Do I have your attention? Probably not. In fact, I probably have a better chance of grabbing the attention of a goldfish.
Why? It’s science. Our attention spans have halved over the last 15 years. The human brain is evolving, or regressing. With the internet bringing an influx of information, it’s brought a poverty of attention along with it.
For instance, did you know that the average person spends over 31 hours taking in various types of media over a 24 hour day? So, how do we grab someone’s attention from the depths of all that noise?
The answer is not simple; but after spending the day with Adido at the Attention Summit it has certainly become clearer.
Not just a pretty face
The Attention Summit was my first day as part of the Adido team, and I didn’t know what to expect. Past all the smiling faces, party balloons, glass water bottles, a tasty lunch and of course the iconic venue (as a die hard football fan - I was in heaven).
The event provided a combination of workshops and lectures by industry experts such as Saints FC, Uber, Barclays and of course Adido themselves, on how to grab consumer attention more effectively through digital marketing channels.
Having spent a few years in digital marketing roles, the Attention Summit made me realise that I had only ever really scratched the surface of digital marketing’s incredible potential.
After spending 20 minutes in the PPC workshop by Adido, guilt gradually crept in as I realised how much better I could have directed past PPC campaigns, had I attended the Summit years earlier. As I looked around the room, past the incessant notetaking and the intensely strong perfume of the lady sitting next to me (it smelt nice though), it was clear I was not alone. We had so much to learn.
That seemed to be the theme of the day, with each new speaker or workshop my eyes were opened wider and wider; Adido certainly had my attention.
Get to know your customers
From Webcredible I learnt the invaluable lesson of really getting to know my target audience. How well do we know our customers and what they ACTUALLY want? Do we know their pain points? Taking a deeper look into these pain points and finding solutions for them will make customers lives easier, and you will be rewarded.
Forget the status quo
I think the greatest thing I took away from the summit was not to be scared of being different.
Forget the status quo. Be different, and you will be noticed.
That doesn’t mean you shout louder than your competitors. Customers simply won’t pay attention.
Heather from Neuro-Insight UK provided fascinating insights into the evolution of the human brain, and our brains responses to advertisements. Who would have thought a toned torso would have provoked such a reaction?!
Neuro-Insight’s research showed us that emotions are key to grabbing customers’ attention and embedding memories into our brains. Make your customers feel. Provoke an emotion, and they will come running. Sounds simple enough? Not quite.
Outrun a bear
Digital marketing is constantly changing. It’s becoming harder and harder to stand out when billions of people are all competing for your customers attention. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Just remember how to outrun a bear.
Your digital marketing may not be perfect, but all you need to do is make sure you are better, and further ahead than your competitors and you will be able to reap the rewards. Capturing your customer’s attention is the future. So what are you waiting for? Start running.
Not your typical first day
If the Attention Summit was a taster of life at Adido then I can’t wait for the main course. The knowledge and fervor for digital marketing was contagious, I was left wanting more. I am absolutely thrilled at the prospect of being able to learn from an agency that has the passion to match their expertise. And there I was thinking this would be like any other first day.
You can access all the content from the Summit here: www.adi.do/events/attention2016/
