How do you balance editing tools with your voice?

1 Choose the right tools

Not all editing tools are created equal. Some are more suited for academic or technical writing, while others are more geared towards creative or conversational writing. Depending on your audience, purpose, and tone, you'll want to choose the tools that match your needs and goals. For example, if you're writing a blog post for a casual and friendly brand, you might want to use a tool that checks your tone, voice, and readability, such as Hemingway or ProWritingAid. If you're writing a white paper for a professional and authoritative brand, you might want to use a tool that checks your grammar, spelling, and punctuation, such as Grammarly or LanguageTool.

2 Customize the settings

Most editing tools allow you to customize the settings to suit your preferences and style. You can adjust the level of feedback, the type of suggestions, and the language and dialect you're writing in. You can also create your own style guides and word lists to ensure consistency and accuracy. For example, if you're writing for a brand that uses British English, you can set your tool to flag any American spellings or terms. If you're writing for a brand that has a specific tone and voice, you can set your tool to highlight any words or phrases that don't match it.

4 Test and tweak

Editing tools can help you polish your copy, but they can't guarantee its effectiveness. You still need to test and tweak your copy to see how it performs with your audience and meets your objectives. You can use various methods to test your copy, such as A/B testing, analytics, feedback surveys, and user testing. You can also use tools that measure your copy's impact, such as CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer or Emotional Marketing Value Analyzer. Based on the results, you can tweak your copy to optimize it for your audience and purpose.

5 Keep learning and improving

Editing tools are not a substitute for learning and improving your digital copywriting skills. They are a supplement and a support. You still need to practice your craft, study your audience, and refine your voice. You can use editing tools to learn from your mistakes, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and discover new ways to improve your copy. You can also use other resources, such as books, blogs, courses, and podcasts, to keep up with the latest trends and best practices in digital copywriting.