Why The Attention Economy Is Beats Impressions
Ever heard of the saying, “The numbers don’t lie”? Well, they kind of do and kind of don’t. When it comes to marketing, measurement of the Attention Economy should be talked about over how many impressions certain content garners. And unfortunately, the entire marketing world is obsessed with impressions. But not you, of course;)
Tens of thousand of views on your video doesn’t necessarily translate to attention, because soon as an add pops up, your prospect leaves your profile.
Tristan Harris, Former Design Ethicist for Google had been recently interviewed on the Bill Mary show and says, “a billion peoples minds are jacked into an environment that only a handful technology companies make.” The challenge for the tech giants is how to steer what all of these people think, as this responsibility is huge. This is where impressions can be like a slot machine. Sometimes you cash out, and sometimes you don’t — it’s all chance.
The inflation of information outpaces individual perception and attention. This is why no brand and business can rely solely upon impressions. You don’t want an impression when you date someone, you actually want their attention. Therefore, “the game” is not about dollars first, but about real and genuine attention, than clicks and taps. Competition of this scale will displace content and products that are fluff and don’t solve any sort of problem to bring about a demand for it.
Harris went on to explain to Maher how short bits of information that confirm personal convictions actually work better to gain attention than lengthy info about the world realities outside of their perspective. So instead of tech companies challenging the closed mindedness of some of their supporters that frequent internet ghettos, they are catering to them for the ultimate — money. Bill Maher said something noteworthy in this same interview with the former Google Ethicist, “It’s important to remember that we are not Facebook’s customers, the advertisers are their customers, and the product is our eye balls.”
ATTENTION REQUIRES EDUCATION
Overall, whether he’s right or wrong, president Trump understands media and attention. It’s better to be spoken negatively about, than it is to be forgotten about. Tristian Harris has dubbed the 45th United States leader as the “Attention President”. Vulnerable minds aren’t where they scale is for brands. It belongs to those who are willing and able to give attention in the form dollars. Truth is, no one wants a bunch of attention without ever getting paid, but in the beginning, it’s not such a bad thing. Every company should always remember that they are trying to win people, not hit numbers only. There should be a earned trust as the business being servant to the people, and not the other way around. The greatest asset upon earth is people, and there’s nothing more valuable.
Rather than attempting to shape the attention and thoughts of others, it would be much more lucrative for brands to seek understanding and empathy what others think and feel. Only after that will their content and products be appreciated that may help current certain unhealthy perceptions, but at the servitude of the recipient.
Individuals who ethically earn their pay should be respected, and not poached. This could be the reason that many large firms and business are failing — they don’t see people as people. The real economy is not all about money and other resources, but in acquisition for high quality, long term attention, for edification.
When a brand and/or company inundates us with content, that means that they haven’t done their homework as fully knowing what exactly will keep our attention. Like testing how cooked a noodle is or isn’t, they are simply throwing their product and information against the walls of our minds to see what sticks and what doesn’t. When companies do the work to understand their target market, they don’t fear that they’ll lose your attention, therefore they don’t need to bombard you with endless interaction in hoping that you bite on something. If you’re an Apple Computers customer, just think about it this: how often do you get emails from them? About once or twice a week right, maybe? It’s because they’ve bought your attention with the actual product over marketing dollars. No, Apple isn’t perfect, but on they are on track to become the worlds first trillion dollar company. So I’m gonna assume that they’re doing something right.
Being rewarded with attention is very difficult in today’s social media and internet climate. Typically, what’s sensational, wins without being vetted, and that’s where the attention goes. However, those brands aiming for the long term business aren’t that much interested in the short term thinking type of individual. It’s all about the long play, as Gary Vaynerchuk always talks about.
Media mogul, Gary Vaynerchuk preaches that every brand needs to know ahead of time which platform that the attention will be. And when you get there, that you need to earn it. This will separate what weak from the worthy according to Vee.
THE REAL ECONOMY
Overall, whether he’s right or wrong, president Trump understands media and attention. It’s better to be spoken negatively about, than it is to be forgotten about altogether. Tristian Harris has dubbed the 45th United States leader as the “Attention President”. I would say that’s correct.
Vulnerable minds aren’t where the scale is for brands. It belongs to those who are willing and able to give attention in the form word of mouth and dollars. Truth is, no one wants a bunch of attention without ever getting paid, but in the beginning, it’s not such a bad thing to earn a name. Every company should always remember that they are trying to win people, not hit numbers only. There should be a earned trust as the business being servant to the people, and not the other way around. The greatest asset upon earth is people, and there’s nothing more valuable.
Rather than attempting to shape the attention and thoughts of others, it would be much more lucrative for brands to seek understanding and empathy toward what others think and feel. Only after that will their content and products be appreciated. This recipe is one that thriving brands are deploying.
Individuals who ethically earn their pay should be respected and not poached, or simply viewed as cash cows. This could be the reason that many large firms and business are failing — they don’t see people as people. The real economy is not all about money and other resources, but in acquisition for high quality, long term attention, for edification. Your are the real ecomony.
