If you’re feeling overwhelmed by information coming at you, you’re not alone. Forbes digital marketing experts estimate that people now see somewhere between 4,000 and 10,000 ads each day.1 The sheer volume of information can quickly lead to information overload, causing people to delay making decisions or make poor decisions out of a need to get it all over with.
Your customers are tired of information-rich advertising coming from all directions. Constructing your messaging to provide a brief respite not only helps consumers to better understand your products and services and make better decisions but can also endear you to them as the one option that didn’t give them a headache!
1. Know your audience
What problems they are facing and how you can solve these problems. What are their goals and how can you help them to reach their goals? Why would they care about what you have? Understand what they want to hear, and how to incorporate your message into a format that will be best received.
2. Keep your content succinct
The goal of your initial message shouldn’t be to inform your audience on the nuances of what you have to offer – this can wait until you’ve developed a steady rapport. A call to action also provides motivation, all in a package that facilitates easy reading.
3. Speak in their terms
Technical jargon or internal vernacular is occasionally important, but oftentimes can alienate consumers before they even digest your content. Avoid technical terms, but if shop talk is crucial to your message be sure to provide context for each word that may not be immediately understood.
4. Make your content approachable
An old saying says a picture is worth 1000 words. Be sure that any image you choose is supporting your message. Providing context via text can take up valuable brain bandwidth, but imagery can be used to provide quickly comprehendible context. In fact, most readers read an average of just 20% of the text they see when approaching written copy.2
In particular, infographics are an excellent way to communicate more complex information in an easy-to-digest format, particularly within the B2B landscape. According to Springer Link, infographics providing directions lead readers to do 323% better than people following plain text instructions.4 Successfully designed infographics are also less intimidating to a consumer and are 30 times more likely to be read than text articles.5
1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/08/25/finding-brand-success-in-the-digital-world/#a62eaae626e2
2 https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-little-do-users-read/
3 https://www.office.xerox.com/latest/COLFS-02UA.PDF
4 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02765184
5 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/visual-content-marketing-delivers-results-infographic/116496/#close
About Weber Associates
Weber Associates is a Columbus, OH-based consulting firm. Since 1985, we have blended the creativity of a marketing agency with the analytical rigor of a consultancy to help our clients solve real sales and marketing challenges so they can significantly grow revenues and customer loyalty.
