How to turn interrupted attention into intentional attention:

We want our audience to block out the noise and distractions around them and focus on what you have to say as a brand. We mentioned that one way to do it is to direct them away from their social media feeds and onto your website.

How much time are they spending on your site? Why is it important to know this? Well, the more time they spend on your site, the more information they’re consuming and the better understanding they have of what you have to offer them.

So, how do we keep them on our site? Here’s 5 practical tips that we’ve learnt over the years:

Be very selective and strategic about what you’re going to put on your website.

Make sure that there’s enough white space for people’s eyes to rest in between the bits of information.

Use line breaks after each sentence.

We’d recommend front size 20-22.

Don’t be fancy, keep it simple and easy to understand. A young child should be able to understand your messaging.

Every second is valuable. Make it as frictionless as possible for people to spend time on your website.

Getting the Customer’s Undivided (Intentional) Attention

On the overcrowded Internet, the only voices who are heard are the ones who offer something truly worth the audience’s time.

This is what’s known as a high value content offer (HVCO)

A high value content offer is something you create and give away for free that your target audience finds especially interesting or useful. It’s not about tooting your own horn; it’s about solving your audience’s problems.

We believe it’s essential to create content that is focused on your audience—content that speaks to their problems or reflects news and trends in your industry. It’s content that will drive the conversation forward in your particular space.

How to capture your target market’s attention

There are 3 things that make a Facebook ad successful:

1. The copy

2. The creative

3. The call-to-action

To ensure that all 3 elements are contextual to your target market, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of who your target audience is, what motivates them and what their pain-points are.

Listen to the video to find out ittle “tricks of the trade” that we’ve learnt along the way as a digital marketing agency.

Capture their Attention

As the world becomes more digitally connected, we're being targeted with hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of pieces of content daily. To avoid having our brains actually burst from content overload, we've learned to pay less attention to irrelevant or inconvenient content on our desktop computers and mobile devices.

The 2 types of attention

Interrupted attention

When your audience is watching a YouTube video or scrolling through their social media feed and they get interrupted by your ad, they aren’t able to fully grasp the message you are trying to get across to them.

Intentional attention (the one we want!)

Stay tuned for my next episode, explaining how you can capture this kind of attention from your target audience.

COVID-19 has been dominating news headlines around the world.

For businesses owners, there is one significant question: how to respond during the crisis.

It’s important to recognise opportunities wherever they present themselves.

While most of us are unable to make sales- the oxygen and life-force of a business- during

this time, social media usage is up BIG time right now and lead costs are at an all-time low.

This presents us with the opportunity to pivot our focus to generating leads and working on

converting them into paying customers/ clients when the crisis has subsided.

We will be sharing out hard-learned tips and strategies for lead generation over the course of

the lockdown period.

There are 3 things every small business owner should consider when spending money to

acquire leads:

1.

Grab the customer’s attention

Evolution has shaped our brains to be cautious. Our bold and intrepid ancestors did not last

long enough to pass their genes to the next generations. But the relatively timid and cautious

survived and successfully transmitted their genes. Fear of the unknown is built into our

reptilian brains. The unknown virus, with its alarming expansion, inevitably makes us ultra-

cautious. New brands need to overcome this inherent fear of the unknown. When confronted

with a plethora of brands, the consumer tendency is to be cautious – they will rather gravitate

to the known and familiar, than the new and mysterious. A marketer’s task is to shake the

consumers out of their unconscious thinking and make them take notice.

2.

Educate the customer about your product/ service

Be benefit-focused. Explain to them why they need your product/ service. What problems are

you solving for them?

Use authority figures in your niche and testimonials to communicate the benefits! Humans

have a natural respect for authority. Particularly when faced with the unknown, we readily

follow the authoritative figures of the government, medical profession, and communities.

Additionally, our natural tendency to do what everyone else is doing also contributes to the

uniformity of behaviour. Marketers often use the authority cues in their communication

(“used by doctors”, “made with German technology”).

3.

Refine your offer.

You need to consider how valuable your offer really is.

Is the perceived value that your offer less than, equal to or more than the price?

Looking ahead, it’s important to anticipate and adapt to the changes in consumer behaviour as

a result of a prolonged lockdown.

I'm the founder of V8 Capital (Est. 2023), we're private investors that invest in and grows small to medium-sized businesses with a portfolio of brands that are collectively doing R70M+ per annum. I'm also the founder of South Africa's Top 1% digital marketing agency, V8 Media that has done over a billion rand in sales for direct-to-consumer brands. On this channel I share everything I've learnt in the last decade around how to build better businesses.

⁠⁠ https://v8group.co.za⁠⁠

I'm the founder of V8 Capital (Est. 2023), we're private investors that invest in and grows small to medium-sized businesses with a portfolio of brands that are collectively doing R70M+ per annum. I'm also the founder of South Africa's Top 1% digital marketing agency, V8 Media that has done over a billion rand in sales for direct-to-consumer brands. On this channel I share everything I've learnt in the last decade around how to build better businesses.

⁠⁠ https://v8group.co.za⁠⁠

I'm the founder of V8 Capital (Est. 2023), we're private investors that invest in and grows small to medium-sized businesses with a portfolio of brands that are collectively doing R70M+ per annum. I'm also the founder of South Africa's Top 1% digital marketing agency, V8 Media that has done over a billion rand in sales for direct-to-consumer brands. On this channel I share everything I've learnt in the last decade around how to build better businesses.

⁠⁠ https://v8group.co.za⁠⁠

I'm the founder of V8 Capital (Est. 2023), we're private investors that invest in and grows small to medium-sized businesses with a portfolio of brands that are collectively doing R70M+ per annum. I'm also the founder of South Africa's Top 1% digital marketing agency, V8 Media that has done over a billion rand in sales for direct-to-consumer brands. On this channel I share everything I've learnt in the last decade around how to build better businesses.

⁠⁠ https://v8group.co.za⁠⁠

Last week we talked about why building a direct marketing communication channel like email, SMS, What's App, or Facebook Messenger is one of the best ways to drive a return on investment when it comes to your digital marketing.  This week I want to shift focus to how you can go about doing what we discussed in part 1.  That's right, this week we are going to look at some of the best ways you can grow your direct communication channel that will allow you to strengthen the connection with your prospects while increasing the odds of doing repeat business with your customers.