Time might be money in today’s marketing landscape … but attention is gold.

We live in the “attention economy,” which means you’re not just marketing against your direct competitors, but against anything and everything that has the potential to hijack your target audience’s (admittedly limited) focus.

The latest TikTok dance. Overloaded inboxes. Netflix trailers. Group chats filled with people sending each other memes all day long. That’s the kind of competition you’re up against.

Smart businesses need to find a way to cut through all of the noise to get noticed. So if you’re looking to catch (and keep) attention in 2025, here’s what you need to know.

What Is the Attention Economy

The term “attention economy” refers to the idea, first posited by psychologist and economist Herbert A. Simon, that in an environment saturated with information, the most sacred resource isn’t content — it’s attention.

“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,” Simon wrote. And if you stop to think about it, he wasn’t wrong.

Enter any search query into Google and you’ll get thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of hits. But you won’t click on all of them. You won’t even click on many of them. You’ll click on one, maybe two that capture your attention.

Every brand, advertisement and notification is bidding for a moment of your time. Your inbox, feed, and streaming queue are proof.

In this economy, whoever earns your attention wins.

A Quick Look Into the Psychology of Attention

Here’s how our brains process information.

• Selective attention: Our brains are wired to filter out stimuli to avoid overload. We notice things that are relevant, emotional or unexpected. If the content you’re creating doesn’t tick at least one of those boxes, it probably won’t resonate.
• Cognitive load: When humans feel overwhelmed, they tend to take shortcuts, such as scanning headlines, ignoring details and zoning out. This is the brain’s way of protecting us.
• Novelty bias: We’re drawn to things that are new and different. That’s why scroll-stopping visuals or surprising, catchy headlines are so powerful.

Now that you know how the brain decides what deserves attention and what doesn’t, it’s time to put that information to work.

5 Winning Marketing Strategies for the Attention Economy

1. Think Value, Not Volume

It’s a classic case of quality over quantity. Instead of blasting your audience with more content, focus on creating better content. What can your brand offer that will educate, entertain or solve a problem?

Think less “Look at me!” and more “Here’s something that’s actually worth your time.”

Write for the reader, not the algorithm. Can you teach them something? Get them to laugh? Make them feel seen? That’s the goal.

2. Hook ’Em From the Get-Go

Common marketing wisdom suggest marketers have about eight seconds to capture someone’s attention, but we’d wager to guess that number is too high. Regardless, your headline, subject line or first few seconds of your video need to be incredibly compelling.

Curiosity, emotion and (truthful) bold claims are all great ways to capture attention.

3. Stop the Scroll

Visuals are your secret weapon. Whether it’s a surprising thumbnail, a short-form video or a striking image, invest in designs that deserve a double-take.

Contrast, movement such as GIFs or motion graphics, and bright colors that pop up in a crowded feed capture attention much better than boring black and white text.

4. Be Human

In a world of artificial intelligence, be a real person. People pay attention to people who look, talk, think and act the way they do. Talk to them like a human being, not a robot.

Try utilizing user-created content, take your shot with influencer marketing, tell your brand’s story and make the customer feel something.

5. Create Micro-Moments, Not Mega-Messages

In the attention economy, you’re not going to pull off an epic campaign every single time. Instead, show up consistently with bite-sized, high-impact messages.

Break long-form content up into bite size pieces. Repurpose a blog post into short reels. Keep your emails quick and to the point. Remember, even a little bit of attention is always better than no attention at all.

Do We Have Your Attention?

The attention economy can feel overwhelming, but if you learn to respect your audience’s time, they’ll reward you with their trust and their attention. It’s not about being the loudest — it’s about being the one worth listening to.

Do you want all eyes on you? Mischa Communications can help. Let’s get started today.