Stop Explaining Harder: Say Less to Say More

This is going to sound strange coming from a writer, but sometimes you can’t solve a problem with more words.

In B2B, that can be hard to accept. When something isn’t working, the instinct is to explain harder. Let's give them more detail, add another slide or paragraph. Let's build on the key messages. We try to fill the gap with volume and rationale. I know - I've been there. It's a bit like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

However, experience has taught me something: more words don't always fix the problem. In fact, they can make it worse. If someone didn't understand you the first time (or worse, they didn't buy what you're telling them), chances are they don't need more information or detail. They need the right information - in the right form - for where they are right now.

It's your job to meet your target audience where they are, not to overwhelm them with detail - no matter how factually correct those details might be.

In this game, being correct is simply the price of entry. The true art form is in learning how to say it and when, in a way that the people you're trying to reach will actually care about.

The myth of being right in B2B marketing

In B2B, a lot of people mistake being right for being credible. It's an easy trap to fall into, particularly if you've invested heavily in research and verification of your claims. Surely the facts will speak for themselves?

Unfortunately, they rarely do.

For those of us with very logical brains, it can be hard to come to terms with the idea that facts alone don’t move most people. Facts reassure them after they’ve already decided whether to trust you. The truth is, accuracy is the minimum standard. It gets you into the room, but it doesn’t earn belief. Nor does it earn you the sale.

Credibility builds on truthfulness, by adding on relevance, tone and timing. Often it's about giving your audience the sense that you get them, and aren’t just talking at them. It’s what makes people sit up and think, these people understand my world.

Even the most airtight logic won’t land if the audience isn’t ready to hear it. You have to till the soil first, by creating conditions where your message can actually take root.

Tilling the soil before you plant the words

Even the right message won’t take root if the ground hasn’t been prepared. It’s a bit like scattering seeds on hard soil.

In marketing and communication terms, “tilling the soil” means building trust before you deliver the message. It's about creating the conditions that make people receptive to what you are going to say next.

Those conditions vary by audience, but the signals of credibility are often the same. Maybe it's about putting your experts front and centre - real, credible people with names, faces and amazing experience. Maybe it's showing that your claims have been independently verified, or that you are willing to be transparent about what you know and what you are still working on. Sometimes it's as simple as being consistent in tone and message over time, so people come to expect substance from you.

Credibility is cumulative. It's a long play. By the time you're ready to plant the words, your audience has already decided whether to trust the hand that's sowing them.

The message trap

Once the groundwork is done, the next challenge is knowing when to stop. That’s where so many teams come undone.

Sometimes it’s not even the full key messages doing the damage - it’s fragments. Stray words and phrases lifted from the brand deck and dropped into everything, as if they’re magic dust.

“If we stick this here, everything will be okay and on brand.”

Except it rarely is.

Those fragments might have meaning inside the team, but outside of it they sound empty - and yes, they sound tacked on and dropped in. They dilute meaning instead of reinforcing it. Most audiences are savvy, they sense when a phrase has been cut and pasted rather than earned.

Consistency and repetition aren’t the same thing. Consistency builds recognition; it helps people know who you are. Too much repetition just makes them wish you’d stop talking.

How to solve it instead

When messages don't seem to be working or start sounding stale, the instinct is to add more words. However most of the time, what you really need is a different way in.

Sometimes the problem isn’t what you're saying. It might be the format, the sequence, or the proof behind it. There are many ways to create meaning without piling on more paragraphs - particularly when you start thinking of the job as communicating rather than writing.

You can solve it with visuals. Sounds simple, but for some people, the penny drops when they see it. A single diagram can often do the work of an entire white paper.

You can solve it with proof - not just facts. Proof shows belief in action: a customer story, an endorsement, a measurable outcome. Facts simply exist; proof convinces.

You can solve it with structure. Sometimes the logic needs to breathe or flow differently. Sometimes you need to lead people to something gently rather than smacking them in the face with it. Reorder the sequence so they can follow the reasoning instead of wrestling with it.

You can solve it with story. Narrative shape gives people an emotional reason to care. It's the part data alone can’t reach.

You can solve it with empathy. Meet your audience where they are, not where you wish they were.

And sometimes, you can solve it with silence. Space gives weight. A pause - in speech, or even in publishing - can do more for credibility than another campaign ever will.

Build trust, then add words

Sometimes B2B content fails because the words arrive before the trust does. That’s not a problem you solve with more words and copy. It’s one you solve by understanding what your audience is ready to hear, and finding the clearest way to communicate it.

If that sounds familiar, it might be time to take a closer look at how your content is landing. Our Content Health Check ($1,500 ex GST) gives you a quick and expert look at your content machine. We’ll review three flagship assets and give you clear, practical fixes you can apply straight away - so your words start doing the job they were meant to do. To find out more:

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