Marketing Communication Without the Bullshit
- chloeknox30
- Sep 1, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: May 4, 2022
What makes you want to communicate with customers or potential customers? The need to make a connection, share your product, and make a revenue earning sale. Right? So WHY are you WASTING time communicating fluff? What if I told you that you would be more successful in your online marketing if you got straight to the point? You would be flying past your competition because you would be standing out from the masses. Here's how YOU CAN do it.
Stop wasting everyone's time and get to the point.
Here are some helpful tricks to implement into your marketing communication to stand out and get your point across.
1. "Treat the reader's time as more valuable than your own." -Josh Bernoff
No one is going to want to click through, continue to read, or buy your product if the first bit of content seems dull. You want to grab the audience's attention. Tell them the catch; tell them the facts. Be straight up, so they know what you are trying to say without reading a whole chapter of an email. If they feel like it's taking more time than it's worth to them to read your form of communication, whether that’s an ad or an email, they're going to turn to the next page of more interesting content. Be interesting in your communication tactics, but don’t throw in unnecessary information to waste the reader’s time.
2. Stop trying to fill the page.
If you’re selling an apartment, do you think the possible customer cares about the past 5 families that have lived in that said apartment? No. They want to know the facts. Tell them the crucial information a customer will need to make a purchase decision. Take out the extra words that only those in the industry can decipher. Use bold, italicize, or underline features to make the reader catch the main points. Be concise, so you can tell your story to a society whose attention span is shrinking. There is so much information out in the world. Be short and sweet so you can get your whole message across before that small attention span cuts your communication off. Be intentional with your words.
3. Edit and proofread.
In the world we live in everyone and their whole family is contributing to the content you might scroll past on your phone or computer. Be clear and reread over something before you hit that publish or send button. Make sure your content makes sense. Make sure that the readers on the other end understand why they should make a purchase or click through to your site. Be professional and make sure the writing doesn't sound like that of a kindergartener but also avoid too much industry jargon that the consumer won’t understand your message. If something is too complicated or not professional, why would anyone want to give your message more time?
4. Use the Meaning Ratio.
In short, take note of the meaningful words of your text communication. By using this ratio, you can see if you’re using too much fluff. Above 80% is what you want to aim for, but definitely nothing below 70%. If the ratio says you’re too low, you might want to reevaluate, edit, and minimize the amount you’re trying to tell your audience. Ramble less, so you can communicate more clearly and directly.
People spend so much time on their devices consuming communication. Go against the common taught norms of adding unnecessary text just to hit a word count. BE PURPOSEFUL with your marketing communication, and your audience will appreciate you.
*Post written for Strategic Message Design Course*
Comments