Marketing is not Overwhelming

The natural urge for marketers seems to be to deluge potential consumers with information. How often have you seen one of these?

~ A brochure with no white space and so much copy that your eyes blur

~ A company who explodes onto the marketplace and you see them everywhere - TV, radio, print for about two months - and then you never hear of them again

~ An e-mail campaign that floods your in box with multiple messages in a short period of time

~ A 12-page newsletter (white space or no)

~ A corporate website's homepage that is packed with copy, "starbursts" and news items galore

Some marketers are compelled to shove as much information at their consumers as possible. Perhaps it's a concern that they'll only get one shot at them? Or the misperception that if they don't explain every nuance of their product/service, the audience won't get it?

I think, in most cases, it's a mix of insecurity and not really understanding the audience. It's as though they're saying "I'm not confident in knowing what my audience needs/wants to know and I don't trust my own instincts, so I am going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at them."

Bad marketing strategy!

Here's the analogy we use to help clients understand this concept - When there's a hard, driving rain, the ground can only absorb so much of it before the water just runs off. Consumers are the same way. They can only absorb so much information before our well-crafted words just run off, falling on deaf ears.

But a gentle all-day rain has a different result. Because of its slow and steady pace, the ground can easily, over time, absorb all the water that comes.

How can you be a drip when it comes to marketing your company?