ATTENTION-GRABBING COMMUNICATION

Your attention, please.

 Why is it that I can’t get my message through?

Nobody, it seems, is listening, reading, recognising brands, valuing relationships, exhibiting loyalty, referring services or responding.

Consumers and clients seem distracted, uncommitted, inclined to impulsively press the delete button and declare that the communication has never been received.

The ubiquity of social and digital media, catalogues – in print and on-line – doesn’t seem to be registering and resonating with people.

A universal lowering of costs on social, digital and on-line communications has been instrumental in increasing the affordability and volume of mass communications, but to little or no avail. Personal salutations seem marginally effective, at best.

Doing so much, so often to many is a common practice … - and contributing materially to the issue.

Attention has become a goal, commonly out of reach to many. Content is a tactic, and in many instances poorly structured and delivered.

Many marketing practitioners are recalibrating the long-held and shared maxim that, 50% of my advertising works and 50% of it doesn’t. I just don’t know which 50% is which.

An evolving truism centres on an 85-90% rate of ineffective, non-responsive advertising, marketing and promotions. It is – a daunting set of statistics and implications.

DELIVER THE PROMISE

Audiences and targeted consumers and clients are increasingly informed, discerning, price-sensitive and highly expectant of both great quality and value.

They seek out, utilise and regularly return to sources which they find credible, verifiable, transparent and, above all, authentic!

To many entities, these expectations cause considerable harm, particularly with the promotion and conduct of webinars. Sadly, the delivery skills of an overwhelming majority of speakers are poor, if not appalling, reflecting badly on companies, products, services and applications.

Enhancing one’s personal presentation skills is only a partial measure to increased relevance and impact.

Sadly, seeming reincarnations of the late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, abound. Conference, seminar and exhibition stages are regularly inhabited with storytellers dressed in black roll-neck skivvies and black trousers. Talk … about commoditisation! Moreover, that mode of dress does little to attract attention.

STEP UP, STAND UP

Critical self-analysis of content, context and style is always justified, commended and should be complimented.

The filtering, blocking and rejection of much communication is a consequence of stereotypical perceptions, and resultant generalised actions.

Don’t take it personally. In many instances intended recipients don’t filter, block or reject individual communications. Rather, a blanket cover is applied to “another email”, “another blog” and “another text”. Little discrimination is applied in an over-communicated world, or on an over-exploited smartphone, tablet or computer.

To achieve human connection and elicit positive engagement, more focus and effort are needed on attracting attention.

Short attention spans dictate the need to think, formulate and implement headlines. That is, - a concise, enticing and compelling 3 to 5-word statement, challenge, question or proposition.

OVERCOMING FILTERS

Consumer and client apathy and indifference pervade.

Enthusing and motivating demotivated and unconnected minds is a difficult, daunting challenge.

Endeavouring to change people may be, and often is, futile. Perhaps one should reflect on the words of Leo Tolstoy:  

            Everyone thinks of changing the world,

but no one thinks of changing himself.

An interesting and significant allure is to encourage and offer real-time personal responses. It is something that around 80% of business clients and 64% of consumers welcome and value.

Increasingly, recipients to countless communications recognise, reject and are offended by impersonal, mass-distributed missives. Personal salutations are conspicuous, transparent, and often, deemed to be offensively-insincere. Accordingly, they do not counter widely-held negative sentiments to- “another email”, “another blog” and “another text”.

In all of this it is well to remember that customer churn is only one bad experience away. Many potential relationships are never established because of communications that lack the vital ingredients which attract attention, resonate and are recognised as being relevant.

IT’S AN ARTFORM

Don’t give up. Step up. Sharpen up and gear up.

Disturbingly, many supposed digital and on-line marketing experts are deficient in their ability to attract attention for clients.

They are good at registering with algorithms, which lack dimensions of emotion.

Self-discipline in refining concise headlines, respecting the power of brevity and providing credible, verifiable and authentic personal advantages, benefits and advantages to targeted audiences will progressively be a competitive and rewarding experience.

Having attracted your attention, you can now relax.

Barry Urquhart

Marketing Strategist

Marketing Focus

M:        041 983 5555

T:         9257 1777

E:        Urquhart@marketingfocus.net.au

W:       www.marketingfocus.net.au