There’s an old saying “the Devil is in the details.” Meaning details are important.
That saying could have been invented for the world of marketing.
What is it about a website that really makes an impact — one you stick on, makes you want to look further into it, find out what they have to say or have to offer? You could say the aesthetics. You could say “it really speaks to me.”
That just begs the question, WHY does it have that kind of effect.
You’ll find that it is composed of many things, big and small, that add up to a result. Visually, you have the choice of colors, choice of fonts (type style). Sizes of text and their spacing. choice of imagery and how exactly they are placed on the page, the spacing between elements — all these and many more DETAILS add up to a complete, cohesive image that immediately grabs the eyeballs and all looks RIGHT. Nothing jars, it all fits together.
Textually the choice of words and phrasing, paragraph breaks, even punctuation add up to a clear communication. Well written text almost makes you think the author was reading your mind. Just as a question comes up, the text answers it – often subtly without raising the point. You start wondering if these guys can be real – the next thing you see is a highly complimentary testimonial quote.
Of course this takes a lot of work. You can’t just dash off a piece or create a web page or design in your spare moments. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the intended viewer or reader and see how they would take it. You can spend far more time fine-tuning a marketing piece than it took to do the original creation.
The reward is often a piece that is FAR more effective. Many times as effective.
Someone once asked a copy writer how long it took him to write an admired piece. “Twenty years” he said, “twenty years.” I can assure you, a lot of that twenty years amounted to learning what details matter, that they do matter, and how best to deal with them and know when you’ve got them right.
There’s another saying: “Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.” Well, you do have to pay attention to the big picture too. But that big picture is composed of a hundred details. Take care of the pennies AND the pounds. Don’t get rushed and leave your piece unfinished. Handle the details.
