‘Brain Rules’<\/a> describes attentional spotlight as paying attention to one thing at the expense of something else, like driving a car and talking on a cell phone, or viewing a website while being distracted by sidebar advertisements, or watching a Web video while reconciling your bank statement. So the question for online businesses is simply, how can you shine the attention spotlight on your marketing message?<\/p>\nEngaging An Audience<\/h3>\n
The amygdala is the part of the brain\u2019s limbic system that controls our emotional response to what we see, hear, and feel, even when we are seemingly inattentive to our surroundings. This automatic emotional response acts as part of our survival mechanism by focusing our attention on potentially dangerous or pleasurable situations. Your brain is really only interested in one thing \u2013 survival; it\u2019s the advertising industry\u2019s not so well kept, dirty little secret.<\/p>\n
When your brain processes information, everything is filtered through the prism of: will it hurt me; can I eat it; or will it have sex with me. In other words, this primitive brain function focuses our attention on what\u2019s of interest by triggering our emotional response to what\u2019s imminently important, making attention \u201can emotionally driven phenomenon\u201d according to Helio Fred Garcia, as outlined in his \u2018Fast Company\u201d blog \u201cHijacking Emotion Is The Key To Engaging Your Audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust The Facts, And Nothing But The Facts\u201d Or Not<\/h3>\n
Engaging an audience is all about getting that audience to pay attention to what you have to say, and in order to do that, you have to engage their emotions before you can enlist their logic. The common complaint we hear from so many Web entrepreneurs is that they can\u2019t convert clients no matter how much time and money they spend on search engine optimization and social media. A closer look at many of the sites that have this problem reveals that they fail to engage their audience on an emotional level and instead rely on logic, or even worse, simply present their offering like a highway fruit-stand vendor, expecting people to buy something just because they offer it for sale.<\/p>\n
Be Quick and Be Damned<\/h3>\n
Another common complaint we hear all the time, especially when it comes to Web video, is that everything has be short and quick because people don\u2019t have the attention span they use to have. The real problem is most online businesses bore people, your audience is busy and they have to deal with an enormous amount of bad advertising, and confusing, inarticulate information. Because of information overload and the anxiety it creates, potential clients are forced to cull what they invest their time on. It\u2019s not their attention span that\u2019s the problem. It\u2019s your presentation, it bores them to death, and in today\u2019s Web marketing environment, boring video combined with an overt sales pitch to buy stuff just doesn\u2019t work. To quote Helio Garcia, \u201cOnly when we have an audience\u2019s attention can we move them to rational argument.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Method To This Madness<\/h3>\n
If you start off with the idea that your Web video presentation must be a hardcore sale\u2019s pitch you\u2019re dead in the water before you even start. You need to create a Brand Story, one that engages the audience on an emotional level and rewards their viewing with the answer to the question, \u2018how will you satisfy their emotional needs?\u201d Make that connection and you\u2019ll find conversions will improve. <\/p>\n
People are by nature creatures of habit; they look for pattern and structure, so your video should conform to certain basic story telling principles. Sure you are trying to sell them something and no one is telling you to recreate the next \u201cGone With The Wind,\u201d but you must, nevertheless tell your story in a relatable manner in order to create a memorable impression that eventually initiates action.<\/p>\n
An Example of Emotionally Driven Marketing<\/h3>\n