B2BVault's summary of:

Attention

Published by:
Why We Buy
Author:
Katelyn Bourgoin

Introduction

People scroll fast, but smart content makes them stop. This guide shows how to grab attention using 9 proven tricks.

What's the Problem It Solves?

If your content doesn’t catch attention in a split second, it gets ignored. Most ads and posts fail because they miss what really makes people pause, read, and click. This article shows how to fix that with a science-based method.

Quick Summary

Our brains are built to focus on things that help us survive or grow. We can’t process everything around us, so we filter for what feels urgent, helpful, or exciting. This article explains how marketers can use that to their advantage by creating content that people actually notice.

It introduces the “9 Fs of Attention” -nine things that pull focus and make someone stop scrolling. These include basics like food and fear, but also deeper ideas like stories (fables), faces, curiosity (fascinates), and future goals. For example, people stop to look at faces showing emotion, stories that feel personal, or anything that shows them a better version of who they could be.

The article also encourages readers to practice: scroll your feed, pick a few posts that made you stop, and figure out which of the 9 Fs were used. This helps you train your brain to use the same attention hooks in your own content. If your post isn’t working, it's not because you need to post more -it’s because your content didn’t hit the right “F.”

Key Takeaways from the Article

  • People notice content that speaks to their needs, fears, or dreams.
  • Attention is filtered by the brain -not everything gets through.
  • The 9 Fs of Attention are:
    1. Food -we notice food, especially when hungry
    2. Fears -warnings or problems grab us fast
    3. Faces -we are drawn to human expressions
    4. F#cks -sex and bold visuals still catch the eye (but use carefully)
    5. Fables -stories stick better than plain facts
    6. Foreign -weird or different things stand out
    7. Familiar -we notice things we’ve seen before
    8. Fascinates -surprising or fun facts spark curiosity
    9. Future Me -we want things that help us become better versions of ourselves
  • Great content often mixes more than one “F” to make people stop and care.
  • If your post flops, try reworking it using one of the Fs that fits your message best.

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