5 Ways Businesses Can Catch the Attention of Today’s Consumer

No matter what you’re selling, you first have to capture the attention of consumers. It’s the holy grail of all marketing forms. For today’s entrepreneurs, there are more ways than ever to get consumers to pay attention and make a purchase – and more ways to waste your marketing budget.

Attention-grabbing has become so important that there is now an entire field of study called Economics of Attention dedicated to it.

Harvard researchers have found through their studies that the cost of attention is getting more expensive. That’s not surprising given that people’s attention is divided between multiple screens and what’s happening in the real world.

The most effective way to grab people’s attention is going to depend on your target market, your storefront and what you’re selling. Despite those variables, there are a few techniques that are proven to be more successful than others.

Strategically Placed POS Displays

If you sell a product in stores there’s no better way to catch the attention of consumers than with point of sale (POS) displays.

They can be strategically placed within a store to maximize high traffic areas and at registers to draw consumers in when they’re pulling their wallets out.

Look for full color, custom options like the POS display by Creative Displays Now so you can really grab people’s attention while they’re shopping and increase brand awareness.

Promote Your Corporate Social Responsibility

Consumers are becoming more socially and globally aware. As a result, they are beginning to weigh new factors like a company’s corporate social responsibility before making purchase decisions. In fact, a Nielsen survey found that 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for products if they come from a company that supports sustainability. It’s a stat that getting the attention of business owners.

Having corporate social responsibility initiatives is morally right, but it can also attract the attention of consumers.

Instead of hiding your initiatives in the About Us section of your website, actively promote what you’re doing and share the progress with others online. Social media, newsletters and blog posts can all be used to catch the attention of eco-conscious consumers.

Share Experiences to Attract Millennials

As the purchasing power of the Millennial generation grows, so does the importance of capturing their attention. Having grown up with new media, marketing to Millennials is a different beast. When it’s done right the consumers will help you capture the attention of others. How can this be accomplished?

Through shareable experiences. This can be as simple as giving them away to post product reviews or creating quizzes with results that can be shared on social media.

Some companies hold events and then set up photo booths so guests can share the pictures with friends and family. No matter which idea you come up with, the end goal is to get consumers to share their experience with the people they know.

Make Marketing More Interactive

When consumers interact with a product or piece of marketing you know you’ve gotten their attention. Consumers like being a part of the process, and in a world where interaction is somewhat disconnected by the Internet involvement is an immediate attention grabber.

Interactive advertising is simply marketing that involves feedback or action from the consumer. This interaction elicits an emotional response from consumers, which is something they’ll remember long after. For example, videos that consumers can click on to make selections have been used in recent years to improve engagement.

But marketers are finding clever ways to also blend offline marketing with interactive online marketing. QR codes are one of the most common print-to-online consumer marketing trends. Another new idea is creating an interactive catalog like Northern Lighting did earlier this year.

Another way to catch your customers eye is to have a great point of sale system or POS for short. You can learn more about the top 10 pos systems here.

Use Lots of Visuals in Your Content Marketing . . . And Everywhere Else

Content marketing is a highly effective way to attract inbound leads and build authority online. But with millions of web pages being published every day, there’s a lot of competition for attention.

One quick way to make your content stand out is by making it visually interesting. People scan more than they read. That’s the key reason why infographics are surging in popularity.

The average attention span is just 8 seconds, so use visuals to get your message across quickly.