Attention is the New Currency
Attention is the new currency.
That's the claim made by former Google VP of Social Impact, Jennifer Dulski. And if she's right, it's an idea that's going to change the way we think about marketing.
In a recent interview with Forbes magazine, Dulski said "Instead of looking at attention as a finite resource, we need to think about it as a renewable resource." She went on to explain that this means we can't just take people's attention away from other companies—we have to give them something they'll want to pay attention to instead.
It all comes back to ROI (return on investment) for marketers: if you're not offering your customers something valuable in exchange for their time and attention, then they'll move on and look elsewhere. But if you can offer them something valuable—if you can give them something worth their time—then they'll stay with you for longer periods of time and become more invested in your brand as a result.
The question remains: what is valuable enough? Is it entertainment? Is it education? Is it information? It depends entirely on who your target audience is and what motivates them most strongly.
In a world where everyone has access to the same information, you can't get ahead by simply being better at it—you have to stand out. You have to be loud, and you have to be memorable. You need attention because that's how you get things done in this world: by getting someone else's attention and keeping it long enough for them to take notice of what you're doing.
You can't just do any old thing and expect people to notice—you have to go above and beyond what everyone else does, and then some. That's how you make an impact in this world: by standing out as someone who isn't afraid of trying new things, who isn't afraid of failing or looking foolish, who isn't afraid of taking risks and making mistakes.
In order for your voice to be heard over all the noise out there (and believe us, there is so much noise), you need not only a plan but also an execution strategy that will help get your message across effectively while still maintaining your brand's identity as something distinct from everything else out there already vying for people's attention on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or LinkedIn…