Why Your Marketing Messaging Isn’t Landing—and How to Fix It

Hey there! 👋

We’ve all been there.

You’re deep in your product or service, and it feels impossible to sum it up in just a few words. You want people to see the full value, so you cram in every feature, benefit, and use case.

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter for marketing and research strategies and insights ➡️

Your team is moving fast. Internal stakeholders have opinions. And the safest option? Include everything—hoping something sticks.

But here’s the truth: More information doesn’t mean better decisions.

In fact, the more we say, the harder we make it for customers to act.

The hidden cost of overloading customers

So when your marketing piles on more information—more features, more reasons, more options—you’re not making it easier to buy. You’re making it easier to ignore.

Think of a restaurant menu with 50+ items. What happens? You freeze. You default to something safe. Or worse, you leave without ordering or ever coming back.

The same thing happens with marketing that overwhelms.

Exhibit A: HubSpot - Information overload

Their main value props?

• Grow your business
• AI-powered operations
• Customer happiness.

Each one of those could stand alone. But together, they compete for attention. Then, instead of explaining those ideas clearly, the homepage jumps into surface-level details about its six hubs, integrations, and AI tools, without really anchoring it to why it matters.

If you’re already familiar with HubSpot, you might make sense of it. But if you’re new? It’s overwhelming. The irony? HubSpot has great solutions for businesses of all sizes—but its messaging makes that harder to see.

Exhibit B: Buffer - Clear and Concise

👉 Plan, create, and share content with the most flexible social media toolkit.

Immediately, you know:

• What Buffer does → Social media planning, creation, and sharing
• How they do it → A flexible toolkit for multiple platforms.

Instead of overwhelming you with product features upfront, their homepage follows the natural flow of content creation. They break things down into clear sections that guide you logically through the process. The page packs in lots of information, but in a structured, intuitive way.

They also use:

• Tabbed navigation to tailor info for different audiences (creators, small businesses, etc.).
• Visual imagery that reinforces their message.

The difference? HubSpot throws everything at you at once. Buffer delivers the right information gradually and clearly, speaking to different audiences.

The hardest part? Saying no.

So how do you simplify without losing impact? Research and testing.

• Customer Research: Find out what customers actually care about (not what you assume they do).
• Market Analysis: See how competitors frame similar products, and where you can stand out.
• A/B Testing: Validate which messages connect before committing fully.
• Performance Metrics: Use website analytics to track where people drop off. If they’re confused, they won’t convert.

A quick test: Is your message too complex?

1. Show it to someone who isn’t in your industry.
2. Give them 5 seconds to read it.
3. Ask: “What does this company do?”

If they can’t answer clearly, you have a messaging problem.

Simplifying your messaging isn’t about dumbing it down.

It’s about making decisions easier for your audience. And when you do that? More people will actually choose you.

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter for marketing and research strategies and insights ➡️