Attention is the new currency: the art of success in the social media era

In our modern era, one thing reigns supreme: attention. You could have the greatest product or cause in the world, but without attention, it goes nowhere. If you want to sell a course, attention. An up-and-coming actor yearning for that breakthrough role, attention. Head of a non-profit and need donations to help your cause, attention. No matter the scenario, the formula remains the same: attention brings success.

I remember the days when getting attention meant shelling out to traditional marketing channels. To get attention, we paid for newspaper ads, TV commercials, billboards, and direct mail. Each of these platforms cost money before they grappled any sort of attention.

Fast forward to today. The entire premise of marketing has shifted and the cost of showing up is free. Platforms like Google AdWords which charges you at every click, places a drain on your budget disproportionately to your conversions. But now, there’s Instagram, TikTok, Facebook — these social media platforms are changing the game. They offer the immense opportunity to reach people without any financial investment.

The problem is, we are not recognizing this advantage enough. We are not producing enough content to capture this opportunity waiting for us. Attention is free, yet ample content, the key to utilize this free attention, is lacking. People complain of not getting “views”, not realizing the problem is not the platform, but their approach to the platform.

Attention is, now more than ever, the most valuable currency. But understanding this is not enough. You need to be good at catching this attention, too. Just as knowing the secret to good health is proper diet and exercise, understanding attention requires putting the knowledge to effective use. Practice is required and also an understanding of the nuances of catching attention — the art and science of it.

Many people post on social media to follow what they perceive as a trend or express what’s on their minds, but they fail to consider the science behind capturing attention. Getting your message in front of the right people, at the right time, in the right way requires thought, creativity and strategy.

So, at the end of the day, the question is not whether you can catch the attention, because you can. Opportunities are plentiful and the cost is none. The question is, how efficiently are you going to utilize it? Are you going to swim with the current of the trend, or are you going to stand out by creating content that truly resonates with your audience? In this era, where attention can make or break you, how will you adapt?