Do you realize that we are sitting in the middle of the Attention Economy where people’s attention are the scarce commodity?

It used to be that people were looking out for what you had to say.

But not any more.

It used to be a Service Economy where high quality service used to do the trick.

But not anymore.

In order to get a good sense of what we’re talking about regarding the demand-side factors that are making it increasingly difficult to bring people into the fold, check out this infographic detailing realistic tendencies.

This limited attention span goes along with the wild increase in volume of brand messaging one is exposed to on a daily basis.

It used to be if you simply published social media status updates like Facebook Page posts, people would hear about it.

But not anymore.

Currently we are also in a new stage altogether – the Experience Economy. This is where brand and communicators who can orchestrate a transformation or experience are the ones that will win in the end.

While Church Communicators are presented with the hurdles put forth by the Attention Economy in the world of social media, you need to be thinking in terms of currency defining the Experience Economy.

Barking out messages and calls to action loudly no longer work. People want experiences that are memorable and involve themselves intimately.

What kind of connection or personalization of experience can you promise or provide? (This is why Facebook Live has everyone’s attention)

How can you make your audience interactions memorable and impactful? (Kickstarter works because it sells more than the product being promoted)

Where can you weave in meaning and significance into the experiences you are attracting new people to participate in? (Kiva returns more ROI than the 2% savings rates available at the local bank)

It’s time to rethink your game plan and become more intentional with your communications objectives as well as the tactics that support them.

Put down that megaphone. And start with a conversational tone.