In our last article we looked at the causes and symptoms of Information overload and in this article we’ll look at some of the ways we can avoid that so that people engage with what you’re saying.

Life is overwhelming enough as it is. Your business and its marketing machine shouldn’t be piling more on top of an already mounting problem, especially when people are looking for solutions that will make a difference. If you want to be a credible source for those solutions, here are ways you should be looking to help reduce that load.

Stick to the facts.
Don’t over-sell, over-explain or over-control. Just provide the information someone needs to self-sort and self-decide. People don’t need a page on the philosophy of each product, service, activity or event. They do need to know who it’s for, what it is, when it happens and how to get there or buy it.

Stick to the point.
Start with the end in mind before you’re about to do something. If you know the purpose behind your web page, letter, brochure, meeting, etc., it makes it easier for you to stay on track and focused. Otherwise, it’s hard to recognise your own excess wording. Do you want people to buy, show up or respond? What are you asking them to do? If you can’t answer that question easily, they won’t be able to either.

Consider the crowd.
Does your announcement (digital, printed or verbal) apply to everyone or just a handful of people? If it’s not affecting the masses, it’s just going to land like dead weight. Don’t punish the crowd to keep a few people happy (even if they are the most vocal). Find a way to deliver your product or news to the appropriate markets.

Don’t intrude.
Unless they’ve asked for it, people welcome unsolicited information as much as a door-to-door salesperson at dinner time. Put information in a place that is easy for people to find and as and when they want it. Pop up windows are a great example of this and now they are almost non existent or browsers have tools that block the pop ups so they are non effective.

So there you are. A few pointers to hopefully make your marketing communications more effective by avoiding the information overload syndrome.

Your comments are really welcome, please leave them below.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under communication.
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