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Well the cat’s away… and this mouse has stepped in as guest writer for this week’s email! I’m Marlene Keay, and I’ve worked with Rick at Virtual Causeway for 15 years managing hundreds of lead generation campaigns. Read on as we dig into some tactics that make marketing (and sales) a success!

I’ve always loved how great musicians are also great marketers. When you hear stomp, stomp, clap, stomp, stomp, clap… What great rock anthem comes to mind?

Give this audience-engaging song a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week. I bet you can’t help but stand up and stomp, stomp, clap!

Decreasing Attention Span

Research shows our attention span markedly decreased in just 15 years. In 2000, it was 12 seconds; 15 years later, it had shrunk significantly to 8.25 seconds. According to a study from Microsoft, people now generally lose concentration after just 8 seconds, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digitized lifestyle on the brain.

That means we have less than 8 seconds to make a big noise and engage our target audience with our email, social media post, video or pitch. And once you have them engaged, how do you keep them engaged? Any thoughts on how you do this effectively?

Grabbing Your Audience’s Attention

Queen’s stadium rock anthem is not only a great song to pump up sports fans but also provides a road map on creating great marketing content. The song is simple – it has a great sing-along chorus, chants, and hooks to keep the audience engaged and interacting.

According to Inc., the following are the top 10 techniques to grab and keep an audience’s attention:

  1. Start with the unexpected.
  2. Make it about THEM.
  3. Keep it concrete at the start.
  4. Keep it moving.
  5. Get to the point.
  6. Arouse emotion.
  7. Keep it interactive.
  8. Write clear headlines.
  9. Keep it short.
  10. Let there be you.

Storytelling is another technique that humanizes our marketing message and allows our audience to build the product case for themselves in their own mind. According to CEO Review – this is a must-have tactic for every B2B marketer’s (or sales professional’s) toolkit in 2021.

As B2B marketers – it’s our job to get our audience engaged and moving forward along the buyer’s journey. You’ve got 8 seconds to wave your banner all over the place – how will you use them?

Don’t hesitate to call me (Marlene) to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Marlene

Marlene Keay, Senior Manager, Business Development | marlenek@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/marlenekeay