As a child, when someone told you "less is more", you probably thought they were crazy. If you're like most of us, that opinion probably also followed you into your teen years (and maybe even your early 20's). Today, however, you know better than that. As a mindful, capable, experienced business owner, you have seen enough to know that more is not always better. Unfortunately, it can be a struggle to know when you should take the minimalist approach versus going all-in. That's the enigma we are confronting here: when is low-key better than the whizbang alternative?
Blogging Versus Blog Stuffing
In 2014 and 2015, we were told to post more, more, more. The more articles you posted on your blog, the more indexed pages you fed to Google. It was a great strategy! That is, until someone ruined it, like they always do. (Take old school link-building, for example). Rather than posting more content that people want to read, they just posted more content. Yes, there is a difference. Blog-stuffers, you know who you are.
Now, as an industry, marketers are shifting their focus from quantity to quality. Posting one high-quality blog post per week may not produce the same traffic numbers as two posts per day, but it will do so much more for your conversions and long-term brand equity. So, how do you measure success? Are you happier when you receive more website visitors or when you convert more of your leads into paying customers? The answer seems pretty simple.
Email Marketing Versus Inbox Overload
Email marketing is definitely an instance where less is more. STOP sending multiple emails per day to your poor, unsuspecting subscribers! Sure, you want to communicate with them regularly, but only when you can deliver some sort of value to their inbox. Newsletters, coupons and promotions, and important announcements are all well-suited for your email marketing campaigns, but only when used at reasonable intervals.
The same concept applies to the content of your emails. This is not the time to share all 2,000 words of that report you wrote last summer. This is the time to offer well-curated imagery and teasers with an invitation to click your links and "learn more". Remember that your clients and customers are just as busy as you are. Respect their time; give them as much value as you possibly can for those few seconds it takes to scan your message.
Business marketing has changed in profound ways over the last few decades. The screaming car salesman approach no longer works, and it will never be resurrected (thank goodness!). Today, the most successful businesses share messages that their audience wants to hear, and they do it in a way that is easily received. So, the next time you get the urge to make a splash, try doing it with a pebble, instead of a boulder. You'll be surprised by the results.
