Confronting infobesity

We are all overloaded with information. The internet, smartphones, e-books, free-papers and advertising are bombarding consumers with thousands of messages every day. Marketers are no different, with the ever-increasing importance of research, how can we filter through all the reports to find what’s valuable? We need to be smart about what and how we read.

It is very important that different sources are used to give us a rounded picture of the marketplace. The more places we can get intelligence from, the better informed our decision-making will be. It is also imperative that we have flexible hypotheses. Whatever assumptions we have made, whatever results we expect to find, we need to be prepared to change our mind. Every additional piece of information will provide greater depth and understanding. The important thing is to take data as another piece in the puzzle of knowledge.

But how can we manage the data deluge without becoming overwhelmed? The key is to be open to new ways of thinking, to challenge the narrative, but not to get sucked in. Some people read a report and take it as gospel, others will quickly dismiss it, and people like me will read the information, then find out the sources, then dive deeper into the figures. But that’s my job; marketers tend not to have the luxury for such indulgent reading. The smart move is to find a balance: Read it, understand it, decide how much you trust it, challenge the position, change your theory accordingly, and then move on.

Why not try an information diet? Consume information in a healthy way: don’t ingest too much in one sitting, read bite-sized chunks often, vary your sources of information, and don’t read too late (or your brain won’t be able to digest it before bedtime).