Are we just trying to get noticed?

The constant battle between attention and value 

Today I was trying to read up on how to make a mark through digital marketing. I was looking for articles on SEO, Adwords, innovation in digital technology and marketing automation. 5 out of the top 10 results on Google spoke about “Getting noticed”. There was “5 tips to get your brand noticed online in 2016”, “Small business strategies to get noticed on Social Media”, “ The anatomy of healthcare digital marketing that gets you noticed” and “9 inexpensive ways to get your business noticed in the digital world.” All of these articles included tactics like social media, word of mouth, capitalizing on bloggers to speak about you, paid search, Facebook ads. What stood out to me in all of this, is the word “Notice”.

Noticing means to become aware of. Well, yes it begins with awareness but is that all we want? Lately, in the process of my job-hunt I have spent a lot of time on Social Media. I have followed inspiring brands, inspiring people, job portals, content hubs and I have been on the look out for content that will be of value to me. The key word here is value. In that lookout, I found so many things that I noticed but I probably did not derive any value from. Sometimes, I found myself doing things to get noticed on Linkedin too and maybe not providing value to my potential employer.

This got me thinking about todays media landscape where there is such a huge clutter that we’re all looking to cut through it and stand out. An easy way out of it is to push content consistently and create recall through frequency. The consumer would probably see the content 7-10 times, relate to the logo and know of the brand’s existence. Yes the brand got their attention. However, did the brand do anything other than getting noticed? This is when there is a battle between attention and value.

 What if marketers try to cut through the clutter by providing value instead of just gaining short-lived attention. Getting noticed is more brand centric, the brand wants to be known, the brand wants to pull consumers towards it and it’s also relatively easy for the brand to get the consumer's attention. Getting noticed definitely creates a buzz, but providing value is what actually creates a brand.

Providing value is more tedious but more rewarding. It is also more consumer centric. You want to serve the consumer from the beginning of their consumer journey and this requires deep knowledge about the consumer. It requires research and coming up with a value proposition and great implementation that actually impacts the consumer. It requires going a step further and doing your bit for them even before you’ve made them your customer. It requires you to show it to them and not just tell them.

In the end, 'Creating value' has a great by product – It’s called 'Getting noticed'.