Too Much Too Soon is Too Bad
Any experienced farmer knows that over-watering crops produce soggy soil and a lack of oxygen. This leads to the stunting of a plant’s growth and the eventual death of its roots.
Something similar occurs when business owners fill their marketing and advertising messaging with a torrent of product details — features, prices, ingredients, dates, directions, etc. (Include intrusive banners and pop-up specials.)
Information is like water, flowing into our minds in varying amounts. Difficult for listeners to handle a deluge at once, their minds become overwhelmed and simply shut it off filtering out the boring and cliched.
Understandably, you’re organization is excited to boast its great attributes but how effective will the message be for the ones trying to decipher it? This is where we’d insert the twenty pounds of fertilizer stuffed into a ten-pound bag analogy.
Today’s ‘mess-age’ of over-communication is flooded with commercial clusters containing way more information than is needed in an allotted time. If you jammed all the information about your business on a highway billboard, all passers-by would see is a massive jumble of words.
The fact is, customers are not interested in every single thing you have to say. They will only make time and mental room for a single, influential message. As you would with any marketing strategy, keep this message to a foundational minimum to enhance the success of performing above the others.
Branding is about the details — everything you do, whether it’s unveiling a new feature, a twist on an existing service, educating your customers, or counting down to an event (sale, new addition) — to pique customer’s interest. But it is never healthy to do it all at once.
As your message draws in its audience, these targeted consumers should not be put in a position where they have to slow down their mindset to figure out what you’re throwing at them.
The last thing any message should do is disrupt the user experience. The slightest bit of confusion could lead to frustration which opens an easy-access door to where these potential customers walk out.
I was told in my early days of radio, “If you can say it in sixty seconds, you can say it in thirty. If you can say it in thirty, you can say it in fifteen.” Keep it clear and relevant. If you feel the need to spotlight multiple aspects of your brand, create a campaign. Each additional ad can now pinpoint a specific problem and how you can solve it.
For a message to appeal and allure, the content must first be coherent and easy to digest. Your mindful ‘story’ should be told in a manner where it evokes emotion rather than drowns them with particulars.
Although it may attract attention, a splash is still fleeting. Allow your audience to wade in the lingering sensations of what you’re about.
Your desire for instant gratification should be replaced with focusing on the power of your messaging. Make sure you are saying the right thing at the right times. Reveal the unique story reflecting on your values. Have patience, the garden will grow. Give it time.
