The Attention Trap: Why Views Lie
In 2016, two of my oldest school friends ran a podcast called The Bestseller Experiment.
They managed to land an interview with Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston. During the chat, Cranston made a few outspoken remarks about the US presidential election. The national media pounced on it instantly.
Within 24 hours, their podcast went globally viral. For two full weeks, my friends were featured in national newspapers and television networks across the world. Watching from the sidelines, I assumed their paid subscription business was about to change forever.
A month later, I asked them how many new paid subscribers that massive wave of global coverage actually generated.
The answer was zero.
Two weeks of international media coverage gave them absolutely nothing in commercial ROI. All that noise and fury produced zero extra sales.
This is precisely why I refuse to chase virality.
Views are an attention metric. Enquiries are a business outcome.
Followers, likes, and shares do not pay your mortgage; sales do. The social media platforms do not care about your revenue or your bottom line. Their only goal is keeping eyeballs glued to a screen so they can sell more advertising space.
Their desired outcome is keeping people on the platform. Your desired outcome is bringing high-value clients into your world. Never confuse the two.
The 5-Step Video Conversion Ladder
A video does not convert a prospect in a single leap. It guides them up a 5-step psychological ladder. If a video gets views but zero enquiries, the chain has snapped at one of these five stages:
| [ 5. ACTION ] –> Clear, low-friction next step [ 4. INTENT ] –> Realisation that doing nothing costs more [ 3. TRUST ] –> Proof of earned wisdom and authenticity [ 2. RELEVANCE ] –> Instant answer to “Is this for me?” [ 1. ATTENTION ] –> The hook that stops the scroll |
1. Attention (The Hook)
Did the first three seconds stop the scroll? If your opening line is “Hi guys, today I want to talk about…”, the viewer has already scrolled past.
2. Relevance (The Hidden Question)
Within the first five seconds, every prospect silently asks: “Is this specifically for me, right now?” If you talk in broad expert jargon instead of their daily language, they assume it isn’t for them.
3. Trust (The Proof)
Does the speaker look, sound, and feel genuine? Trust is not built by slick corporate graphics or rented studio lighting. Consultant Steve Carroll discovered this when his least-polished video landed his largest commercial contract: the client chose him because he came across as genuine and approachable, not like a corporate, templated trainer.
4. Intent (The Transformation)
Does the video clearly show the gap between their current frustration (Before State) and their desired outcome (After State)? If you teach information without agitating the problem, viewers leave feeling educated, not motivated to hire you.
5. Action (The Call to Action)
Do you give them one specific, low-friction next step? Ending a video with a vague “Get in touch if you have any questions” is a shrug, not a call to action.
The 5-Point Video Diagnostic Framework
When a video fails to generate business, use this diagnostic framework to pinpoint exactly where the content is breaking down:
| Symptom | Diagnostic Diagnosis | The Fix |
| High drop-off in first 3 seconds | Hook Failure | Remove throat-clearing introductions. Lead immediately with the target identity or the specific problem. |
| Watched 15 seconds, then scrolled | Relevance Failure | Stop using “me-centric” expert jargon. Rewrite the opening using the exact words clients say during consultation calls. |
| Lots of views, zero comments/likes | Trust Failure | Cut the over-produced corporate polish. Speak directly to camera as if advising a single client across a table. |
| Polite comments (“Great tip!”), no DMs | Intent Failure | You taught what to do without explaining why doing it alone is costly or risky. Highlight the hidden pitfalls. |
| High watch time, zero enquiries | Action Failure | Replace vague sign-offs with one specific next step (e.g., “DM me the word SCRIPT to get my 60-second template”). |
Moving From “Me-Centric” to “Audience-Centric” Video
The root cause of almost every non-converting video is simple: it is written for the expert, not the buyer.
When course creators and consultants sit down to film, their default instinct is to showcase their framework, credentials, or methodology.
- Me-Centric Video: “In this video, I explain my 5-Step Strategic Growth Methodology.”
- Audience-Centric Video: “Why high-earning advisers overpay on tax every April (and how to stop it).”
The first example feels like homework. The second example answers the Hidden Question immediately: “Yes, I am a high earner and I hate overpaying tax.”
When you shift from proving how smart you are to demonstrating how well you understand their world, your videos stop gathering dust and start gathering enquiries.
