In the bustling world of B2B marketing, capturing and maintaining attention is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. This episode of the Marketing Smarts Live Show delves into that very challenge.
Featuring Doug Binder, an expert in event design and experiential marketing, the episode offers invaluable insights for marketers striving to make an impact in an ever-crowded digital landscape.
Understanding the Attention Economy
The concept of the attention economy isn't new, but its implications are more profound than ever. As Binder explains, the rise of the internet and the explosion of content options have stretched the limits of our 24-hour day. The key question for marketers is no longer just about reaching audiences but about what is truly worth the audience's time and attention.
Empathy and Humanity in Marketing
One of the most striking takeaways from the episode is the emphasis on empathy and humanity in marketing. Binder urges marketers to see beyond prospects as mere targets and to consider the human element behind every campaign. Understanding the needs, stresses, and behaviors of your audience is crucial. It's about slipping your message into their lives in a way that resonates and builds trust, rather than adding to the noise.
Data-Driven, Human-Centric Strategies
While empathy forms the foundation, data still plays a pivotal role. Knowing what questions to ask and understanding the behaviors you wish to influence or modify are essential. Binder's approach combines a human-centric perspective with data-driven strategies, ensuring that campaigns are both empathetic and effective.
Creating Value, Not Noise
A significant challenge in the attention economy is differentiating between creating value and creating noise. Binder's advice is to take a step back and objectively assess the impact of your marketing efforts. Are they genuinely addressing the needs of your audience, or are they just adding to the cacophony of digital content?
Concluding Words of Wisdom
Binder leaves us with a simple yet profound message: Treat your audience as humans, not just numbers on a graph. Respect their time, understand their struggles, and engage with them on a human level.
That H2H (human to human) approach could be the key to succeeding in the attention economy.
By focusing on the human element and employing data wisely, we can create campaigns that not only capture attention but also foster trust and engagement.
* * *
As we navigate the complexities of the attention economy in B2B marketing, Doug Binder's insights offer a road map for creating meaningful, empathetic, and effective marketing strategies.
Watch the video for more insights:
Make sure you don't miss any future episodes: Subscribe to the Marketing Smarts Live Show on YouTube. And to catch up on all previous episodes, check out the full playlist on YouTube.
Episode Details, Guest Information, and Referenced Links
Episode No. 32
- Live date: March 27, 2023
- Episode link: youtube.com/watch?v=1PeN-8j3ifY
- Original podcast episode: The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts: Doug Binder on Marketing Smarts [Podcast]
Guest's social media profiles:
- Twitter: @doug_binderama
- LinkedIn: Doug Binder
MarketingProfs resources referenced in the show:
- To Close More Deals, Use Memorable Messaging to Control Your Buyer's Attention
- Eight Ways to Capture Your Readers' Attention (and Keep Them Coming Back!)
"In B2B News" article referenced in the show:
"From the #mpb2b Community" links referenced in the show:
Transcript: The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts, With Doug Binder
We've all said it: Someone tries to convince us to watch or read or listen to something, and we ramble off everything else we have to do and usually end with, "There's only 24 hours in a day."
That concept is the catalyst for Doug Binder's philosophy on experiential marketing. "We have streaming, we have social, we have podcasts and webinars, not to mention all of the binge opportunities...but we still have 24 hours in the day," Doug explains."
"You have to choose what's worth my time, what is going to deliver value to me." That and more is what today's episode is all about.
Hello to all my Marketing Smarts Live viewers today. I'm super excited to bring you EPISODE 32 of the Marketing Smarts Live show.
This week's topic is all about The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts.
So, if you're ready to get your learn on, buckle up and let's get ready to rock a nd roll.
Hey, I'm your boy George B. Thomas speaker, trainer, catalyst, and host of this hear show, the Marketing Smarts Live show as well as the Marketing Smarts podcast found on your favorite podcast app.
Our guest clips today are brought to you by none other than Doug Binder.
Doug Binder, an expert in event design and production, having staged corporate events and campaigns around the world for some of the most important companies and visionaries in high tech, biotech, automotive, entertainment, hospitality, and shoes. (Yes, shoes.)
A writer at heart, Doug has expanded his mastery into video production, digital media, graphic design, and experiential design.
He is the author of Gather: The Business of Coming Together, which is equal parts how-to, manifesto, and memoir.
Now, remember, the clips of Doug Binder today are pulled from the full marketing smarts podcast episode and, if you want to listen to the full interview with Doug Binder and myself, make sure to tune into the Marketing Smarts podcast, link to the full show will be in the description below after the live show ends.
Now, in this episode, again, I'm talking with Doug Binder about The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts.
What the heck is the attention economy anyway? And where did it come from? Is it something new or has it been around forever but, maybe we just haven't been paying attention to it?
Let's find out by asking Doug What the heck is the Attention Economy anyway?
Doug: It's been around for a long time. Near as I can tell, it began its rise back in the mid-'90s when we young whippersnappers back then all of a sudden had 100 to 500 cable channels, we had AOL and Yahoo for the first time, and that's when the internet was born. Folks started saying you only have so much time in a given day, but there's all this content out there. What are you supposed to do with that? TiVo will help you record anything, so you could just watch it when you wanted to.
Twenty years later, thirty years later, it's 10,000 times that. We have streaming, we have social, we have podcasts and webinars, not to mention all of the binge opportunities, so it's even crazier now, but we still have 24 hours in the day.
I think the word economy is really important because you only have so much time you can spend in a given day. You have to choose what's worth my time, what is going to deliver value to me. As a consumer, I have a lot more say in where I'm going to spend my attention, so marketers have to get clever and serious about how they're going to get attention and hold attention.
Did you hear that?
It has been around for a long time but it keeps getting worse with all of the content that is populating and dare I say polluting the internet.
With so many more choices, consumers are forced to ask themselves on a daily basis, what should they be giving their time to!
Should it be you and your B2B marketing? What are you doing to gain and keep your potential consumers' attention?
Put the answer to that in the chat pane or, let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #mpb2b and of course, tag me using @georgebthomas.
We'll get back to Doug Binder and his thoughts on The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts
But first, I have to ask...
Are you part of the MarketingProfs community? If not, become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading over to mprofs.com/mptoday - That's mprofs.com/mptoday.
Now, it's time for one of my favorite sections...
In The B2B News - Where we talk about breaking B2B news or really important tips we find on the google news tab related to you and your B2B business. This week, the title is...
Unlocking the Power of Audience Data-The Key to Successful B2B Marketing
In the world of B2B marketing, understanding your target audience is key. You want to make sure that you're reaching the right people with the right message at the right time. But how do you ensure that you're doing that? The answer lies in audience data.
Audience data is a collection of information about your target audience, such as demographics, firmographics, and behavioral data.
By unlocking the power of audience data, you can gain insights into who your target audience is, what they're interested in, and how they behave online.
This information can then be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience, increase engagement and conversion rates, and ultimately drive growth for your business.
To read this article, check out the link below when the live show is over.
So let's get back to Doug Binder and his Marketing Smarts podcast episode.
Is being human in your marketing the mark we need to hit when focusing on winning trust?
Maybe but, I wanted to ask Doug his thoughts on how we as B2B marketers should get the ball rolling pertaining to the attention economy.
So, I asked him: How can you start to create marketing efforts that drive more/better attrition? Here is what he had to share.
Doug: That's a great question. You stressed how to begin, and I was going to say with the data, but I think it starts before that because you have to know what questions to ask. You want to know what behaviors you want to modify and understand how to the key audience. Again, what I go back to with the book Gather is think about the human behind this. These aren't just prospects, they're not just customers, they're not just targets. These are real people, and ideally you feel that they have a need for your product or your service.
Start there. Tell me who these people are. Tell me what is going on in their lives or their careers where they would need your service. Then start thinking about your campaign that way. Helping people. Be empathic. Think about what might be missing in their life. Be humanistic to say that they have real needs and urges. Also, getting back to attention, they're all stressed, they're all moving so fast. How can you slip your message in and start winning their trust? Again, I go back to empathy and humanity when you're just starting out.
Did you hear that?
Empathy and humanity!
Think about the humans behind your marketing efforts. They are not just prospects or customers but they are just like me and you!
How can you be empathetic and understand what they need in their lives.
And also don't forget that data portion of the conversation as well once you have empathy and humanity nailed down!
We will get back to Doug Binder in a few minutes but first it's time for some...
Dope B2B Learnings From The Vault of MarketingProfs Articles
That's right, it's time to dig into the treasure trove of valuable information and pull out two pieces of gold to help you be a better B2B marketer.
Article one this week is: To Close More Deals, Use Memorable Messaging to Control Your Buyer's Attention by Myra Ahmed
When your sales cycle is complex and lengthy, you might feel anxious that your leads will pull out at any moment. After all, the B2B sales cycle lasts for more than half a year, on average. And for SaaS businesses? It takes nearly nine months for the delivery of a newborn deal.
That's a long time for your buyers to feel motivated about your service.
Now sure, you have the essentials down: Your technical features are impressive and your testimonials are glowing; and as for your marketing and sales efforts, they're addressing your customers' needs—just as they should.
But the question lingers: How can you remain memorable during the consideration stages?
Article two this week is: Eight Ways to Capture Your Readers' Attention (and Keep Them Coming Back!) by Jonathan Long
"Content is King" and "this is the year of content" are thrown around on a regular basis, and have been for the past several years. Many of those references pertain to search engine rankings and algorithm updates, even though that's not what content creation should be focusing on.
Businesses should be creating content for what really matters—the person who could potentially convert and ultimately pay for a product and or service offered by the content creator.
Let's be real for a moment and agree that excellent content has the power to turn readers into cold hard cash.
Want to keep learning more? If so, check the links in the description below after the live show to get access to both amazing MarketingProfs articles.
OK, back to Doug Binder... Let's dive back into this conversation of The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts
I wanted to know what huge hurdles marketers might face when trying to gain and keep attention. So, I asked the question, What are the hurdles you've seen most marketers face along the way of grabbing their prospects, leads, and even, customer's attention?
Here is what he had to share.
Doug: I think everyone would say that we want this campaign, this initiative to cut through the noise. That's the first slide in your deck, we're going to cut through the noise. The next 30 slides are: Here's the noise we're going to create. Take a step back. Be objective about what you're trying to deliver. I know you want to get attention, you want to keep attention, you want to sell, you want to change behavior. But how do you do that without just creating more noise for people?
I don't have the answer, by the way, but I do take that very seriously. There are products out there... I mentioned before when we do events that we give people a chance to step away, so we're not going to create noise for you. In fact, even tech companies were having detox areas where you check your phone and your laptop in and they hold it for an hour, so that's interesting that the product we're selling we're going to take away from you so that you can have a real life. I think there are those type of moments in just about any industry. How can I make you think differently without shouting at you, without making more noise?
I think it comes back to really understanding your needs at a human level.
Did you hear that?
How can I make you think differently without creating more noise.
Are you creating value?
Or, are you creating noise?
Grabbing that megaphone and schilling your wares as loud and as many times as you can seems to not be the way to win the attention economy!
Take pause, think about what your prospects and customers need and think, how can you deliver that as seamlessly as possible?
We're going to get some words of wisdom from Doug Binder here in a few minutes but right now it's time to turn the spotlight on you, the MarketingProfs community. Yep, time for...
From The #MPB2B Community
We searched far and wide in the #MPB2B universe to find amazing information and conversation to bring to the masses.
So, first, make sure you are using the hashtag, and second, make sure you have fun and add value to the community.
Then, we'll spotlight you or your crew on the show. This week, it's...
Bri Krantz
Marketing Professional | Aspiring Novelist | Lover of Words | Cat Mom
Her message that caught my attention: She says...
I absolutely love writing branded note cards to company community members. I love how tactile it is. How human it feels. I imagine them getting it. Does it make them smile? Let out a chuckle? Gasp at the concept of another human reaching out via...MAIL? ??
It's impossible not to smile while writing them, even when your hand starts to get sore.
Spreading some MarketingProfs love! #mpb2b
But, you need to check out the description and click that link to check out the post and read the comments and engage with the post!
Marketing Smarts viewer, I have to ask... are you going to be next to get the spotlight?
Remember community, use the hashtag #mpb2b on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter and get the light shined on your awesomeness in the next episode or a future episode of the Marketing Smarts Live show!
Pro tip, it won't hurt if you tag me into your post as well I'm @georgebthomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.
OK, let's kick it back to Doug Binder and some words of wisdom around this topic of The Attention Economy—How Time Affects Your B2B Marketing Efforts.
I always love closing up the show with words of wisdom from all the smart guests! So I asked Doug for his words of wisdom to you the Marketing Smarts audience.
Here is what Doug Binder wanted to leave us with...
Doug: I think that's just it. We all are human, we all have our struggles, we're all going through different things, we all have certain triggers here and there. Really respect that. We're more than just numbers. Treat me like a human being, treat me with respect, value my time, don't waste my time, and we'll get along just fine. I don't think you're going to etch that on Mount Olympus, but that's where I am.
I love how simple Doug's words of wisdom were. maybe hit the rewind a couple times and jot down what he said and what it means to you and your B2B marketing efforts as you move forward!
Have you enjoyed today's journey? Let us know, use that hashtag #mpb2b on whatever platform you are joining us on.
