{"id":190,"date":"2011-04-07T10:34:01","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T17:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/?p=190"},"modified":"2023-05-22T22:17:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T05:17:00","slug":"when-less-is-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/when-less-is-more\/","title":{"rendered":"When Less is More"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may seem counter intuitive, but you can often achieve better marketing communications when you limit what you say to fewer words and topics, to deliver a more refined and narrow message. In fact, this concept\u00a0can apply to other concepts and “walks of life,” such as product management, career strategies or business planning.<\/p>\n

The challenge is how to overcome the perception that by limiting your focus you will “miss out” on a future opportunity. There is a natural inclination to expand focus to offer a more comprehensive solution, a wider scope of product functionality or to address a broader range of industry challenges.<\/p>\n

The classic case is the start up organization that is inevitably asked by a prospective customer to perform custom work to address their specific needs, when that work veers the company away from their previously chosen direction. On the one hand,\u00a0a paying customer in the “hand” is worth two potential\u00a0customers in the “bush.” On the other hand, if you never achieve economies of scale from selling a repeatable product or service, you many never earn a profit, and ultimately go out of business.<\/p>\n

A great example of a business that has embraced this concept well is one of my favorite local Southern California burger joints: In-N-Out<\/a>. Their menu\u00a0is limited to three combo meals, consisting of various choices of a single or double patty, with or without cheese, and with or without onions. I have learned that if I want a great burger, In-n-Out is at the\u00a0top of my list.<\/p>\n

\"Simplify<\/a>Their message is\u00a0highly focused<\/strong>. If I am in the mood for steak, soup or salad, I will go elsewhere. In-N-Out is just fine with that. Arrive at 12 midnight and expect to wait in a line on a Friday or Saturday night. They have no problem in getting all teh business they can handle. Staying hyper-focused on their menu has allowed them to master their delivery process of their product highly consistently, year after year after year as a privately held company.<\/p>\n

You should use this same focus on your business messaging too. The world is too competitive to try and be multiple things to many people. Pick one. Do it well.<\/p>\n

As a\u00a0marketer, keep this in mind when\u00a0preparing your communications, writing a business plan or executing upon a marketing strategy. Keep your content and messaging concise and to as narrow a point and message as possible. If you can be relentless in this exercise, your reward will be a highly effective retention factor by your prospective customers, and ultimately, the best chance for a future sale.<\/p>\n

Gordon Benzie<\/strong> is a marketing adviser\u00a0and business plan writer that specializes in preparing and executing upon business plans and marketing strategies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may seem counter intuitive, but you can often achieve better marketing communications when you limit what you say to fewer words and topics, to deliver a more refined and narrow message. In fact, this concept\u00a0can apply to other concepts and “walks of life,” such as product management, career strategies or business planning. The challenge … Continue reading When Less is More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21,16,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-communications","category-business-plan","category-business-strategy","category-marketing-communications"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Less is More - Making Every Word Count<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/when-less-is-more\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Less is More - Making Every Word Count\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It may seem counter intuitive, but you can often achieve better marketing communications when you limit what you say to fewer words and topics, to deliver a more refined and narrow message. 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