Simpler isn’t necessarily better… But being too complicated is ALWAYS a bad thing. You’ve GOT to be easy to understand.

Whether it’s your Unique Advantage Point, your guarantee, your terms of service…

Or any other part of the information you present to your prospects and customers, you’ve got to make your message easy to understand.

…And “easy to understand” isn’t just about simple and straightforward messaging. It’s also about sending the right messages at the right time.

Unfortunately, some marketers totally miss this point and overwhelm their prospects with emails packed with graphics and extraneous info… or websites loaded with features, colors, and images that distract the viewer from the call to action…

In 2012, Corporate Executive Board conducted a study to find the factors that lead to “sticky” customers – that is, customers who follow through with intended purchases, repeat business, recommendations to others, etc. – and found that the top factor was, of course, “decision simplicity.” (Source)

Prospects don’t want to be bombarded with technical information and jargon.

Sure, it’s a good idea to have all of those specs and details available somewhere on your website, but it won’t help convert people who are looking for a simple answer to the question:

“Will this product or service solve my problem?”

Other questions (seeking equally simple answers) might include:

• Can I trust this company?
• What makes this product better and different than the competition?
• What do other people like me have to say about it?

Your messaging should address these questions directly, without extra fluff and complication…

…And without overwhelming your prospects and customers with too much information either.

One website that makes this easy is Visual Website Optimizer. Go to their website and they quickly tell you what they do, how it works, and why they are different.­­

There’s a happy balance that marketers can find, where there’s enough communication to stay relevant but not so much that recipients feel hassled.

After all, being bombarded by messages – no matter how easy they are to understand – will also cause people to shut down and tune out…

And if they do that, the messages aren’t even being absorbed, much less understood…

So many companies are far too concerned with pumping up engagement, and in an effort to interact with their customer base, they end up pushing them further away.

Most of the time, customers are only after solving their own problems and meeting their own needs – so if you’re not helping them do that, they’ll ignore your message…

It’ll get pushed aside with the rest of the noise if it’s irrelevant and immediately understandable.

The data doesn’t lie…

That same CEB study mentioned above found that:

A 20% increase in decision simplicity translated to a 96% increase in customer loyalty… and a 115% increase in recommendations to others.

See? Simplicity really does go a long way…

What can you do to make your product or service the obvious choice?

…And maybe even more importantly, how can you present that information in a way that is easy – and immediately – understood by your ideal customer?

Keep these questions in mind when you’re creating your marketing material, and you’ll be closer to the messages that resonate with prospects simply and effectively and provide just the information they’re after.

In your corner,

Charlie

Digital marketing solutions are all the rage these days, but is direct mail marketing still an effective strategy in an increasingly digital world? Find out in our related piece on direct mail marketing.