Your Marketing Doesn't Need to Say Everything

One of the hardest things to do in marketing is leave something out. You know how much work goes into your organization. You know the programs you offer, the people you've helped, the experience you bring, and all the reasons someone should choose you.

Of course you want people to know about it. So you put it all on the website. You mention it in the newsletter. You squeeze it into the social media post. And eventually, something strange happens.

Everything starts to feel equally important. And when everything is important, it's hard for your audience to know what matters most.

The Fear of Leaving Something Out

There's a natural fear behind this. "But what if someone needs that information?"

They might. That doesn't mean they need it right now. Think about walking into a store. You don't need an employee to explain every product, policy, and company detail before you can decide whether you want to look around. You need enough information to take the next step.

Marketing works the same way. Your job isn't to tell someone everything you know. It's to give them what they need at that moment.

Not Everything Belongs Everywhere

Your website doesn't need to say the same things your Instagram does. Your newsletter doesn't need to read like your About page. A sales conversation doesn't need to sound like your homepage.

Different pieces of marketing serve different purposes. A social post might spark interest. A website might answer questions. An email might encourage someone to take action. A sales conversation might address concerns specific to that person.

When we try to make every piece of marketing do everything, we often make all of it less effective.

Give People the Next Thing

Imagine someone is visiting your website for the first time. They probably don't need your complete organizational history.

They need to know:

• Am I in the right place?

• Can you help me?

• What do I do next?

Once they're interested, there will be plenty of opportunities to tell them more. Good marketing gives people a path instead of dropping the entire map in their lap.

Try the Three-Level Test

The next time you're reviewing a piece of marketing, sort the information into three categories:

Need to know:

What does someone need in order to understand the message or take the next step?

Nice to know:

What might be useful once they're more interested?

Not necessary right now:

What can live somewhere else or possibly be left out altogether?

You may be surprised by how much information falls into that third category. And that's okay. Leaving something out doesn't mean it isn't valuable. It means you've decided it isn't the most important thing right now.

Your Audience Has Limited Attention

Every additional paragraph, link, message, and call to action asks your audience to make another decision.

Should I click this?

Should I read that?

Should I sign up?

Should I learn more?

Eventually, too many choices can make it harder to make any choice at all. Good marketing respects people's attention. It doesn't compete for every second of it.

If Everything Is Important, Nothing Is

One of the most useful questions you can ask when creating marketing isn't: "What else should we include?"

It's:

"What can we leave out?"

That question forces you to prioritize, and prioritization is one of the most valuable things marketing can do for an organization.

Your marketing doesn't need to tell people everything. It needs to tell them the right thing at the right time. Because good marketing isn't a complete explanation of your organization.

It's a clear path into it.