Combatting the two unspoken rules of marketing

⏱️ 5 minute read (I know you’re busy. Save it, skim it, or read it while avoiding one meeting.) Thanks to MorningBrew for being this week’s sponsored ad!

Before we get into today’s lesson…yes, lesson, because this one cost me years to fully understand…I’ve got something new I’m excited about!

Starting Wednesday, I’m launching The Huddle: Tools & Trends.

Every week I’ll break down what’s actually happening in marketing and share five tools worth testing (AI, productivity, marketing tech) without the hype. There are so many tools launching right now it feels like if you blink, you’re obsolete. My goal is to keep you sharp without overwhelming you.

Look for it this Wednesday.

Now.

Let’s talk about something that might sting a little.

Think of this as a mental power-up.

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Years ago, I was working at a company where we were doing “all the right things.” Traffic was solid. Content was flowing. Campaigns were running.

But conversions? Meh.

So we did what smart marketers do. We analyzed. We optimized. We debated messaging nuance like it was a philosophical discussion. We added context. We added proof. We added steps because “it might help qualification.”

We added a lot.

I was sitting with a marketing leader and networking partner of mine, someone I really respected, and I was walking him through everything we were doing.

He listened patiently and then said:

“Jeff, when it comes to marketing, assume people are dumb and lazy.”

I laughed. Because, of course, we don’t think of our customers that way.

But then I went back and looked at our landing page. Our emails. Our forms. Our website flow.

And I realized something uncomfortable.

We weren’t losing because the strategy was wrong.

We were losing because we made people think.

We made them work.

And people don’t want to think. They don’t want to work.

Not when they have 27 tabs open, Slack notifications pinging, kids screaming, and now AI summarizing half of what they read.

This issue comes from experience. I’ve overthought. I’ve overwritten. I’ve overbuilt. I’ve tried to sound smart instead of being clear. I’ve added fields because I wanted more data. I’ve written clever headlines that impressed me and confused everyone else.

I’ve been there.

And every time I stripped things down, performance improved.

Every. Time.

Here’s what happens, especially to ambitious marketers who want a seat at the leadership table.

We overcomplicate to prove we’re valuable.

We think sophistication equals credibility.

So we write longer copy to “show depth.”
We build intricate funnels to “show strategy.”
We add segmentation layers to “show precision.”

And what we actually show… is friction.

Look at your website. If someone can’t understand what you do in five seconds, that’s not a branding flex. That’s confusion.

Look at your forms. If you’re asking for information you don’t immediately use, that’s not being data-driven. That’s being needy.

Look at your emails. If your CTA is buried under three scrolls of explanation, that’s not nurturing. That’s exhausting.

Clarity beats clever.
Simple beats sophisticated.
Easy beats impressive.

I’ve seen this in B2B and B2C. In SaaS and ecommerce. In startups and mature companies.

The smarter the marketing team, the higher the risk of overthinking.

Here’s where this becomes more than just a tactical lesson.

If you want to be indispensable, stop trying to be the most creative person in the room.

Be the person who removes friction.

Executives don’t care how intricate your funnel is. They care that revenue moves.

When you simplify:

And suddenly, marketing looks less like a cost center and more like a growth engine.

That’s a leadership move.

Anyone can add complexity. It takes confidence to remove it.

Because when you simplify, you’re saying, “We don’t need fluff. We need results.”

That’s how you rule your position.

Now when I audit anything—a campaign, a landing page, even my own posts—I use what I call the Dumb + Lazy lens.

Not because I disrespect the audience.

But because I respect reality.

I ask:

Does this require someone to think harder than they want to?
Does this require more effort than they’re willing to give?
Does this require more time than they have?

If yes, I cut.

I shorten the headline.
I tighten the copy.
I remove a field.
I combine steps.
I make the next action painfully obvious.

Your job is not to educate someone into action.

Your job is to remove obstacles to action.

In a distracted, AI-assisted, dopamine-driven world, the marketer who wins isn’t the one who sounds smartest.

It’s the one who makes it easiest to say yes.

This week, I want you to get uncomfortable.

Pick one asset:

An email campaign.
A landing page.
Your homepage.
A recent social post.

Now be honest.

Where are you overthinking?

Where are you overwriting?

Where are you trying to impress instead of convert?

Where are you adding friction because it makes you feel more in control?

Then simplify it.

Cut 30% of the copy.
Remove a form field.
Rewrite the headline in plain English.
Make the CTA clearer.

Strip it down until it almost feels too simple.

Because here’s the irony.

The more confident you become as a marketing leader, the less you need complexity to prove it.

And the faster you’ll move from “the person who runs campaigns” to “the person who drives growth.”

See you Wednesday for our FIRST Tools & Trends!

— Jeff

P.S. The marketers who become indispensable aren’t the ones who build the most complex funnels. They’re the ones who make growth feel simple. I help solo marketers and B2B teams remove friction, clarify positioning, and create systems that drive pipeline, not just activity.

If you want to walk through how to simplify your marketing and increase conversions, grab time here:
https://calendly.com/jeff-forestcitydigital/marketing-coaching-discovery-call