According to the Associated Press, in 2012 the average human attention span dropped to eight seconds – that’s one second less than the attention span of a goldfish (an average nine seconds). Humans are inundated with 3,000-5,000 ads each day; chances are pretty high that your ad won’t reach your intended target audience. So what can you do to ensure your message won’t fall on deaf ears?
Social networks are great platforms to disseminate your message quickly and effectively to a large audience. Here are some tips you can use to try and capture the elusive attention span of your audience – all you need is a little creativity.
Twitter: Concise, 140-character tweets are one of the best methods of reaching your audience. Coupled with an engaged group of followers, a great message will grow on its own through audience retweets.
Infographics: The old adage, “A picture’s worth a thousand words,” could never be more true than in today’s age. Visuals always receive more attention than text. Therefore, a great infographic can help you tell the whole story at a glance. Kept simple and highly visual with small amounts of text, consumers can get vital information in just a few seconds.
Facebook: While not as limiting as Twitter, Facebook makes it easy to talk to your audience quickly. Keep messages short, integrate images and avoid lengthy posts. Facebook polls are also a quick way to gain valuable consumer insight without forcing fans to commit to a full survey.
Shareable Content: Develop interesting content that your audience will want to share. If a consumer commits enough attention to a message and is compelled to share that message within their network, you, as a brand, win. Just be sure to make it easy for them to share by incorporating sharing features within your social networks.
The painfully short attention span of our human population is a trend that is not improving. This makes it imperative that you not only create interesting content, but also keep it concise enough to capture your consumer’s attention. If you can simultaneously compel your audience to share within their network, then you’re on the right track.
