Over the weekend we went to fantastic family wedding in Scotland and also a birthday party for my daughter’s best friend who turned three. It was a great party – a “proper party” with party games like musical statues, pin the tail on the donkey and jelly and ice cream. Great. There was also a piñata.
If you don’t know what a piñata is (my Dad didn’t) then it’s a papier-mâché container – this one was horse shaped – brightly coloured and filled with sweets that you hang up and bash with a stick until the sweets come out. In theory.
This piñata was solid as a rock. All the kids had a go, all the adults had a go, it was not going to break open. Thump, bash, thwack. Nope. All the sweets remained inside. The piñata still looked brand new. In the end it had to be pulled down and ripped apart to find the treasure within! Very frustrating.
When you create your communication materials how easy is it for your intended audience to find the information they are looking for? Can they put their finger on it in one hit, or do they need to trawl through pages and pages of information, click and click and click through your website or even have to call you up because they can’t find what they need to know? (If they get that far or can find your phone number).
Do people understand what you do right away or do they have to ask question after question to really “get it”? Is your message easy to find? Do they need to tear your brochure to pieces to find that one bit of information – the length of the bookcase you’re selling, or the delivery costs, where an event is or even how to get in touch with you?
If you’re looking for information and you can’t find the information you want, what do you do? You probably go elsewhere don’t you, or you give up. So make it easy for your customers to find the information they need and you might just have more of them. Ensure that your contact details are easy to find. Make sure your information is clearly laid out and easy to navigate.
Don’t make them have to rip you and your business apart to find the thing they are looking for. Not everyone will wait long enough to be showered with sweets.