Information may be free these days, but two important resources are dwindling fast: time and attention.

Herbert Simon, an American economist and psychologist, first articulated the concept of the “attention economy” in 1971.  He wrote: “Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it”.

Definitions and theories about the attention economy have evolved since then, and today the concept is continually talked about in business, PR, and social media websites and magazines.

How should a business strategically position itself in the attention economy? Let us look at two key distinctions of this concept.  The first distinction is based on choice.  According to ReadWriteWeb, a popular web technology site, the consumer can choose where their attention is “spent”.  The second distinction is relevancy.  The information must be relevant to the consumer’s interests, or he/she will go elsewhere.

The attention economy is niche-based, concentrated on personalized news, information, and goods or services.  Businesses that closely monitor online statistics, regularly modify ad campaigns based on those statistics, and participate in the active cultivation of a community around their sites, will already have some key insights into what people are paying attention to.  A business has to ask itself, “What makes people stick around?”  These insights will serve as the foundation for the best public relations and marketing strategies.  In other words, listen to your consumers.  Listen hard!

The battle to secure the most online attention is only bound to get more competitive.  As Jon Fine from BusinessWeek writes, “the monetization of attention—audience–is harder online.”

1.  Provide a satisfying experience for consumers. Without a satisfying experience, consumers will not return to your site.  Offer recommendations, special offers, and networking opportunities. (1)

2.  Free content is expected, so have lots of it. Think of your business as a personalized media outlet—videos, blog posts, press releases, articles, news updates, tweets, etc.  Your marketing efforts are a blend of free information and products/services, and possibly even free “tools” or applications.

3.  Protect consumer information. You don’t want to end up with people bad-mouthing your business practices on Twitter or any other social media network.  Be sure to maintain the privacy of your consumers. (2)

4.  Create a filter that has value. Digital culture expert, Kevin Kelly, writes:  “When there are millions of books, millions of songs, millions of films, millions of applications, millions of everything requesting our attention — and most of it free — being found is valuable.” Your business can act as filter for consumers and other businesses.  Select the most important issues to review and analyze.  People on the web need you to filter information for them; they need you to tell them, “This is important.”

5.  Avoid practices that even resemble spamming. With millions of spammers bombarding us every day, you want to eschew “information pollution” as a business.   Your reputation depends on it.

6.  Social networking is key. Networking is becoming the single most important factor in business.  Our network of relationships is now determining whether or not we get business deals, clients, or employees.  The social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter offer a way to develop a wide range of diverse contacts for your business.

7.  Measure online attention to your sites. Follow statistics closely and adapt your marketing strategies based on your findings.  Attention strategies must be constantly updated to adapt to user flows and click-through ratios.

8.  Build a social community around your business. You’re going to need a community of followers and fans to energize the base of your business.  Followers and fans of your products create the ongoing attention you’ll need to survive and ultimately prosper.

9.  Manage your friends and fans. The more acquaintances you have on Facebook and Twitter, the more people you have to manage.  This produces a drain on your ability to do other things.

10.  Focus on relationships. Relationships come before sales; relationships matter in the attention economy.

To read a related post on the changing landscape of Public Relations click here.