KISS – For those of you not aware of this acronym, it stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid!”
Supposedly originating from the military in the 1960’s, this is an acronym that you ought to familiarise yourself with and, wherever possible, implement within your marketing strategy. It’s an extremely valid point – don’t over-complicate things.
Yet I read an awful lot of marketing literature that contain a vast array of acronyms including letters leaflets, articles, and emails. Some are good, some bad and some often don’t make any sense!!!
So, I thought it might be good to give you some advice – call it my “5 KISS Tips” when writing any marketing literature!”
Top 5 “How to KISS” Tips
1/ Don’t use acronyms (even if your clients are likely to understand them, not everyone may be aware of them, for example a new person to a company may not be aware of them) – potentially could be seen as a bizarre one this, since KISS is itself an acronym. Nevertheless wise words that I would build on to say don’t include any jargon! I’ve been in direct marketing now for over 15 years and I still see acronyms within the industry that I have no idea what they are!
2/ Avoid large words when small is beautifully put – as my mother would say, “Nobody is impressed by a smart-arse.” Using big words might make you feel good, but can make your target feel inferior. This isn’t going to win friends, influence people or grab you sales…
3/ Get to the point – the temptation to waffle is big and easy, but my advice is to make your point, stress the important bits (highlight, bold, bullet-point etc) and hammer them home. Fluff might be suitable for a novel, but in business, time is money.
4/ Use pictures to illustrate a point, but only in small doses – it’s easy to fill an article with pictures, but remember they should only ever be used to illustrate an important point. They shouldn’t be the backbone of your article. Simple, sleek design is best. The eye is drawn to pictures, so be careful to ensure they add to and don’t distract from the content.
5/ Simplicity is easy to remember, so “Keep it simple” – think about it, if people can pick out simple points that are easy to understand, they’re more likely to remember them and, as such, more likely to remember YOU!
It’s not rocket science. In fact, it stands to reason. Complex jargon, long fancy words and the like may need to get involved at a stage much further down the line, but not at the marketing stage.
Follow these tips and you’re much more likely to win over a larger audience
Joanne Clayton
I help companies to get more new business by providing Business Data for Direct Marketing campaigns such as Postal, Telemarketing & Email broadcasting campaigns.
If you need any information, call me on 01274 965411 or visit http://databubble.info
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