We Are All Attention Seekers

We're all attention seekers - that's not a bad thing...it's how we are wired. The interesting part for me (and it should be for anyone who wants to sell anything) is that we also pay attention to anything or anyone that pays attention to us.

Where this starts to be important is that it seems to be all about devices today in reaching people. And, while its true that convenience plays a big part in getting your message out, if they aren't paying attention to you, you just become an annoyance.

Since I work in media, I started thinking about this and how newspapers have evolved and where they might be going.

Newspapers began with the thinking that everyone wanted to see the same thing at the same time (not that people had a lot of choice if they wanted news and other content). Advertisers quickly saw that this was to what people were paying attention and decided that if they were paying attention to the news and other stories, that they would HAVE to pay attention to the ads as well. This meant that I had to see ads about feminine hygeine products whether I wanted to or not. This, unfortunately, started to fall apart quickly (remember the annoyance factor above? - I even annoyed you by bolding and italicizing "paying attention" 3 times because you weren't really wanting to see that and maybe stopped paying attention).

So people started to source their information from places that seemed to pay attention to their wants and needs. They paid attention to things that paid attention to them.

The reason that there is such a focus on devices now is that the device is seen as the source of this attention. We all know its not but the reality of that hasn't struck home as yet.

What IS becoming clear to advertisers and content providers is that they really have to pay attention to all these attention seekers out there if they want to be successful. They have to give them what they want, where and when they want it. That's where the device plays a part, but only a part.

Targeted content and advertising is in its infancy really. When we can somehow provide this relevant content and relative advertising that is important to that individual, that's when THEY WILL PAY ATTENTION, and not because of the device!

The cache of Apple iPhones or Google Glass or any other manufacturer of devices will fade but the need to pay attention to attention seekers will always be there. When we focus on that endearing, innate aspect of human behaviour we will have their focused attention.