change. This is the same for any instance of marketing collateral.
• A good sentence is structured with an optimized flow, the sequence of thought. This involves considerations of order: point first, point middle, or point last. Again, this is the same in marketing.
• A sentence typifies specific forms of communication: the imperative, the declarative, the interrogative, etc. Once again, this is the same in marketing (indeed, marketing today employs far too much declaration and not enough explanation).

My point is not to make an exhaustive list, but to demonstrate that by focusing on the art of creating a beautiful (read effective) sentence, one may learn the essential insights necessary to shaping any other form of communication. As Strunk and White espoused, “make every word tell.”