Mike Clark's Business Bites: Make sure you are not drowning in the sea of information

The only way to be heard in the sea of information is to speak directly to your client with a message that adds value through a channel your client uses. Photo / Freepix

OPINION:

Did you have to look up information in encyclopaedias? Maybe you had slide rules, logarithmic tables, and learnt how to solve equations using only formulas.

I loved history in school. I found studying the various 'ages' and transitions fascinating. From lords and serfs through to the Industrial Revolution, the development of culture and rapid changes in the world remains a constant throughout history. Currently, we are going through the Digital Revolution - sometimes called the Information Revolution. How are you and your business adapting to this?

We live in an era where you can look up almost anything you want. Information is all around us. Estimates put our daily exposure to marketing messages alone at about 10,000 a day. There are thousands of free courses online, videos by the billions, photos by the hundreds of billions, and messages sent in the trillions.

With all this information, a business needs to understand: 'More is not more'. You need to add value and make it easy for people to find you. People who are able to bring together and/or condense information (like ted.com and people doing book summaries, for example) and organisations that make searching and finding information have huge market share because of the value they add. And, obviously, for companies like Google, they have a huge responsibility, as they 'choose' what information you see.

Information is, however, only as good as the action one takes as a result of having that information.

What are your sources of information? How much of the media you consume is for pleasure, in comparison to learning and growth? How do you manage the deluge of information and communication in your professional and personal life?

Reflecting on how you consume information is a great starting point on the way to considering what channels you could use to market your business. Take time this week to see which businesses manage to cut through the noise to reach you. What can you learn from this?

How can you apply these learnings to your marketing message? Another great starting point is to think about who you are best set up to serve. Or, thought of another way - who is your ideal target client?

Are they likely to prefer video to blogs? Do they want case studies, testimonials or technical information? Do they want it in regular bite-sized pieces of information or in a longer format? Do they tend to watch videos with or without sound (most people watching on their phone watch without sound - hence having text they can read is important)?

Our weekly three-minute Learning Bites video clips are our most successful form of marketing over the past six years.

Every business has differences in its offering and client base. Likewise, every business is the same in that they are trying to get attention in a noisy marketplace. The only way to be heard in the sea of information is to speak directly to your client with a message that adds value through a channel your client uses. When was the last time you checked your marketing was working?

• Mike Clark is director and lead trainer and facilitator at Think Right business training company.