KISS: Marketing Made More Meaningful

KISS. In a marketer’s world, we could all use more of it. And no, I don’t mean physical kissing.

Keep-It-Simple-Sam.

More often used in a sales environment, the acronym is a great pulse checking tool to ensure we keep the message short, easy to understand and actionable. If only we did this more often – in life and in marketing. And specifically, in our planning process as marketers.

How often have we all heard the request to provide a “plan” and cringe? More often than not that means countless hours, countless review sessions, and countless debates over whether something even qualifies to be included in the final planning documents. Meanwhile, little real work gets done.

And in the end result? A document that ultimately gets filed, shelved, only to be seen again at quarterly or annual review sessions. In its final stages, it becomes so cumbersome it’s no longer useful to driving a business on a daily basis. So as marketers, I challenge – KISS. More often. And keep it to a sticky note.

Let’s keep it simple with a few KISSing tips.

Who is my message targeting? If it cannot be summed up in single statement, it’s convoluted. Worse, it’ll start to feel like you’re throwing things at the wall in hope that something will stick. In short, you lack focus. In short, you need to tighten up on who you want a response from.

What action do I want my audience to take? Ensure the message, be it via email, blog, or search marketing takes users somewhere to DO something. If not, you have no accountability for your work. You’re wasting your time. There’s no specificity about the end result.

Can I measure my success? B2B or B2C marketers should equally ask this question. Let’s be realistic. We all need proof points for our work. I’d challenge us further. If our marketing efforts aren’t simple enough to easily measure within 30-days post campaign/program launch date, scratch it. Start over, rebuild and trim the creative, the go-to points and scoring mechanism to not only have a defense, but exact reasons by which to outline your success for future initiatives. And if it only proves failure, you now have specific reasons for making changes. No more “I think”, “probably should do”. Instead, “I know” and “I will do”.

Is this effort repeatable? This is another straight yes/no response for the sticky note. What do you need to get it done and can it be done many times over? The best of programs can involve too many moving parts to scale. Look at the creative process, look at the implementation tools you’re using, maybe even the people involved. Evaluate all programs on the premise that you should be able to repeat this in a manageable time frame that enables you to drive your business forward. Secondarily it should be so scalable, so repeatable that you can grow the business with this program by easily bringing on others to share the effort or take the reins.

So KISS. And often, by keeping it targeted, actionable, measurable and turnkey.