Is 2024 The Year of Attention?
Is 2024 The Year of Attention?
Pay Attention To What You Want Others To Pay Attention To
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Happy 2024! If you’re like me, your inbox and feeds have inundated you with fresh ways to think about the year ahead - whether it is better time management, smarter goals, Dry January, a healthier lifestyle, or other ideas to light a fire under your butt for 2024.
I have been heartened to notice that this year in particular, there are a lot of calls to Pay Attention To What You Pay Attention To. I LOVE this phrase, and I LOVE the advice.
My favourite version is from Oliver Burkeman’s phenomenal book, 4000 Weeks:
“At the end of your life, looking back, whatever compelled your attention from moment to moment is simply what your life will have been. So when you pay attention to something you don’t especially value, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re paying with your life.”
I believe attention is our most valuable commodity.
There has never been a time when more people (and AI bots) have created more messaging and content to try to capture our time and attention. And there is an increasing need to be hyper-aware of where we focus it. It doesn’t make much sense to spend our time and attention on things that are not aligned with our own values and goals. So when you read articles like this one in the Guardian, it becomes clear that more and more people are fighting to regain control over the attempts to manipulate our attention.
“We are, essentially, the product, manipulated into giving our most valuable asset – our attention – away for free. The reason that this is important is that ultimately, our lives are what we pay attention to.”
Brandon Stanton, of Humans of NY fame, shared a similar sentiment on Instagram (H/T Tim Ferriss):
“So at the beginning of this new year, as we make plans to control our calories, our drinking, our smoking, our exercise, our generosity, our meditation—perhaps we should beging by controlling what we pay attention to. Because what you pay attention to—expands. In 2024 you will be shown much more of what you choose to look at. So choose carefully. And if at any point you become conscious that you are not the one choosing—pause. Perhaps the most powerful choice you have left is to turn off the screen.”
This message is resonating. At the time of writing this, Brandon’s post has over 125k likes.
I would like to offer a second, slightly different take on Pay Attention To What You Pay Attention To. If you’re a marketer or a content creator, you’re on the other side of the equation - you’re the one creating and distributing the things that are vying for attention.
I would encourage marketers and creators to Pay Attention To What You Want Others To Pay Attention To.
If you want the attention of others, you can’t force it. Instead, given that we are all becoming much more selective about where our attention is going, my suggestion is that your goal for 2024 should be to stand out by being a valuable use of attention.
This is a win-win.
For the people you are seeking to reach, you are creating value. As a result, they will begin to see you as trustworthy, empathetic, and generous. What a great way to build relationships!
For you as a marketer or creator, you are actually connecting with the people you are seeking to reach. There is not much point in creating mediocre content, selfish marketing, or unwanted interruptions - it’s a waste of your time and money because your intended audience will ignore it or resent you for shoving it in their face.
This is a start-of-the-year clarion call to focus your marketing and content creation attention on earning the attention of others. Earning!
Learn about your audience. Then, make something unexpectedly awesome for them. Surprise them with your generosity and the value you are creating for them.
No one remembers boring. No one remembers copycats. No one remembers generic.
Also…
No one likes being interrupted. No ones like being treated transactionally. No one wants their time wasted with something they didn’t ask for and don’t want.
The people you seek to reach will remember you and appreciate you for actually making something worth their attention.
This is a very high bar and most marketers and creators won’t do it because it’s too much work. That is the opportunity.
This is also the beautiful link between Earning Attention and Differentiation.
Being different, standing out from the crowd, and creating enormous value is how you Earn Attention.
What’s Earned My Attention Lately
Why Advertisers Are Excited About Attention Metrics. (Marketing Breww) YES!
This quote from Robert Greene’s The Daily Laws:
“Always stick to what makes you weird, odd, strange, different. That’s your source of power.”
This quote from the late Charlie Munger (H/T Shane Parrish):
"To get what you want, deserve what you want. Trust, success, and admiration are earned." — The Munger Operating System
Ann Handley’s most recent edition of Total Annarchy picks “Attention” as IN for 2024:
“✅ IN: Attention ❌ OUT: Reach
Earning and keeping the attention of an audience is zee name of zee game now. List size? Follower count? Who cares? Not us! This year is about an engaged audience who does care whether you show up. (Or not).Does that make our content more niche and focused? Does that make our craft more critical? Yes!”
Finally, big thanks to Connie Thiessen at Broadcast Dialogue for a really fun conversation about The Department of Differentiation, why Competitive Differentiation Strategy might be of value to people and companies in 2024, and the value of embracing the WEIRD!
If you’re seeking to create a differentiation strategy for your business and your marketing, have you considered Competitive Differentiation Strategy™?