Cutting through the Content Clutter

We’re well and truly living in the information age, where content is currency and king, and more and more information and messages are assaulting us every day.

Social media has played a huge role in this (for those of you who can remember, think of life before the Internet and email), and new communication channels are being created all the time.

The paradox is, these channels need to be continually fed, and with 24-hour news cycles, a myriad of blogs and opinion sites continually popping up, and the rise of digital publishing, it all equates to a big mouth and a lot of food.

A study released by the University of Southern California six years ago (Instagram and Pintrest were just emerging and Snapchat wasn't even around then) reported that we were bombarded by the equivalent of 174 newspapers of content a day.

In the first quarter of 2016 a report by information, data, and measurement company Nielsen showed adults in the U.S. are spending more than 10 hours a day consuming media, an increase of an hour on the year before, with another study finding four hours of that was on mobile devices.

While we have many more channels to promote our businesses and we’re spending more time looking at them, it also means there’s a lot more white noise and content clutter to contend with.

One of the biggest challenges we face today is to be heard, so how can we get cut through to get our message across?

There are three key things to remember when crafting content to tell your story.

First, make sure it’s of value and provides readers with relevant information and a reason to engage.

Ask yourself: what is your message and does it adequately explain what your business does in a simple and appealing way?

Avoid industry jargon and being smart, it will just put people off.

Second, make sure you target your message to the right audience – it’s no use pushing information on to people who don't want or need it.

Third, and probably most important, be honest.

With so much information floating around us, we’ve developed an innate sense to block out messaging that’s either hype or badly presented.

These tips are a start to ensuring your message cuts through, but there’s always more you can do.

If you’d like more information contact Bruce Nelson at e: bruce@zakazukha.com or mobile 0423 403 449.

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