A goldfish is said to have an attention span of nine seconds. Thanks to smartphones and the social media revolution, the average attention span of humans have fallen from around 12 seconds in 2000 to just eight seconds in 2020.
This means you have less than eight seconds to impress your audience with your social marketing post or update. Check out four nimble and agile social marketing tactics that will help you make each second count.
Fight Fire with Fire
What’s the point of making a ten-minute video for somebody unlikely to keep watching for more than ten seconds? There’s nothing to gain by criticizing your audience. Instead, work with what you have and focus on establishing a connection in the time you have.
Remember, a short attention-span does not mean your audience is dumb. It just means you need to get your point across as quickly as possible. Catch their focus and then you can take your time explaining your product and service without worrying about time.
First Impression is the Only Impression
Still want to make a ten-minute video? Sure, go ahead. Just make sure the first ten seconds will hook your audience till the very end.
Remember, the first impression is no longer the best impression. It has become the only impression that your audience will retain. Mess it up and you can say goodbye to the idea of succeeding in your social marketing strategy.
Eight Seconds can be a very Long Time
Try to remember a movie scene that gave you goosebumps. Or a sporting thriller that made you delirious with excitement. Or a tragedy that changed your life forever. Chances are the essence of these moments were not more than eight-ten seconds.
A contextually-relevant and funny meme can send your message across in less than a second, which means you can bombard your audience with eight different messages before their attention drifts.
Trying to achieve the same goal with a big block of boring text, and you probably won’t’ win even if your audience gives you 80 seconds.
Every Rule has an Exception!
It’s important to know your audience. However, don’t go overboard with generalizations. For ten people who avoid reading online, there may be two or three who enjoy a well-written and detailed blog post.
There may be many who love the meme-a-second routine but are eager to spend minutes or even hours on content that appeals to their intelligence.
So, combine smart and agile tactics with good-old top-quality content to enjoy maximum ROI on your social marketing investments.
