What makes a good content? Part 1. The KISS principle

The KISS principle

K-I-S-S which also means “Keep It Simple, Stupid” of course there are other variations like “Keep it Short and Simple” or “Keep It Simple Silly” but I’ll rather be blunt in this article. It’s just plain stupidity to over-complicate your own content. 

Many times we try to over-complicate our own content by adding fancy words into the content so that it seems to be at the right length and looks professional. But here’s the truth, we are not linguistic scholars, most of the time fancy words bore many of us.

Here’s an example:  

You're given a topic to promote a calculator for your calculus class.

The KISS version. 

Tacky, stylish and easy to carry. This calculator is certainly the key to your good calculus grades.

The over-complicated version. 

Tacky, stylish with the latest design that suits all teenagers and its small and portable size allows it easy to be carried around. This calculator will certainly help in your grades and make you the best in the class. 

As you can see the both of the content, the KISS version is short simple and straight to the point. Word count is less which means it takes less time for readers to read and the message is direct. But if you see the overcomplicated version you’ll be like, “Sorry but ain’t nobody got time to read that.”

KISS doesn't just apply to written content, many of the great advertisers incorporate the idea of short yet impactful messages in their visual ads such as posters, banners, cover headers. 

Here's some of the few that I personally love from my favorite brand of all times;

It doesn't need to be complicated when selling a product. Apple does it by using the minimal wordings and adding visuals that are relevant to tagline and the product they want to see. 

Look at this iPad air advertisement, my jaw dropped literary (fan boy alert!) when I saw how creative this ad is. Without saying much they just used a simple illustration of comparing the iPad with a normal pencil. pretty much say it all don't you think?

The conclusion is, whatever content you're going to create; be it written, visuals, audio or combination of everything. The most important thing to remember is to Keep It Simple, Stupid! (I meant the KISS principle 😆) 

Here’s another article to help you to understand more about why it is important to apply the KISS principle to your content. 

Just remember if you want your content to be taken notice, short and simple is always the right way to go.