Keep It Simple, Stupid
You’ve probably heard the term “KISS” (Keep It Simple, Stupid) before regarding marketing. To me, it applies to both messaging AND strategy. I don’t know about you, but I hate jargon. Jargon is the enemy of simplicity and the industry is making marketing more complex than it needs to be. Most marketing agencies and consultants love jargon because it’s a great sales tool – making simple things seem hard helps pad the retainer and having a “branded solution” differentiates one agency from another when what they really do is very similar. I want to help my clients solve problems, not sell them something they may never use afterwards because it’s too complex to explain to the rest of the company.
When I’m having a conversation with someone, it doesn’t matter whether the topic is something I may have 20 years’ experience with or something brand new, like a cutting-edge technology, I am most often the one in the room raising his hand and asking people to “explain it to me like I’m a 5-year-old.” I do this for two reasons and the first is obvious: I need to understand it. If I don’t understand something, I just ask – and I try to reinforce that with people I work with. You never solve a problem by pretending it doesn’t exist, and if you don’t understand something, that’s a problem. The ability to communicate and understand each other is one of the most critical things we do in life, yet we often do it poorly (I’m looking at you emails & text messaging). I not only want to hear you, I want to understand you and provide meaningful input.
The second reason I ask questions may not be obvious: I want to be sure the person speaking understands it. Sometimes jargon exists because it’s short-hand for complex ideas, sometimes it exists to make simple ideas seem more complex and SOMETIMES, jargon is just so jargon-y terms start being used incorrectly. For example, how many times have you heard the words “goals” “objectives” and “strategies” used interchangeably? Or sat in a room and heard the terms “brand mission”, “brand vision”, “brand positioning”, “brand voice”, “brand identity”, and “brand promise” talked about so quickly your brain was doing all it can just to keep up rather than truly being able to absorb the content of the conversation? And those examples don’t even compare to a digital media conversation where acronyms spill out like candy from a piñata. You might hear reference to “CPA”, “CPC”, “CPM”, “CTR”, “ROAS”, “iROAS”, “CPL”, “KPI”, “ROI”, “SEO”, “SEM”, and “UI/UX” in a span of a few minutes!
As a consultant, I see myself as a resource for companies who need help creating a strong foundation for their brand (or maybe help rebuilding their brand), crafting an impactful messaging strategy, launching a new campaign and even acting as a fractional CMO before they’re able to bring on a full-time leader. I also see my role as an educator, not only executing at a high level, but ensuring clients are confident regarding the path forward after we part ways. I’ve always felt the best way to do that, is to keep it simple.