Here at ODEA, we love cake. Our favorite is Portillo’s chocolate cake. Any excuse we can find to celebrate with a Portillo’s chocolate cake, we take it. If you’ve never had one of these delicious cakes before, you’re going to want to start with a small slice because it is RICH. But after you get a first taste of the chocolatey goodness, you’ll probably go back for more. (Trust us on this.)
We like to think of content in the same way. When you have an opportunity to communicate with your audience, it can be a gut reaction to want to take advantage of that opportunity and stretch it to the limit. And by that, we mean trying to pack all of the information you think they would want to know about your company or brand into one piece. But too much information can be overwhelming and may cause that potential customer to look past your piece. Instead, start with a small slice of information to introduce your brand or company. If it’s relevant to that person, they’ll come back for more after they get a taste of what you’re about.
This week Patty is joined by ODEA graphic designer, Stephanie (aka Patty’s sparring partner) to talk about how to keep content simple and digestible. And also, cake.
Prefer to read instead of listen? We’ve got you covered. Find a transcript of episode three below!
Patty: Hey podcast listeners. Welcome to episode three, season two of Brain Lava, Team ODEA’s podcast dedicated to all things marketing and technology. I’m Patty Rioux, President of ODEA and with me is special guest…
Stephanie: Stephanie Nwosuocha, graphic designer here at ODEA.
P: And I asked Stephanie to hop in today because she and I have been… we always do, and battle isn’t the right word?
S: Maybe we battle it out a little bit.
P: Push and nudge a little bit always around how much content is too much content.
S: I’m always asking Patty to remove some content. Always! Could you remove one word, two words?
P: Yeah, words are hard! You hear us say that all the time. And words are hard as Steph is always trying to make sure that every piece, she designs has enough white space, it’s breathing, it isn’t crammed. And that’s something, you know I’ve been doing this for a long time and even that’s something I can lose track of in the moment. And something that I know a lot of B2B marketers sometimes struggle with and B2B companies can struggle with is, I have this moment to communicate. I’m putting the money, the effort into this communication, whether it’s a video or a brochure or a new website. So, I want to say everything I can possibly say in this one moment. And that’s typically not the right approach.
S: Right. What you really want to consider is who you’re going to be talking to with this piece. Who is your audience? How much about your company or brand do they actually know already? And what do they want out of your company? Because if they want one thing but you’re telling them everything and it’s hard for them to find the one thing that they want, they’re going to be really frustrated and overwhelmed.
P: And the moment they’re frustrated and overwhelmed, they’re out.
S: They’re out.
P: They are putting down the brochure, they’re jumping off the website. They’re going to go look for somebody to simplify it. So, really is making sure that as you create marketing assets, marketing pieces, as you communicate, you’re keeping in mind where is your buyer in that buying cycle? We know upfront that when they’re just becoming aware of a need or want, they’re not spending a lot of time or paying a lot of attention. They want little bites. It’s almost like first little slice of cake that you take. We love cake at ODEA, by the way. We celebrate all birthdays with a Portillo’s chocolate cake.
S: It’s the best cake
P: Which, might indeed be the best cake.
S: It is the best cake.
P: But the first time you had a slice of Portillo’s cake, it is rich!
S: It is rich.
P: You just took that little baby slice. First time someone’s trying to get introduced to your brand or introduced to your company, they probably only want that little baby slice. As they go further down that buying cycle, especially when they get into comparison. Right? This is where I’m really trying to decide between you and someone else. This for our B2B folks is when they want the tech specs. It’s when they want to know what the speeds and dials do within your technology. It’s really when they really want to roll up sleeves and understand. That’s when they’re spending a lot of time on your website, or digging into an e-book, or opening up your technical documentation. That’s really taking a slice of cake. My appetite’s big. I know I like it. I’m taking a bigger slice of that cake. And keep in mind even in that, it’s got to stay digestible. It’s got to stay readable. There’s still ways within technical documentation using subheadings and bullets that you can still keep it digestible.
S: Oh yes. Definitely concentrating on what your hierarchy of information is. Even when you are giving a lot of info there still needs to be sort of, what’s the top line? What’s the meat and potatoes? What’s sort of the small bits to give the whole picture. But again, in a way that their eye can follow top to bottom, left to right to really absorb everything without their eyes glossing over.
P: Yeah, we never like that. But we do love a good food analogy here at ODEA, whether it’s cake or meat and potatoes. So, as you’re creating new assets, as you’re looking at making your marketing material and really getting excited at the opportunity to communicate. Keep in mind, ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag is not communicating with anybody. Keep it simple, keep it BOLD, keep it single message. Take out a word or two when you can. And believe that as someone gets to know you they’re going to be back for more and more and more before they buy. Good advice?
S: I agree.
P: Great! Thanks so much for listening. And as always we love your feedback. You can find us at [email protected] or at www.teamodea.com. And until next time this is Patty…
S: and Stephanie!
P: Thanks for listening!