“In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scar city of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.”
Herbert Simon wrote that back in 1971. His paper, Designing Organisations for an Information-Rich World, is widely attributed with being the first to contain the phrase ‘attention economy’ – the concept that, in an increasingly digital world, human attention is a scarce commodity that brands are competing to capture.
Oh, if Herbert could only see us now.
Fast forward some 54 years, and the explosion in online information – driven primarily through social media and video content – has created a world wherein people’s attention is indeed a currency of sorts; it’s fiercely sought after. Visits, views, impressions, clicks – they’re money makers (for the platforms producing and aggregating the content).
So far, so obvious.
As PR and communications professionals – and marketers more broadly – we operate in the attention economy. Our task, when reduced to its most basic form, is to get a brand in front of a desired audience and capture their attention.
However, as any reputable PR, comms or marketing professionals will tell you, it’s never as crude as simply“getting the brand out there”. The challenge is to make sure the brand is seen in the right way and by the right people.
And this is where the attention economy, and the ever-intensifying battle to capture people’s attention, if only for a moment, can become highly problematic.
Social media as the go-to communication method
The rise of social media over the past two decades has, of course, irrevocably changed the way organisations manage external comms. Social media is one of, if not the, main platform used by brands to get their message out to existing or prospective customers, or indeed other stakeholders (potential employees or investors, for instance).
As of 2024, 91% of businesses post content on Facebook, 86% onInstagram, and 80% on LinkedIn.
For the most part, social media thrives on short content. It’s the bedrock of the attention economy. The platforms exist to keep users on there as long and as often as possible; those posting content on the platform are looking to grab that precious commodity:attention.
This shift towards shorter content – written or video – has necessitated a swing towards, more often than not, simplification and generalisation. That is to say, in an effort to be as concise, punchy, and attention-grabbing as possible, brands are stripping away detail to get a simple point across, or share a piece of news, quickly.
Here lies the problem: brevity is not always best.
Knowing when to simplify your message
In the mission to be a succinct as possible, to get as much engagement as possible, brands can do more harm than good, especially if the product or service they provide is in the least bit niche or complicated. Financial and professional services both spring to mind here.
Social media has, it could be argued, blurred the lines between B2C and B2B comms – it’s common now to see B2B brands employing the same tone, content-style and visuals as consumer graphics. At times, this can be beneficial; it can help remove stuffiness from the content, making it more interesting and engaging.
This trend, however, can also create problems, because brevity typically requires a simplification of ideas and subjects.
Some would say that simplifying ideas is one of the most important parts of effective communication. I would disagree.
Yes, content must be accessible – the point you are making must be clear and should avoid alienating the desired audience through excessive jargon or needless complexity. And, if you can make a point in 100 words instead of 1,000 words, all the better.
But I see so many brands adopting social media tactics that are completely out of kilter with their proposition. By trimming their content down to make it as short and attention-grabbing as possible, they remove detail and nuance; they make a point concisely, but it can often be clumsy and inaccurate.
Brands (and individuals)posting on social are often painting in broad brush strokes; their posts assert that entire groups of people – men or women, millennials or boomers, homeowners or renters – all think and act in the same way. They make mass generalisations about what these people feel and what they need.
These are vast, diverse collections of people, grouped together through the use of what are often loose labels and, for the sake of simplicity when brands are posting on social media, they are treated like a homogenous herd.
The dangers of generalisation
To an extent, generalisation always has been and will continue to be commonplace within PR, marketing and communication. After all, you cannot personalise every piece of content to the nth degree – if you have, say, 10,000 followers on a company’s LinkedIn page, one post will resonate with them in different ways (if at all). That’s the nature of the beast.
But when social media becomes brands’ primary form of external communications, and within that they are prioritising engagement over everything else (as the attention economy dictates), then the result can be ill thought-out content, including a propensity for sweeping statements that horribly over-simplify topics or create caricatures of vast, diverse segments of society. This reflects poorly on an organisation or individual.
Of course, just because you provide financial advice or financial products does not mean your social media content has to be incredibly dry and serious – but financial services firms thrive on trust, and this in turn requires their PR and communications strategy to have depth and detail.
Generalisation for the sake of a short, snappy post can be damaging to a brand. In the quest to build up awareness, reputation and trust, short-form content can only go so far. Worse, it can actually alienate your desired audience by making claims or asserting views that are so scant on detail and fact they make a poor impression.
Embracing longer form content, balancing the comms strategy
Fundamentally, this is why social media content should only ever form a part of any brand-building exercise. That might sound basic, but anecdotally, I’m hearing of more and more marketers prioritising social media (and, specifically, video content on it) as their primary focus.
I would advocate that any social media strategy needs to be balanced with longer form content. Reports, blogs and, as we would say in the PR world, ‘thought leadership’. Essentially, any form of content that allows for a deeper exploration of pertinent issues, trends and topics; content that lets an organisation – particularly in sectors like financial and professional services – really spell out what it’s doing and why; content that educates and informs a desired audience about subjects that matter to them.
Longer form content, by contrast, allows for nuance. It allows for detail. It provides a platform for sharing more balanced, informed and well-structured arguments. That’s why a blend of content and platforms are required for an effective comms strategy.
Social media provides an incredible platform for brands to connect with virtually any audience they want to target. And, as any good marketing, PR or comms professional will tell you, the best communications strategies are the ones where multiple channels work together. Where, for example, social media content engages a visitor and drives them to a longer article or report to learn more. Yet many brands are neglecting strategic, effective communication in favour of entering the attention economy’s dogfight for “eyeballs” on content. As a result, there is insufficient thought about what that content is and how it is being perceived.
Just as PR is not about getting media coverage for the sake of it, so too is content creation about writing material that will enhance the reputation of your brand and not seeking social media engagement for engagement’s sake.
Social media is all powerful. It is where the attention economy thrives. But without a proper social media marketing strategy, and, crucially, if not supported by more robust, longer form content, then pumping out social media content in vague hope of getting likes, comments, shares and followers is a fool’s errand.
