1. Minimise effort, maximise reward
Human behaviour is largely underpinned by the desire to maximise reward whilst minimising effort. With this in mind, brands should strive to make their content as easy as possible to process and reward the audience for engaging. Throughout our research, we’ve seen time and time again how people typically scan information and if something doesn’t make immediate sense, they don’t spend time trying to figure it out, they just move on. Considering the effort reward trade-off should help marketers maximise audience engagement.
2. Learn from the TV and film industry
When it comes to holding an audience’s attention, there’s much to be learnt from the world of TV and film. People will happily sit through a good film for 2 hours plus, so what techniques do they use to keep people glued to the screen? A key technique is to build tension. Most (good) stories follow a similar structure; they introduce an issue and then build tension until the issue is resolved. Because humans don’t like to be left on cliff hangers, we’re likely to stay engaged until the resolution. Does binging episode after episode until you find out who the killer is, sound familiar? Marketers can play to this tendency too, for example by setting out an issue that will be resolved by the end of an ad.
3. Leverage social proof
Content from friends and family can be a lot more powerful than information pushed to us by brands. When it comes from a trusted source, we infer it’s something they think will be of interest to us which gives a reason to engage. You may get to the end of a video and wonder why on earth they sent it to you, but chances are you’ll have watched it for longer than if you’d just stumbled upon it online. Finding ways to encourage your audience to share content doesn’t just increase reach, it can also increase attention. How might you do this? Firstly, make it easy to share. Secondly, consider why people share content. To get you off the ground, a study by New York Times, suggests there are five key motivations: 1) to provide valuable and entertaining content; 2) to define and present ourselves; 3) to foster relationships; 4) for self-fulfilment; and 5) to support things we believe in.
4. Utilise subliminal techniques
Subliminal techniques work by sending messages to the brain without conscious awareness, for example by presenting information whilst the brain is processing something else. The McDonald’s whistle is an iconic example of this. Whilst consciously you might be focused on images of burgers and fries, the presence of the whistle in parallel unconsciously builds associations that are re-activated when you subsequently hear the sound. Because these techniques work outside of our awareness, they can land marketing messages without requiring consumers to engage with the content.
5. Appeal to the senses
Arguably, we have reasonable control over what we focus on visually; if we don’t like the look of something we can easily close our eyes or look away. This can be more tricky when it comes to what we hear and smell; you might get some odd looks if you start walking around with your hands over your ears or holding your nose! For this reason, sound and smell can be a great way to capture an audience’s attention. Take the cosmetic store Lush, the strong fragrances cut through in a way that signs and window displays never could.
6. Encourage behavioural engagement
Getting people to behaviourally engage with your content – for example, with ads that require an option to be selected before they start playing – can help capture and hold their subsequent attention. This is because people will implicitly deduce that they engaged with the content because they were interested in it. This phenomenon, known as the Self Protection Theory, is a psychological function that prevents us from feeling that we have wasted our energy engaging in something pointless. Rather than feel we’ve been wasteful, we adjust our attitudes to align with what we’ve found ourselves doing.
Capturing attention is an age-old problem in the world of marketing, but it’s one that’s been exacerbated by the influx of technology and digital content. At Shift, we recognise that understanding the context in which your marketing activity must compete, and recreating this frame of reference when evaluating any content, is crucial to optimising your activity. Want to find out more? Please get in touch, we’d be delighted to chat.