Attention is Number 1
Never take attention for granted! It is your number one asset in business, today and in the future.
Attention is your number one asset; before your product, service and content, in fact, above everything!
If you only take one thing away from this article please let it be this: “Stop taking attention for granted, it’s the most important thing to you”.
You, as a business owner, have to pay attention to where people are spending their time and where their eyes and ears are going. If you are not paying attention to this you will miss out on a lot of business.
You may see businesses running ads through TV, radio, billboards, magazines or banner ads, and spending millions on them, and you may assume they are getting the attention of their customers; I really don’t think they are!
By paying attention I have noticed that everyone is living through their phones. Think about this: when you are watching TV do you watch the commercials? No, you either fast-forward them or you pick up your phone. What about when you are driving in the car, do you listen to the radio ads, or do you flick stations, or, even more likely today, you are listening to a podcast, Spotify or Audible; missing the radio completely. What about billboards or magazines; you are often head down in your phone. As I mentioned in my ‘What is Impact Brand Media’ article, I was sitting at the doctors and every single person was scrolling through their phone instead of looking at the free magazines. Before you think I am just bashing everything that isn’t digital I should mention banner ads. Who scrolls to the bottom of a page and clicks on the banner ad at the bottom of a website? Very few!
I say all of this in the hope that you can relate to what I am saying about paying attention to the market. Am I saying that TV, radio, and billboards do not work? No, they just do not work like they used to. For the amount you spend on running your 30-second TV ad you are not getting the attention you need. Right now, as I write this, you have to understand where the underpriced attention is for your business.
That is why I am obsessed with marketing for the now, and paying attention to where people’s ears and eyes are heading to next.
Businesses need to stop being emotional with what they are used to, and understand that our attention today should be on the mobile phone.
Now, once businesses stop being emotional, it’s time for them to dig deep and understand how their potential customers are consuming content. Is it through video, voice or the written word? Once you know that, you have to hack their attention through that medium.
Once you have their attention, it is your job to provide value and allow the relationship to grow. Bringing value to people who are actually paying attention to you is the winning formula for growing your brand.
I want to thank you for your time and attention today reading this article.
Let’s make an impact.
Dan
