By Aimee Woodall
It isn’t hard to see that modern day media channels have increased our desire for information. We obsessively update our feeds to tell the world our every move. Our phones are embedded in our hands and constantly buzzing with calendar alerts, text messages, emails, and news updates. We watch 12 episodes of a TV show in one sitting because we want to know what happens next — NOW. We want to be the first to know or the most in the know. Because of the Internet, Web 2.0 applications, mobile devices, and television, we expect instant gratification.
There’s no denying the rate at which messages are consumed and forgotten. Savvy marketers can recognize this precarious situation. We have to capture ever-fleeting attention spans with faster, more satisfying messages. Information is everything to marketers. So how are we supposed to cut through the clutter? How do we make a message sticky? How do we make what we have to say resonate?
- Cut Copy: Studies show the fewer words you have in one place, the more likely people are to read it. Go ahead and cut down everything you write by half. While this may seem like a curse to copywriters, it forces you to create concise and descriptive messages. No more flowery language. No more metaphors. Say what you mean in as few words as possible. Audiences will thank you for saving them time and headaches from deciphering what you’re trying to say exactly.
- Picture This: A picture is worth more than a thousand words. Photography is precise, yet open to interpretation; honest, yet carefully framed; timeless, yet of the moment. Pictures are a critical part of any public relations effort. Enter the social media sites like Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest — these sites have exploded in popularity because they capitalized on the idea that words are secondary. If you don’t have a picture to go with your message, you’ll lose your audience before you even speak.
- Time Out: Once you’ve sent the perfectly concise email or tweet, complete with a picture, don’t sit around and wait for the world to validate your genius, and, do not just go on about your day without checking to see how that message has resounded with your audience. Your customers expect you to be around 24/7 to respond to their questions, comments, and concerns. At the very least, establish expectations for when you will be available so they can move on with their lives or check Buzzfeed without interruption.
- More Is Better (unless you’re boring): As a rule of thumb, the more information and updates you share with your fan base, the more they’ll remember you and engage with you. You really can’t have too much market penetration. That is, unless what you have to say isn’t fresh or relevant to your customers. Use your knowledge of your audiences to craft messages they’ll listen to and engage with. Talk about things they talk about. They’ll be happy to see your shining face (or logo) show up on a regular basis.
Figuring out how to incorporate these tenets into your marketing function is essential to satiating audiences with fresh, relevant, and time-efficient content. This is especially true for the population of “Millenials” (Generation Y) who have grown up around technology. This age group will soon have to make buying decisions on their own. They’ve been bombarded with messages for years and will do everything they can to avoid your sales pitches. With so much information to dig through, it’s your job to figure out how to make your message memorable in their already message-laden minds.
As marketers, it’s our job to make sure that the world is in the know. New media channels have opened up doors in the ways we can reach out to audiences and produce content, but, we’re not alone in our pursuit on updates. There are many great distractions out there, and our message should be one of them. As long as we create good content, do it often, and don’t waste anyone’s time, our message will be another great distraction, but will leave a lasting impression.
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Aimee Woodall is the owner of the Black Sheep Agency. The Black Sheep Agency is a Houston-based, creative agency specializing in non-traditional public relations, social media, and experiential marketing. You can contact Aimee at 832-971-7725 or aimee@theblacksheepagency.com. Visit them on the Web at www.theblacksheepagency.com, follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/theblacksheepagency, and “Tweet” them on Twitter @shearcreativity.
