Disruptive Voice

Simple Wins Every Time

Keeping things simple should be part of every company’s marketing & product strategies. Simplicity wins over complexity. The proof is all around us.

Take the Wii gaming console for example. Today Nintendo announced that this tiny box with goofy animated characters has sold more than 50 million units, beating out its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (30 million) and Sony’s PlayStation 3 (21 million). Hard-core gamers who love games with intricate stories and detailed graphics are more apt to buy an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. But your mom & dad are more likely to actually play Wii bowling or tennis. The simple gaming platform is the clear winner.

Look at the iPod, too. Most gadget review sites note that it’s not the best sound compared to many lower-costing mp3 players. But its easy-to-use design is a hit.

Even in B2B markets, simplicity dominates. When IBM runs print & TV ads for its servers, it could include lots of words about the products’ scalability, speed and more. Instead, it simplified the benefits pitch by showing how IT departments can go from a room full of network equipment and cables to a rack of IBM servers. 

At too many companies, potential customers check out the website or review marketing collateral, and then ask, “What do you do?” It doesn’t matter how sophisticated you believe your products are or how much R&D you spent to develop them. Simplifying your sales and marketing message will get you more sales than a technical datasheet.

Focus on the benefits instead:
-    cost savings
-    improved productivity
-    easy configuration

Test your new messaging on partners and existing customers. Tweak your marketing as much as needed. Keeping it simple is your key to winning.  

The Right Tool for the Job

I am no webmaster. Ten years ago I played around with building web pages. But that was so I could understand the inner workings of web pages in order to be a better marketer.

Apparently, the fact that I am not a webmaster was evident in the design and layout of my blog. Apparently, the design of my blog was an embarrassment to my friends, colleagues and even my children – if you believe my ex-wife, who is a website developer and designer.

My talents lie in public relations and employing social media to promote ideas, products, solutions and companies. I can write—which is important in blogging—but cannot design.

The aesthetic appeal of a blog lends credibility to the author. Clean, inviting page design or compelling images have lured me to read an unfamiliar blogger’s post.

So I employed my critical yet talented ex-wife to re-design my blog.

How many times have you taken on a task for which you lack the skill set? Maybe you created a newsletter and focused on the content but not the look and feel. Maybe you launched a cool-looking website that has confusing navigation or lacks well-written content that explains what you do. Maybe you put out a press release and wondered why no media wrote about your company.

Knowing what you’re good at is critical to success. But knowing what you suck at is just as important. There is someone who loves creating whatever it is that you suck at doing.

Every home improvement do-it-yourself expert urges us to “Use the right tool for the job.” In business, the motto should be “Use the right talent for the job.”