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Sometimes it’s difficult to say no. But it’s becoming the most important word in a marketer’s vocabulary. Why? You have an ever-increasing number of options to get your message out—and many of them are ineffective.

Sometimes we say yes because we don’t like confrontation. Sometimes we say yes because we have money in the budget and we think we’ll lose it if we don’t spend it. Sometimes we say yes because its seems like the right answer at the time. But sometimes we don’t know why we say yes. And that’s why it’s important to get better at saying no.

Say no when you’re told something will only “build awareness.” Say no when there’s no way to measure response.

Say no to options that reach a large audience that’s not your target market. Say no to waste.

Say no to bad creative. Say no when no one can explain how the creative is tied to strategy.

Say no to the hard sell.

Say no to impressions when what you want is click-throughs. Say no to online ads that aren’t tied to content.

Say no to quantity when what you want is quality. Say no to anything that claims to reach “everyone.”

Say no to messages that depend on interruption for their “effectiveness.” Say no to messages that scream when they should whisper.

Say no to messages that aren’t aligned with your audience. Say no to trying to be all things to all people.

Say no to old media that no longer works. Say no to new media that has no other merit other than being new.

Learning to say no more often will help you learn when to say yes. And saying yes to the right stuff leads to results, which over time will give you confidence to know when to say no.