The Marketing Copywriting Golden Rule: K.I.S.S.

Over the last two weeks, I've been developing a web marketing video based on a campaign I recently did for a Michigan driving school (Forgive the shameless link building. What's a marketing blog for, if not to give yourself and your client links?). In concept, the video seemed like it would be very simple to put together; it would be just a basic case study with screen shots, text and voiceover. In execution, however, it proved to be MUCH more difficult than I anticipated.

As a writer I've always been overly verbose, and my creative writing background doesn't help to stem that tendency (see?). My professors taught me to edit and be critical of my work, and it's no coincidence that my most successful poems and creative pieces were always the shortest and most tightly edited. When developing copy for marketing materials, however, there's even less room for excess words. Being verbose with marketing content - whether it's video, ad copy, white paper, whatever - is the best way to kill your message and bore your customer base.

This is the lesson I learned the hard way over the past few weeks. My first video script was three pages long and took 10 minutes to read. That was after 3 rounds of slicing and dicing up the copy. 10 minutes! Without interesting visuals, nonetheless! Who would watch such a boring monster?

Luckily, a friend of mine (who just happens to also be my cousin-in-law) owns Creo Productions, the sweetest video production studio in town. Last week I asked him if he had any tips on writing scripts for video. He and his business partner always prefer to write video scripts themselves, and they've gotten pretty darn good at it (visit their blog for proof). Without blinking, he shrugged and responded, "just keep 'em short."

Andy's sage advice gave me the boost I needed to take a hatchet to the script once more until it was pared down to a manageable 5:15. Hopefully, after one more round of editing, I'll be able to get it down to 4:30.

The whole experience reminded me how important it is to "keep it simple, stupid", or "KISS". No matter what kind of content I'm writing, I have to remind myself of two important things:

- What is the message I'm trying to convey?

- What is the simplest, clearest way to communicate that message?

If there are words or phrases floating around that aren't absolutely essential to the message I'm trying to communicate, more likely than not they need to be cut.

Marketers have egos - often larger than normal folks - and it can be particularly difficult for us to take a hatchet to our creations. But when it comes to content, simplicity always wins. Whether you're a copywriter, video producer, blogger, social media guru or graphic designer, it pays to remember that less is more.

Stay tuned next week when I (fingers crossed) will publish my first video here. You can be the judge and tell me whether I "KISS'ed" or not.