Try a whisper

30325871 Our world is chaos 24/7. 

Noise, noise and more noise.  We have clutter in our mailboxes, in our ears, and in our in baskets.  We’re exposed to over 4,000 marketing messages a day and it seems like every one of them is shouting at us – waving their arms frantically to get us to notice. 

I wonder if there might not be a better way?

We’ve all see the power of walking into a room of screaming children and beginning to whisper.  Pretty soon, the kids are quieting down, afraid they’re going to miss something.  Soon, they are straining to hear.  We do the same thing as adults.  We have grown so accustomed to being bombarded with noise that we are drawn to the softness of a whisper. 

This is a principle that we can apply to our marketing efforts.  The initial goal is to get our audience’s attention, right?  Well what if we did that by speaking softly?  By not having our headline at 42 point type.  By not having our radio announcer talk as loud and as fast as he can.  Or by using white space to make our website feel inviting and calm? 

Here’s how the thought process works.

We have a lot of important things to say.  Features, benefits.  And we figure, we’d better take full advantage if we can get someone’s attention.  Never know when we might have it again.  So, let’s shove every bit of information into every postcard, e-mail, banner ad or press release. 

What if instead of talking over ourselves with multiple messages and creating so much noise that it turns into static, we self-filtered? 

What’s the one thing you need them to know?  A URL?  A date?  A change in tax law?  Focus on a single message.  Then tell them.  But do it softly. 

6 comments on “Try a whisper

  1. Drew,
    I love this post. It is replacing the word “simple” into the middle of the overcrowded picture we’re pushed in. At an Age where we shout “LISTEN”… we might as well whisper. This will also leave some room for the rare, precious bird species to fly out and share their beautiful message with us. Thank you for these insightful thoughts.

  2. gl hoffman says:

    Great post, Drew. Sometimes the simplest advice is the most obvious. We all benefit from your clear thinking.

  3. Lew,

    As you know, this is counter to what the old dogs like you and I were taught as we entered the business. It was all about frequency and breaking through.

    But, this new era of shared communication, where the receiver controls the conversation as much as we do is forcing our generation of professionals to re-think the old ways.

    It’s a good thing…

    Drew

  4. Luc,

    You make a very valid point. Rarely does something remarkable come from a bellow. Far more likely that we would be touched by something less forceful and more inviting, like a whisper.

    Drew

  5. GL,

    And yet it is the simple stuff that we get wrong time and time again. Haven’t you ever wondered why that is?

    Drew

  6. Beautiful idea. Thanks, Drew!

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