What is BLUF? How to Use It to Improve Your Writing

BLUF is a military communication acronym that means “Bottom line up front.” Here’s how the simple yet effective BLUF writing technique can boost your digital marketing.

Readable, informative, engaging, consistent, and findable. These are all key qualities of effective writing, and they’re all essential for content marketing success.

However, these won’t matter in the end if the reader doesn’t stay long enough to read your content.

While it’s not exactly true that all of our attention spans are now just 8 seconds long, there is some accuracy to reports that technology has contributed to the decline in our ability to concentrate.

As content marketers, this can make the task of effectively getting our message across more difficult, which in turn impacts the success of our marketing efforts.

The solution? Placing the key information at the beginning of the content to get your point across faster. That’s where BLUF comes in.

Below, content marketing manager Patience Hurlburt-Lawton explains how this technique can help you craft compelling content marketing that resonates and boost your SEO.

Don’t bury the lede: The BLUF technique puts the most important information at the beginning of your content. (Image: Unsplash)

What is BLUF?

BLUF is an acronym that means “bottom line up front.”

This technique was originally developed and practiced by U.S. military professionals in all branches, including the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force.

It was used to ensure the messaging in memos and other forms of communication was clear and concise.

Outside of military communication, BLUF is also applied to writing in various fields.

In journalism, the Inverted Pyramid borrows from the BLUF method, as it also involves presenting the most important piece of information, the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why), at the start of the story.

The supporting details, known as “the how,” will then follow to provide contextual and supplemental information.

“I like to think of BLUF as being accommodating to the reader’s needs,” says Hurlburt-Lawton.

“The reality is that people scan online content to determine if it offers the information they need. Leading with the most important details improves comprehension, helps them decide whether to keep reading, and (most importantly) gives them what they’re looking for right away.”

In academic writing, the BLUF structure can be applied in the form of the thesis statement, which highlights the stance or the main point of the piece.

It can also be applied to the topic sentence, which is the single main idea of a paragraph in the first sentence.

Where content marketing is concerned, this technique basically places the conclusion at the start of the content piece, allowing readers to grasp your main point quickly.

How to use BLUF

In a Harvard Business Review post titled “How to Write Email With Military Precision,” Kabir Sehgal wrote:

“In the military, a poorly formatted email may be the difference between mission accomplished and mission failure.”

Similarly, proper writing and formatting are crucial in ensuring the success of your content. That includes using the BLUF framework properly to fulfill its purpose.

“The first subheading in your content should ask that main question, offering an immediate answer in the body,” Hurlburt-Lawton explains. “If your content formatting includes a subtitle, it’s a good idea to include that bottom line information there as well.”

Think of it this way: when a reader lands on your page, make sure the first thing they see is their main question (the first subhead) and the quick answer. Let those guidelines drive your formatting for a BLUF-centered content strategy.

Follow these best practices to learn how to use BLUF properly and effectively in your writing:

1. Speak directly to your target audience

The golden rule of effective content writing is to know your audience.

As you learn about your audience, you gain more information about their needs, interests, and preferences.

All of these pieces of information can help you craft content that speaks to their pain points and addresses their concerns.

The same goes for writing effective BLUF content. By getting to know your audience, you can:

• Tailor your main message to the audience you’re speaking to
• Address their concerns immediately
• Write in a language (technical/academic, not English/Spanish, etc.) and tone they prefer
• Provide an appropriate amount of additional inputs based on their level of knowledge or skill

Before you start writing, take a step back and try to understand your audience.

Find out what topics they’re interested in and understand their pain points. Tailor your BLUF statement and additional inputs to your specific audience because you are writing for them, not for yourself.

2. Perform in-depth research to find your main idea

Before you can start writing in this content style, you need to make sure you have a thorough understanding of the topic you’re writing about.

Not only will this help the words flow better, but you’ll be more likely to craft educational, helpful content that offers unique “information gain,” rather than fluff that has little value.

For instance, if you’re writing about thought leadership on LinkedIn, then it takes more than an idea and a quick Wikipedia search to get everything you need to write your content.

Just like what you would normally do when writing content, you need to put in the time to:

• Perform keyword research
• Analyze search intent
• Talk to other subject matter experts
• Gather all the data

“Every piece of content should answer one big question (or offer a solution to one primary problem),” Hurlburt-Lawton says.

“When trying to follow BLUF guidelines, the first step is to identify what big question your content is trying to answer. Then, come up with an answer or solution in a couple of sentences or bullet points — this is your bottom line.”

Ask the right questions, find the answers, and organize your thoughts to form a general idea of what you want your content to look like.

Then, summarize your thoughts and synthesize your main idea to form your main point. This will help you in constructing your BLUF.

3. Write and format your content accordingly

Now that you’ve formed a deep understanding of your topic and audience, it’s time to start writing your content.

BLUF structure

Structuring your content with the BLUF framework is a fairly straightforward process, so you won’t really need to work with templates.

Based on the BLUF acronym, its structure can be broken down into three main elements:

1. Bottom line – The main message or idea you want to convey, which is typically found near or at the end of the content
2. Up front – Refers to the position at the very start of your content
3. Context – Supporting information that elaborates on or adds to the main message or idea

Let’s take a look at the following example to see BLUF in action:

BLUF: Search engine optimization (SEO) boosts your brand’s online presence and drives organic website traffic. By ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), you can increase your chances of reaching your intended audience.

You can improve your SEO performance through the following tactics:

• Keyword research
• On-page optimization
• Quality content creation
• Link building

These techniques are crucial in improving your website’s performance on SERPs. The better it performs, the higher your likelihood of attracting your target audience to your brand.

In this example, we can highlight a few things:

• The first sentence (written in bold) was the key message of the content. Its primary purpose was to highlight the impact of SEO on a brand’s marketing efforts early on.
• The second sentence provided additional context by stating that the main source of organic traffic in SEO is through SERPs.
• The third sentence expanded upon the main message and supported the preceding sentence by listing the techniques used in SEO.
• Lastly, the final paragraph reinforces the crucial nature of these SEO practices and emphasizes their value in helping the brand improve its online presence.

This basic structure can also be applied to any content you want to produce, whether it’s a social media post, a landing page, or a client presentation.

Placing the most important information at the start of the message helps you get to the point much faster. (Image: Adobe Stock)

How does BLUF help in content marketing writing?

The most important part of marketing content, apart from the headline, is the intro (or the hook, in traditional sales writing).

Its main function is to draw in readers and pique their interest enough that they will want to keep reading your content.

“Online readers have short attention spans,” says Hurlburt-Lawton.

“By offering the reader’s answer quickly, they’re actually more likely to stick around to learn more. If they have to dig to find an answer, you’ll either lose them along the way or by the time they find it, they are ready to leave.”

It comes back to reading comprehension, she adds. When the answer is offered quickly, the reader can take that knowledge and move forward with additional information. If all their time is spent searching for an answer, they run out of the capacity to engage much further.

You want your message to be received and understood — and what better way to do that than front-loading your content with your conclusion?

This accomplishes two things:

1. It helps readers grasp your main idea immediately without having to comb through blocks of text.
2. By sharing the most important piece of information first, you are essentially guiding readers through the details, helping them get through the text more efficiently.

Other benefits of using BLUF in your marketing writing include:

1. Enhances reader comprehension

Research conducted back in the 1980s showed that teaching students to identify the main point early on led to significant gains in comprehension.

Although this study took place decades ago, its findings are still relevant to this day and are supported by a 2011 psychological study on story spoilers.

In this study, two separate groups were given stories to read. One had spoilers for the ending of the book as the intro. It found that the readers who were given spoilers were able to concentrate on the details even more.

Consequently, this group was able to remember even more information from the story they read.

The reason?

By being given the most important information first, they were unencumbered by what was about to unfold next and were instead able to use the additional information to support the main point.

2. Makes your content more concise

According to a Nielsen study, users only have time to read at most 28% of the words on a page during an average visit.

The more lengthy and complex your content is, the less accessible it becomes. This means the more words you put on a page, the higher the likelihood of you losing your audience.

Placing the most important information at the start of the message helps you get to the point much faster.

With this information already provided, you can prioritize the supporting information you want to convey, which helps you eliminate any tangents or unnecessary details.

Eliminating elements like fluff, lengthy introductions, and excessive background information can help you write in a clear, direct manner, making your content easier to read and comprehend.

3. Improves your content’s credibility

In content marketing and SEO, the best ways to establish credibility in your content are:

• Citing credible sources
• Keeping information current
• Quoting subject matter experts

But writing skills also matter in establishing credibility. Aside from the information you present, it also matters how you present this information to your readers.

For instance, presenting key information upfront demonstrates transparency and directness, which contributes to your credibility.

By being clear and concise in your messaging as you present supporting information, your readers are able to recognize the intent and purpose behind your writing.

These qualities showcase your ability to effectively communicate important information, which are also qualities of effective BLUF.

4. Keeps your audience’s attention

Capturing your audience’s attention is only a portion of the conversion rate equation. You also need to keep their attention until they understand your main point and decide to take action because of it.

A good headline and image are crucial in luring your audience’s attention and directing them to read your content — and a good intro is what makes them want to keep reading.

Starting with the main focus upfront is one of the best ways to do that.

With this approach, you’re immediately addressing your reader’s intent and quickly following that up with additional information, which sustains their attention on your content.

In that study we referred to earlier, the group that was given spoilers in the intro found the story to be more enjoyable because of the information they were given and were more likely to read through to the end.

When is BLUF most effective in marketing?

One common disadvantage of writing in BLUF is that it eliminates all the suspense of the ending.

But unless you’re writing an expository essay or employing an emotional marketing approach, there really isn’t any reason to build up suspense.

However, if you’re looking for a better way to write marketing content, then the BLUF technique is one of the best methods you can implement.

You can apply this method of writing in the following aspects:

• Problem/solution marketing – use the BLUF statement to highlight a key pain point and present the solution upfront.
• Email marketing campaigns – start with a compelling subject line, then convey the key benefit in your opening line. Follow up this statement with supporting information separated by bullet points or subheadings to make it scannable.
• Blog posts – draw in your readers with your concluding statement as your intro, then provide more information in succeeding sub-sections to support your main point.
• Landing pages – write a compelling headline and start your copy with your unique value proposition.
• Advertising copy – grab user attention by highlighting the main benefit at the start of the message.
• Social media marketing campaigns – use eye-catching visuals captioned with the main message, immediately followed by supporting information.
• Client presentations – articulating your main points early on immediately conveys that you know what you’re talking about, allowing you to draw potential clients in.

When is BLUF not appropriate to use?

BLUF is a versatile technique and can benefit your content in a lot of ways. But it’s not always the right approach.

Because it’s swift and direct, it can make your content seem unemotional and unengaging.

Here are other instances you might not want to apply the BLUF approach:

1. When you’re marketing complex products or services

Customers will always want to know more information about the products they’re considering purchasing.

They will want to know about how it works, its unique features, and how it solves their pain points.

This usually requires a more detailed and layered approach to ensure these nuances are communicated effectively — something that the BLUF approach may not be able to convey properly.

Additionally, if you’re dealing with a more skeptical audience, placing the most important information first may cause them to ignore everything that comes after it, rendering your content ineffective.

2. When you want to evoke strong emotions from your writing

Emotional marketing is a good strategy to employ when you want to appeal to a person’s emotions rather than through factual information.

However, creating content that appeals to a person’s emotions will often require gradually building a narrative or a story to connect with the reader on an emotional level.

This may involve setting a scene, providing background information, describing emotions, or building suspense.

With its conciseness and upfront delivery, the BLUF approach may not allow for the gradual development of emotions within the reader.

3. During lead-nurturing campaigns

Lead nurturing is all about relationship building. It’s about establishing rapport, gradually building trust, and building a sense of connection with potential customers to guide them further along the customer journey.

This strategy typically requires a more conversational and engaging style of writing, which is the direct opposite of BLUF.

The takeaway

“For those of us who have been writers for a long time (except for journalists), the idea of starting with the bottom line can feel really unorganized and counterintuitive,” says Hurlburt-Lawton.

“But understanding how online readers consume content and approaching your writing from their perspective makes that shift a lot easier.”

By applying this approach to your content, you can help readers focus on important information and help them comprehend the additional details you provide.

Using BLUF in your writing may not be as easy to pull off, especially if you’re used to communicating in a more conversational style.

But over time, this type of writing will become a valuable tool in your marketing toolkit as you publish more and more content.

As always, if you need expert help in implementing effective marketing campaigns, we’re here to help.

This article has been updated and was originally published in June 2023.