Too Much Information??

[Johny]

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Anyone who uses LinkedIn to any extent will often see connections who submit quotes that come up on the newsfeed page. I usually don’t take any notice of them because, without any context to accompany them, which there mostly isn’t, there really isn’t much meaning to them.

I did however read a quote recently that made me think. It was this:-

“Drowning in Information, Starving for Knowledge”

It made me think of two things:-

1. Living overseas, most news I get about Australia comes from MSN. Over time I have found the amount of information is increasing, but the quality of that information is becoming more banal, one sided, or straight our rubbish with an intent to push a position rather than convey news in a balanced way.

2. With so much more information available now, the number of choices and options to us is never ending. it reminded me of an article I wrote a while ago (about promotional products), that includes a TED talk about – The Paradox of Choice. Rather than explain it, that video is in this article and worth a look, I think:-

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/promotional-products-options-brian-mallyon

As small business owners, we are all out there trying to flog our products/services, promote ourselves as experts by writing articles or answering questions on forums, etc.

The end result of this is a vast amount of information out there that is becoming more banal, one sided, or straight out rubbish with an intent to push a position rather than convey real benefits or be honest about whether we provide the best options.

The other side is how we see all this as consumers.

Is it getting harder to make decisions to buy a product or use a service because of the amount of information available? Are there too many choices leading to paralysis in making decisions?

Is this something business should be concerned about?

[arrowwise]

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Yes there is an abundance of information, so it s a case refining your research, info filtering, time management and decision making skills.

Cut out a lot of unnecessary alerts and notifications to help with that quest to focus and push on.

In the old days you were down to phoning a mate or picking up the phone boo. Less choice but often not as good or comprehensive. Maximum choice and option is fantastic if you can harness it efficiently.

[Sadik]

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There is actually a new marketing strategy by big brands. They have realized that with the internet now, everyone can find information about their products. So what they do is they present near about infinite choices for customization in their products. Think buying a car.

What then happens is that with so many choices, and so much information about every choice, you can no longer “cover everything”. In the end you then HAVE to go with their recommendation because well, no one can have the time to go over everything about everything.

[arrowwise]

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Yes when it is all too much or you are time poor it is best to be directed on what is best to buy from your trusted advisor (aka sales person).

[troysteele]

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Johny, post: 243889, member: 34822 wrote:

Is it getting harder to make decisions to buy a product or use a service because of the amount of information available? Are there too many choices leading to paralysis in making decisions?

Is this something business should be concerned about?

I think it comes down to a lot of businesses thinking they have to offer everything to solve the problem and the consumer gets overwhelmed. They’re the ones overloading the potential customer with a heap of information and options they don’t understand and it becomes even worse when the seller doesn’t know enough about all the options they’re providing.

If the potential customer has to go away and do their own research then the seller hasn’t understood the problem well enough to provide a concise solution.

If the customers comes to you already overwhelmed by information they found themselves then the job is still the same – working out what the client actually needs and what their priorities are. Create a solution from that.

The overload of information can be seen as a benefit to a business/salesman who really knows their products/service and customer because they can help the customer process that info and focus on the solution itself. It’s their job to educate in a way that the customer trusts them and understands that what you’re offering will get the job done.

[Johny]

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If the potential customer has to go away and do their own research then the seller hasn’t understood the problem well enough to provide a concise solution

I would agree with that.

Did you watch the video, with the example of salad dressings? For years sales people have been told to highlight benefits. With so many products and resulting benefits, are we now bombarded with so many options that it is harder to make decisions, and when we do, we often wonder whether we feel bad in thinking perhaps the other option would have been better.

I know what people say should be done and how to overcome all this, but does that really happen? I know I get caught up in it, and I know my customers get caught up when I provide too many options for them, so have made a conscious decision to limit the options I provide. This seems to have a better result in timeliness of decision making and acceptance than before.

So in practice it seems to have worked for me.

I thought it was a really interesting video and worth a share as I can see things in there that affect me and thought it may be interesting to share.

[francoiskorf]

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From where I look at it, LinkedIn articles are supposed to entice the reader to either ‘follow’ you to get more insights on what you publish, or gain new ‘connections’.

The problem with the amount of articles being published is that very little of either happens unless you already have a high ranking profile. I have seen articles being published shortly after mine with the same topic and it will attract 100+ ‘likes’ where mine got a few reads.

Managed to slowly grow ‘followers’ to +200 over a few weeks but none of these are attracting clicks to the website, comments or any enquiries at all. This tells me my message does not get to the right person at the right time. Spending the time that I do on writing articles and hopefully getting one client in 6 months does not look like a good return on investment?

So what is the alternative? I have not come up with that answer yet, but will need to pretty soon. In the meantime I will have to keep writing articles:)

[Johny]

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Francois, I wasn’t specifically referring to LinkedIn, but the amount of information out there in general. I can almost guarantee I can find one “fact’ contradicted by another “fact” for just about everything.

But I agree with you in terms on LinkedIn. I used to write articles often, but hardly do now because the amount of the same or similar information is getting too much that it is hard to stand out. (Plus hard to keep coming up with something new)

In the beginning I got quite a few leads from that, but over time that has changed and I rarely get any views any more (That could also be something to do with my poor writing, but that’s another story.)

I have found I get a bit more attention when writing little snippets in newsfeeds or identifying and contacting specific people with a story of why I have made contact.

Like everything, LinkedIn is evolving and I reckon it has changed over the last couple of years. I am by no means an expert, but try to change as much as I can to cater to what I see as better ways to make an impact. Definitely some trial and error in that.

[PowerofWords]

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That’s where niche advisors we know and trust can help us by being gatekeepers of all that information, and providing one or two ways to get our desired results.

LinkedIn had a back-end change last year and now results in poorer numbers of views of our articles esp. if we’re in the vast majority. I felt it was no longer worth writing more articles on here alone, but it’s still worth posting your own blog articles to your LinkedIn feed (automagically of course). Helping out others in a small way I believe will always provide more karmic return than merely posting quotes and snippets. Hope this helps Francois, above.

[Calcul8or]

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I definitely agree, there is too much information (read:garbage) out there. The only real choice we have is to filter out the good from the bad. That’s why I haven’t watched a single commercial tv show, or listened to a commercial radio station, in decades, and have no plans of ever doing so.

Sorry, it’s late and I’m waffling.

Programmer. Analyst. Nerd. Calcul8ors.com.au Custom Software & Collaboration

[bb1]

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troysteele, post: 243932, member: 90838 wrote:

I think it comes down to a lot of businesses thinking they have to offer everything to solve the problem and the consumer gets overwhelmed. They’re the ones overloading the potential customer with a heap of information and options they don’t understand and it becomes even worse when the seller doesn’t know enough about all the options they’re providing.

If the potential customer has to go away and do their own research then the seller hasn’t understood the problem well enough to provide a concise solution.

If the customers comes to you already overwhelmed by information they found themselves then the job is still the same – working out what the client actually needs and what their priorities are. Create a solution from that.

The overload of information can be seen as a benefit to a business/salesman who really knows their products/service and customer because they can help the customer process that info and focus on the solution itself. It’s their job to educate in a way that the customer trusts them and understands that what you’re offering will get the job done.

This is a spot on observation, there is a distinct lack of information at the sales end of things. The number of times you walk into a shop (B&M or online) with $’s in hand, and all you want to know is the specification’s of the product you are interested in, and the first thing you are told is ”google it”, but I’m standing there in front of you with $’s to give away, and you are sending me out of your store.

Business have forgotten a very basic fundamental, once you have me in your store, be it Bricks and Mortar or online, Keep me there, don’t send me off, I will find someone better, more helpful, or better priced.

This may sound strange but the internet has made business (B&M and online) lazy.

[Author]

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