Rich Schefren has put in an excellent post – which is a must read for all marketers, online and offline. In his post, he explains the difference between drawing attention and keeping attention.

Attention-driven advertisements can make you look, but they won’t necessarily make you buy. Just ask the companies that gamble each year on Super Bowl TV ads. Often we remember the advertisement, but we can’t remember the product being pitched.

and in his recommendations – he encourages us to keep our messages personal, and let it be able to resonate with your target audience.

The secret to holding attention is to make the message appealing to your target audience. Make the “story” personal. It’s the personal story that carries the greatest impact.

Fact is, we are bombarded by so many marketing messages daily, that we automatically filter out those that are irrelevant or does not appeal to us – the only chance to get your message across is to know you specific target audience, and appeal to that audience.

The next time you write your blog post, sales copy, or any marketing message, think. Who are you writing to? Is there a particular group of visitors who will feel “Hey, this could be me?”