Attention or Intention
I read an interesting article in the globe yesterday where this quote by David Jacobson, a technology director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, struck out at me:
“The world is moving away from capturing people's attention to capturing their intention,”
The article talks about viral marketing, social networks, and the participatory revolution that’s opening up new opportunities in online advertising today. Looking back at the explosion in online advertising over recent years, you’re hard pressed to disagree with the validity of Advertising on the Internet and whether it works or not, so the future in this market won’t necessarily be about any huge revolutions, but more so about innovations to improve targeting and efficiency. Today, billions are spent quarterly by businesses to acquire the attention of internet surfers hoping that they’ll eventually purchase their products or services, but how can we improve the efficiency?
What the quote above highlights for me is that we’re witnessing a subtle, yet powerful change in focus from attention to intention. This means that traditionally I as a business owner wanted my message plastered in front of as many people as possible to increase my sales, but I now realize that the highest conversions and best efficiency for my advertising dollar takes place when my message is displayed in front of a person who’s interested in my vertical. Even more ideal is if you can catch them with their hand on their wallet ready to make a purchase, but that’s another story for a different day.
How can you get your marketing message in front of a pre-qualified buyer? It all comes down to the field of battle, where is your advertisement being displayed and who you’re targeting. The world of social networking and community niche marketing has provided the ability for you to start down the road of testing that strategy today. So, when you spend your next online advertising dollar, think about how to target user intent and you may find your online advertising budget stretching farther than you ever imagined.
