One of the most fundamental distinctions in the English language is the use of passive and active voice. This is something that can easily cause troubles for novice writers. Read our full guide to learn etc. etc.

While it has been widely taught among students to steer away from passive voice because it’s generally weak, the choice between these voices is quite nuanced.

However, this doesn’t mean that the use of passive voice is outright wrong. The use of passive voice can also be preferable, appropriate, and even sophisticated depending on the conventions of the content you’re writing and the ideas you’re trying to express.

Table of contents

1. What is Active Voice?
2. What is Passive Voice?
3. Why Is Active Voice Important in Content Marketing?
4. Why You Should Avoid Passive Voice

Under normal conditions, active voice is still a better choice since it puts the doer of the action in the spotlight. If you want to use both voices in a single sentence, you still can, but you have to consider the section you’re writing and your sentences’ content and context.

If you’re unsure how to use both, remember this rule---the active voice puts the focus on the agent performing an action, while the passive voice shifts the emphasis on the action or recipient of the same. 

What is Active Voice?

As mentioned above, the active voice means that your sentence makes your subject act upon the verb. A sentence written in the active voice has a clear, direct, and strong tone. Take this example as an explanation.

1. The monkeys love bananas. 

2. The fireman put out the fire. 

3. The cat chased the mouse.

All of the above-cited sentences are written in the active voice, following the subject, verb, and object format. The subject monkeys do the action described by love.

The subject fireman performs an act described by the verb put out. And the subject cat performs a move described by the verb chased. Here, all the subject positions are taking action in their respective active sentences. 

What is Passive Voice?

On the other hand, passive voice means the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action described by the verb. The sentence is considered as one in the passive voice if its verb acts on the subject.

This kind of sentence is always written in a conjugated form ‘to be + verb’s past particle.’ By this, you’re also creating a preposition. Though it might sound complicated, it’s relatively easy to detect. These are a few examples of sentences with a passive voice.

1. Bananas are loved by monkeys. 

2. Fires are put out by firemen. 

3. The mouse is chased by the cat.

While the active voice follows the subject, verb, and object format, you can see that most of these examples follow the subject + verb + object format. You can also see that flipping the sentence structure requires you to add the preposition ‘by.’ 

Why Is Active Voice Important in Content Marketing?

Since we’ve already highlighted the difference between active and passive voices, let’s tackle the reasons why writing sentences in the active voice is crucial in content marketing.

As a general rule, when you’re writing for content marketing, stick to the use of active voice as much as possible. By doing this, you help achieve the following:

• Increase engagement. The active voice and active verbs help the reader picture the story clearly while also directly engaging them. So, if you want them to commit to a specific course of action at the end of your piece, you need to perk their interest from the start. 

• Improves readability. Active phrases and language are way easier to read and comprehend than passive verbiage. This is especially true to readers whose native or first language is not English. 

• Make the content more persuasive. Passive language makes the sentence weak, so it’s not advisable to use it when you’re trying to persuade your reader to subscribe to a particular POV. Especially if you’re writing a call to action, you need to engage your readers deeply to make them want to do something positive about the information you shared. 

• Maintains momentum. Writing in the passive voice makes your content less exciting and more drawn out to read. If you use active language, you can keep your readers excited to stay on the page and anticipate the end of the message. Writing in a passive sentence is like reading a story that ends without leading the readers to its denouement. 

• Connect better. Writing web content serves the purpose of providing information that’s easy and quick to digest. If you consistently use the passive form, you may end up sounding too academic, to the point that you alienate your readers.

If you use the active voice, in essence, you create dynamic content that helps you connect better and engage your audience. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling a product or idea; if you want your audience to act positively on your proposition, you need to shift to using active language. 

Why You Should Avoid Passive Voice

You need to steer clear from passive voice because it makes your sentence weak, less engaging, and alienating. If you’re writing for human interest or other content that’s not meant to sell, you still need to apply these rules.

After all, you always want people to read what you wrote, hoping to build a human connection. How can you create the said connection when your language and tone is alienating, right?

If you’re in content marketing, you have more reason to stay away from passive voice. You need to sell your product, and for you to do that, you need to capture your audiences’ attention, build the momentum so that they’ll anticipate the benefits of what you’re selling, and eventually subscribe to your point of view.

You won’t be able to do this with a passive voice sentence. If you insist, you can just watch your audience pass through your content without reading the first sentence.

The use of active voice is easy, and once you get the hang of it, you and your business venture will enjoy benefits by leaps and bounds. So, instead of suffering from low conversion rates and settling with unrealized business potentials, master the use of the active voice and see significant changes in your content marketing turnarounds.