How We Fight For Your Attention
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I’m writing this blog post at a bus stop next to the central railway station in Helsinki. No matter what direction I look, I see someone fighting for my attention: One bus is telling me about an upcoming charity concert that brings together some of the most recent finish pop idols. One is trying to get me to lease a car. And just now the bus 17 passed me by with huge ads for the grocery store chain Alepa.
But it’s not just the buses. On the left I see the Finnish National Theatre advertising their shows. Then there’s a billboard for Pepsi, Finnkino. some IT companies and a few banks.
I’m constantly in the middle of a battle for attention. And so are you. We all want to get a piece of your attention, and we are ready to fight for it.
1. Bloggers
There are more than 70 million blogs out there, and each of them would like to have you as a reader.
So we write catchy headlines that grab your eye. Then we start the post with a bang, add a few interesting subtitles to keep you reading. Maybe a list, and a few pictures to make it easier for you to concentrate.
If we’re lucky you’ll skim the post through, and maybe even read a paragraph or two before moving to the next post in your RSS feed reader.
2. Musicians
There are always new stars rising, and what was the latest hit a few months ago is already getting old.
That’s why on each new record, musicians try to reinvent themselves and provide something new that will sound fresh. Things like playing a toy piano on a rock album, adding some opera singing to a rap album, adding a rap chorus to a classical piece, and so on.
Whatever it takes to make you interesting and gets you noticed.
3. Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and the celebrity crowd
Reinventing yourself and making an impact with every record is not possible for everyone. It’s hard work, and requires a lot of imagination.
Because of that many people in the show business take a different approach to getting attention. They get to tabloid magazines and do anything they can to stay there. And they are actually pretty good in what they do. We notice them.
4. Authors
Even for authors it’s not enough to write a good book. They need to make sure that you notice the book and then go and buy it.
Recently here in Finland a bookstore was dealing free copies of the first two chapters of the Raw Shark Texts to get people interested in the book. It works really well: when you read the first few chapters, and the book is good, you really need to get the next ones too.
5. Guerrilla tactics
A few weeks ago I talked with Kaisa Kortekallio about a sneaky guerrilla tactic she and her crew at Juoni.net are using to get people to their web site.
By leaving sticky notes on interesting places they grab people’s attention for a while. And if they succeed well, they’ll get you on their site as well.
6. Your friends
They poke you on Facebook, send you SMSs, type instant messages to you. And if they succeed in getting your attention, your friendship might grow.
7. Your kids
When you’re surfing the web, working, or crafting your business card, you hear a small voice (or maybe even a loud one) of one of your kids calling you to play with them.
I hope you give this attempt more priority over the others.
What do you think? Did I miss some important parties from the list? How do you fight for other people’s attention (mine for example)? And whose attention is the one you’d most importantly want to get?
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October 18th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
By reading this you have given me brief control of your mind. ?
This is a sentence that caught you attention I’m right ? :)
I think that here on the web quality content, breaking news, and super funny stuff are the key to get attention.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
“There are more than 70 million blogs out there, and each of them would like to have you as a reader.”
Heh, mine would not. I’m not writing to you. Or you. :)
More seriously, the only way I can enjoy my blog is by not caring how many people read it. And no, this is not reverse marketing :)
October 19th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Michael: Yes, it sure did! :)
You’re right in saying that quality content is important, but almost as important (if not even more important) is the way you present it. The content has to seem interesting to the reader in order for him to notice it.
That’s where things like headlines, images, and videos come to play.
Lynoure: Good catch! I was simplifying things a bit when I said that every blogger wants to have you as their reader. It’s true that people have different motivators for blogging, and not all of us blog to get readers and visibility.
…and by the way, your “not reverse marketing” works - I’m now off to check your blog again :)