8 Best Ways to Get Consumers' Attention

Stop trying to sell me your stuff when you have no concept what I need! Ok there I said it! I am convinced social media offers amazing opportunities for all of us to communicate with contacts, prospects, and customers. However, the entire space is becoming cluttered with people who skip relationship building and jump directly to pushing their offerings down the throats of complete strangers. Instead of utilizing the power of Facebook or Twitter to enhance trust, likability, and familiarity, these in-your-face marketers could care less who you are and care only about sending intrusive direct messages to anyone unfortunate enough to reciprocate their request for contact. My thoughts on this issue of pushy social media bullies are increasingly being echoed by marketers that I respect. For example, the good folks at redpepperland.com note, “Twitter and Facebook are excellent places to add some personality to your brand. They are also great places to share content you appreciate, which can include things you buy that benefit you.”

Redpepper continues that some of these marketers are still using a push marketing strategy, “Which is the old way. The new way is to create a gravitational force at the center of the brand that “pulls” others in. And it doesn’t start with a bunch of talk. It starts by listening. Twitter and Facebook should be thought of as social gatherings. Places where people come to hang out and have fun. Like a cocktail party. People who walk in to a party babbling on and on about themselves can be a bit repulsive. However, those who enter and listen for something they know about, are passionate about and chime in in a timely, relevant way, get attention in a soft but potent way, making a good impression on other guests and spurring further conversation.”

So in short, are you listening or pushing in your social media presentations? Are you ‘hanging –out’ consistently? Are you pulling people in with a mix of interesting and fun content? If you aren’t, your messages are probably getting lost in the sea of other “push” marketing approaches.
Redpepperland demonstrates the increasing volume of consumer messages by noting that people typically slept 10 hours a night at the time Edison was working on a functional light bulb. Today we’re averaging 6 hours and 55 minutes of sleep and are actually spending more time consuming media each day than we are sleeping.

According to a New York Times article, the following are ways to effectively position your message as you compete for the consumers packed media consumption time:

1 Paid product placement,
2 E-mail marketing,
3 In-game advertisements,
4 Mobile advertising outside of texting,
5 Paid interactive television gaming,
6 Mobile advertising and content tied to broadcast television,
7 Mobile gaming and advertising, and
8 Internet and mobile home video downloads.

Redpepperland concludes.”Bottom line, in just a couple of centuries, we have become a sleep-deprived, time-starved, media-hungry society. And, interestingly, the media we spend the most time with, is the media we pay for. Products and experiences are the new advertising.”

So how are you doing at creating relationships and experiences that cut-through the clutter by starting with the needs of your consumer and not trying to message them into submission?