Literacy standards are getting worse. Though some academics may dispute this, the proliferation of handheld devices, autocorrect and predictive text means that our natural ability to use language accurately is beginning to dwindle. Whether you’re using American English or British English, grammar is something that will have been taught to you during school, yet it’s also likely to be something that you find a little confusing. As national newspapers, top ranking websites and even international businesses continue to allow niggling grammar errors to slip through the net, we thought it was worth asking if these often-ambiguous rules still have a place in 21st century digital marketing.
No
Even Academics Have Given Up
This isn’t strictly true but a recent news story from the UK caused a stir amongst linguistic circles. The apostrophe society, which believe it or not, has been established for more than two decades, has decided to disband, citing carelessness, laziness and a general sense of distain for the much-misused piece of punctuation. This certainly indicates that things are beginning to change in terms of what the average person thinks is important when it comes to written language. Online text can range from exceptional to appalling and there are many shades of grey in between, but it seems that for many people, the finer points of grammar are no longer something they want to be concerned with, providing they can understand the overall meaning of the piece. Similarly, some academics argue that we’re heading towards a situation where words such there, their and there are likely to become interchangeable, primarily due to repeated misuse. Whether this is an overreaction or not remains to be seen but it’s an argument that has been put forward by a few different people.
Casual language is spreading from social media to formal business
The way we write on social media is very different to the way we would write a formal email, but this casual, easy to read style is starting to spread beyond twitter spats and Facebook debates. For companies with a younger demographic or a less academic base of customers, the emphasis on clarity and things like call to action messages seems far more important than the rhythm and flow of a sentence. Opinions on this vary, depending on who you speak to. Those with a good grasp of written language are more likely to complain about grammar errors than people who don’t. Some may call this rather pedantic whereas exponents of clear English would fervently disagree. Like many subjects in the world of digital marketing, this is something of a bone of contention and will no doubt continue to be the subject of much debate in the coming year.
Yes
Poor quality grammar breaks the flow of a piece of text
Whether we realise it or not, poor grammar does have an impact on how read information. Unless you have lower than average reading skills, missed commas, apostrophes and periods will make it seem like one continuous sentence or a disjointed, confused mess. When we read anything, punctuation helps us to know when to slow down, pause or to clarify things like ownership. Misplaced capitalisation and other simple errors can make a clear and well-meaning message difficult to understand, which means that even if your content is fundamentally good, it can all be ruined by the absence of grammar checks. Though it is very limited when you start to write in styles that go beyond basic, standard English, Grammarly is a quick and simple way to make sure that you are at least covering the absolute basics. Just make sure to give every piece of text you publish to a human, too. As anybody who has tried to learn English as a second language will tell you, it’s the grammar that can be the most complex and difficult thing to understand.
It looks unprofessional
Even if you’re writing in casual English or street slang style phrases to capture a certain tone of voice in your campaign, poor quality grammar will make you look extremely unprofessional and will ultimately take away from the impact of your content. In 2020, nobody expects you to write in the style of classical British author from the Victorian era, but you do need to make sure that your content doesn’t read as if it has been written by a below average high school student. Even the younger generation are aware of basic grammar mistakes and though not everybody will notice, those who do are likely to react negatively. Would you use a company that confused the too and to in their marketing literature or mixed up their, there and there every time they sent out an email? For most people, the answer will be a resounding no.
Summary
The truth is, there are arguments for both cases here. Though we may malign the dip in the quality of writing, many academics argue that language is constantly evolving and can’t be confined by rigid rules and structures. As such, grammar does change over time and what is acceptable now isn’t the same as what was considered acceptable 50 years ago. From a digital marketing perspective, content creators need to be careful to strike the right balance. Focusing too much on “perfect” grammar can be restrictive and end up taking away from your intended message whereas being sloppy and not checking for basics like capital letters and full stops can mean that you’re spoiling good quality pieces of content. We would advise adopting a common sense approach and trying to lead by example. Just because standards are beginning to slip, doesn’t mean we all need to complicit in this. Know when to use a casual writing style and when to adopt the style of a professional business email or newsletter. Our content writer definitely thinks that grammar is important and without using it correctly we run the risk of losing the meaning of our intended message entirely.
