Everywhere consumers turn—social media, email, television, mobile devices—they are saturated with messages fighting for their attention. On average, a consumer is exposed to 10,000 marketing messages a day—that’s nearly seven messages each minute of every single day. And as marketing channels continue to proliferate, that number will only continue to grow.

While the internet has helped to shorten attention spans, consumers’ attention is also divided across multiple screens. According to one British study, consumers switch screens up to 21 times an hour.

With so many distractions competing for your members’ and other customers’ attention, how can you make your message stand out and prompt them to act?

The single biggest mistake a marketer can make is to develop a campaign solely around what their organization wants to achieve. Of course, every successful marketing plan needs a goal, but thinking and planning exclusively in terms of your own needs while ignoring the needs and wants of your audience will only lead to failure.

Look at the rise of clickbait advertising as a lesson in grabbing the attention of your target audience. Clickbait is defined as “content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link.”

Every successful marketing plan needs a goal, but thinking and planning exclusively in terms of your own needs while ignoring the needs and wants of your audience will only lead to failure.

Isn’t that your goal? Don’t you want your target audience to read your postcard, click your Facebook posts, and open your email? Of course. But why has clickbait been so successful?

In an article on the science of clickbait, Hootsuite’s David Godsall points out that great clickbait creates a curiosity gap. That gap is what causes a user to click. Essentially, you're teasing your reader with a hint of what's to come, without giving away the most interesting or valuable content.

This practice can be used to encourage people to click on a blog post from Twitter, an article posted to LinkedIn, or an email sent to an inbox. To create a curiosity gap, you need to know and understand:

• Who are your prospective readers, customers, or attendees?
• What sparks their interest?
• What matters to them?
• What’s in it for them?

It’s also crucial to ensure that your content both satisfies a curiosity gap and provides value. Let’s say you’re promoting an upcoming conference. Prospective attendees aren’t necessarily searching for an event to attend. However, they are searching for answers to their questions or discussion of issues they care about. Maybe they want to advance their career or gain a better understanding of a technical topic. Whatever the case, they want a solution.

If you attempt to trick your audience with either misleading headlines or useless content, they will stop opening messages you send. A key lesson: Stop selling your event and start selling the solutions your event provides.

When you understand your target audience, you will be equipped to build an attention-grabbing campaign that delivers value.