Media Badger, Social Media Research & Consultants

2010 Social Media Challenge: Getting Attention

A fundamental rule of economics is that when you create a wealth of one thing, it results in a scarcity of another. Today we have created a wealth of information and a scarcity of attention. I’m not the first, or last, to say that. But looking at some of our research into Social Media across varied industries from pharmaceutical to manufacturing to software, one thing has become apparent as a growing issue – it’s getting hard to get attention on a big scale, now and ever more so into 2010.

One of the significant challenges with Social Media is engaging across all the available channels and deciding which is best for you. Not everyone uses Twitter, in fact there are 14+ other English microblogs and a number of foreign language ones as well. Not everyone is on Facebook either, some prefer NetLog or may engage only in a Social Network for their cultural preference or hobby.

While the media platforms such as blogs, microblogs, Social Networks etc., might be consistent, these are all fragmenting further into niche verticals. Such fragmentation results in necessary changes to approach, tone, manner and format of the content. All of which adds to the cost of content creation and engagement across the various platforms. If you’re a marketer in a highly specific niche, you are lucky. If you’re reaching a broader consumer or B2B market, you will face a bigger challenge.

Research into which channels to engage with will become ever more critical, followed by monitoring additional channels to leap on opportunities when the conversation carries over to other channels. For an individual to get attention, the sheer volume of content being added daily, across multiple channels, will again present a significant challenge.

With this goes the challenge of differentiation. If you sound and look like a “me too” then all the market will see is an ocean of waving hands yelling “pick me! pick me” and claims of “I’m the world leader in x” will just ring hollow and be lost in the sea of noise. Standing out will be a challenge of it’s own.

All of this to say that it will be an interesting year in 2010 and onward as we invent new ways to be heard, to get peoples fragmented attention, hold it just long enough to get our point across and hopefully build a following or convert to a sale depending on your objective.

What do you think? Will getting peoples attention become increasingly difficult in 2010 and onward?

(Author: Giles Crouch, Managing Director)