Does your blog, Facebook fan page, and Twitter account, etc. get lots of one-time visitors? Are you great at driving traffic but don’t understand why people visit once and never come back? It may very well be that the infotainment that you provide is weak. People are prone to channel-surf. Great information delivered with creativity and personality has a longer shelf life and travels more effectively. What Experience Are You Creating?

Conan is gone and television is on my mind. I’ll save some time and space here if you’ll imagine the last heated and/or passionate conversation you had about television. Are you there? I had a conversation like this a few days ago. Grab a snapshot of yours and let’s move on. (Real quick, what’s your favorite show?)

For the record, I’m not anti-television, but it’s really not a big part of my life. There are a few shows that I would miss if cancelled, but for the most part, I can take it or leave it. We all know it’s all about the advertising anyway, right? Personally, I’ve been sold on my brand of deodorant for a very long time, and not even a Glee marathon can make me want to switch. Perhaps I’m not a good target at all, but somebody sure has a lot of attention for sale. The networks wrap shows and scheduling around the deodorant advertising, not the other way around.  As jaded as I am, I do find a valuable lesson here. FYI – This is not really a post about television, bear with me.

I often imagine a boardroom full of people, replete with a scattering of highly paid and sought after sociologists, psychologists, behaviorists, and the like…all mixed in with the execs and the marketing department.  The discussions are about what makes human beings tick. You know why of course…it’s all about the advertising (read: money). Show ideas and concepts are decided upon based on their ability capture and retain the attention of an audience who are likely to be moved by the already contracted advertisers (read: clients). Believe me when I tell you it’s all about deodorant. If you love the show, you’ve been bought, and you likely do care about some of the products that are being advertised.

What was the favorite show? Now tell me WHY it’s your favorite show. I don’t want the superficial answer, I want the deep and fundamental “you” to tell me what’s up. Let both your id and ego collaborate before you answer. What about the show keeps you coming back?  Is it the drama, the suspense…can you stand not knowing what your favorite character is up to this week? There’s a lot more going on than some pretty images and sound. You are captivated.

For argument’s sake my stand is that marketing via television is based on a form of engagement, though not a two way social engagement channel. Great care is put into the content that is delivered. The “Platform” must be captivating, entertaining, and interesting to ensure success. Shows must “speak” to their audience. The successful shows sell more deodorant, and the writers and producers of these shows get bigger paychecks. What do you think, from a marketing perspective, is there something to be looked into here?

Television provides fertile ground for marketing. Catering to an audience is paramount to the success of the network. Your blog readers (read: clients and potential clients), are they entertained and captivated? Do your Facebook fans have good reason to come back next week to see what’s going on? Do you tweets resemble generic corn flakes?  Have a boardroom discussion in your mind about what it is that you want to deliver. Is it enough to merely broadcast, or would it be better to set out with the intent to captivate? Social media utilizes channels. Think about that for just a minute.

Targeting the attention span of humans is getting more complicated as it becomes less available. Take great care not to paint yourself as a white box with black writing. Be anything but that.

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this today, leave me a comment and let’s discuss it.