One of the greatest challenges that businesses face is distilling their content. And although most businesses have heard the term “elevator pitch”, few are able to effectively create one. Problem is that we want to tell people everything! The idea of “leaving something out” scares us.
You don’t have to leave anything out. Just create a hierarchy that gives people entry and exit points to your information. If someone in your audience is willing to invest six seconds, make sure that those six seconds convey the most important six-second message that can be conveyed! If, after six seconds, you’ve sparked enough interest that someone is willing to invest another 20 seconds, make sure the next 20 seconds convey the NEXT most important 20-second message. You get the idea.
This morning, freelance writer Mitch Joel, wrote an article for the The Montreal Gazette, entitled “People want ‘just enough’”.
“As technology blasts us forward, we’re actually not looking for much more than a quick fix. The businesses that are able to satisfy this new habit are winning by creating an online engagement that transcends what we would have traditionally thought about consumers: they want a lot of information. They don’t. They want ‘just enough’ information. And, if you can give them just enough quickly, they’ll probably then be open to stuff that has a little depth and perspective. Your business is going to get attention by doing the little things fast and then winning customers over with the supporting content and context of everything else you are publishing and marketing.”
Social media tools like Twitter help businesses do just that—create interest in snippets that point back to the story.
Is your content hierarchy digestible? Can you win attention in tiny bite-sized pieces? How are you using the power of the “quick fix”? We’d love to hear…
