How to Get Clarity in Your Marketing

1. Cut the copy. Marketers are word people. But are consumers reading your words? Probably not. Why? One reason is because we are writing too much. And too much copy creates confusion, not clarity.

One of the best ways to gain clarity with your marketing is simply to cut. Cut your words. As marketing guru Seth Godin says, “Say what you need to say, then leave. Less is actually more.”

Where possible, use bullets, lists, subheads and short paragraphs. If necessary, break a long item into multiple pieces. The key is to make your copy “scannable.”

(Nader's note: Lengthy writing doesn't always cause confusion. In fact, sometimes lengthy copy, when done correctly, grabs your prospect by the jugular and destroys the competition who are relying on short bullet-point snippets.)

2. Focus the message. In addition to cut, cut, cut being a solution, your marketing must also refine, refine, refine. As in refine your message. Too many times marketers try to shove multiple messages into one marketing piece. For example, a campaign originally starts as a focus on auto loans. But then additional messages about GAP, credit life & disability and other services get added to that one piece. And then you end up with multiple messages rather than one.

When focusing your message, focus on your members’ pain points. In other words, talk more about solutions and less about products.

3. Refine your niche. As mentioned above, you cannot be all things to all people. One of the best strategic steps your credit union can take is to determine who you are great at serving and then reaching those people.

Narrow your target list to between three and four niches. Some emerging markets include millennial moms, HENRYs (highly educated, not rich yet), remote workers and conscious consumers.

Over time it’s easy for your house to get cluttered. It’s no different with credit union marketing: Over time, it just gets cluttered. However, marketing clutter leads to marketing confusion. One of the best ways to improve your marketing is to improve its clarity.