Reduction is hard for us to grasp. It’s not easy and it certainly doesn’t mean less work. It forces us to think critically & put ourselves in customer’s shoes. Reduction is powerful.
Graphic designers have practiced the art of reduction for some time: eliminating un-needed elements and breaking down type and artwork to a pure, recognizable level.
For marketers, reduction can be a hard pill to swallow. On one hand you only have a short amount of time to engage a prospect; on the other you’ve got a feature list that needs facetime with your prospective customers. It’s a common problem and has resulted in bloated messaging and descriptions for a long time. Good thing there’s a solution.
If you’re having trouble ‘fitting’ everything together you need to step back and ask, “What problem am I trying to solve?” – sounds simple, yet we marketers struggle with it constantly.
If you’ve been handed a product that has 10 new features, then ask yourself how each one helps your buyer solve their problems. Sometimes we have the need to cram it all into one big product description, but avoid this and break it out; give your buyer a digestible nugget that speaks to them. Reduce it to it’s essence.
Also, when it comes to copy, keep it short and sweet. Just because they made us all write 10 pages of BS in college doesn’t mean we have to carry that practice to our marketing jobs. If you can’t boil down the problem you’re trying to solve and the benefit to your customer in 2 or 3 sentences then start over. Less is more.
People read photo captions 300% more than they read the body copy. Why? because they are focused, to the point snippets that draw the reader into the image.
Again, reduction isn’t easy. Boiling down a feature into 2 or 3 sentences that clearly explains how it solves the problem and why that’s important to your buyer is hard work. It takes practice, it takes discipline.
Remember, you’re doing the hard work so your buyer can quickly understand the essence of the message and make a decision.
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