Crying ‘my attention is bigger than yours’ won’t convert audiences into customers

By Kim Portrate, CEO ThinkTV
Published mi-3.com.au

The industry is embracing attention as a driver of consumer action, but that’s just one part of the equation. The next step is to include consumers in the conversation.

Crying out that, “my attention is bigger and better than yours,” isn’t going to help advertisers connect with audiences and convert them into customers.

The attention conversation needs to evolve from how much attention each platform commands to how people buying specific products are paying attention to a particular medium.

Once we do that, it’s time to align audience attention with brand outcomes. That will give attention staying power.

From a return-on-investment point of view, ads need to do more than just appear in the right place at the right time. We need to ensure the target audience is willing and open to brand messages in those channels.

In that respect, attention is just one part of the equation. An important part but a part, nonetheless. Reach is also important because the attention of 10 people in your target audience is going to be trumped by the attention of 10,000. The opportunity for target audiences to see your ads also needs to be taken into account. People can spend hours on a platform but be exposed to ads for a tiny percentage of the time.

Like everything in marketing, the devil really is in the detail and attention on its own isn’t enough to do the job. Each of these dimensions plays a role in delivering an effective outcome for advertisers.

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