Simple Steps to Effective Marketing These strategies can demystify your product and help your customers see the light.

A favorite adage of my college journalism professor was this: "Assume the reader knows nothing, but don't assume the reader is stupid." In other words, deconstruct the complex to make it easily understood, but don't dumb it down. In my years since school, I've realized the wisdom of that approach applies not just to journalism, but to business and marketing, too.

Products and services (especially digital ones) can be complex. Your job as a marketer is, in part, to make the seemingly impenetrable easily understood, to lose the corporate Frankenspeak and convey your business's value in human, accessible terms.

Businesses that develop buyer personas for their products or services exemplify the "keep it simple" mantra. A buyer persona is a representation of the type of consumer you believe will be interested in what your company is selling. The idea is to address customers' wants and needs directly--speaking to their specific pain points from their specific points of view. More broadly, it can be handy to envision intended prospects as people who--like my college prof--demand clarity and simplicity. This will help you to market effectively.