Less is More

Mark Twain once said, “I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”

This statement demonstrates the self-awareness of a successful writer. It also reveals that writing short is hard, even for the expert ones. Successful storytellers and marketers spend lots of time fine-tuning their messages and choosing the right words, thinking about how best they can touch their customers' hearts.

However, often many marketers fall into the temptation of showing off a multitude of benefits to the end customers, trying to impress them, but it ends up confusing the customers, who tune out the entire message.

In the early days of my career as a marketer, I have been guilty of doing this too. I had trouble letting go of even some ancillary features, assuming, incorrectly, that it will make the offering look more appealing. The truth is, while marketers love adding Bells and Whistles, customers don’t care. They simply want to know what’s in it for them. With the guidance of some great marketing mentors, quickly I learned to build stories focusing on the key benefit that resonated with the end customers’ pain points.

Fabricating fluff

In telling the story, the key is ‘Simplicity. Just like writing short, simplifying is also hard. Instead of being clever with words, being simple works better. Simplicity brings clarity.

Famous author Ernest Hemingway’s writing is estimated to be between a 4th and 6th-grade level of readability. While reading his novel, it seems you are actually in the story. Most of us will never be able to write like Hemingway, however, it pays to convey a simple, direct message that matters to the right customer segment.

Another critical point is to stay away from the fluff words. Pick up any marketing asset and chances are, you might see some of the marketers’ favorite fluff words e.g., synergy, workflow, efficiency, productivity, optimization, transform, etc.

Most people have become apt at ignoring the barrage of marketing messages, yet the right message sticks with the right audience. So, keep it short and simple. It works.