Why 8 Seconds Can Make or Break Your Social Media

Do you find yourself getting distracted when you’re scrolling through your social media feeds and rapidly jumping from one platform to the next? You are not alone – in fact, humans have a smaller attention span than goldfish! If your brand’s content doesn’t snag your audience’s attention in 8 seconds, you may be losing out on potential followers.

Photo courtesy of Social Times. 

Platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat have recognized humans’ short attention spans, and are implementing new features to display targeted and engaging content at the top of people’s feeds to ensure that their eye’s don’t wander.

With users now able to choose which friends and pages they want to see at the top of their news feeds, it’s important to make sure your brand is at the top of their list. A surefire way to engage your brand’s followers and attract new ones is to add rich media to your posts. Humans are visually inclined and according to Social Times, content that includes visuals produces 180% more engagement than content without them. So spice up your statuses by adding a quick ‘how-to’ video or demonstrative infographic.

However, visuals won’t successfully captivate followers without strong text to accompany them. Catchy and informative language goes hand-in-hand with imagery – calls-to-action are a must. This action-based language creates a sense of urgency, promoting the user to click on your page and engage with your brand.

Photo courtesy of Social Times. 

Another thought to keep in mind to retain users and obtain new ones is to keep your content fresh, authentic and original. While it’s important to maintain a brand voice that is consistent with your company’s objectives, you can experiment with a wide range of content to see what generates the most interactions, such as a rap battle to showcase your company’s culture or a funny video to demonstrate how to use your company’s product.

The stakes are high when it comes to online engagement. People are quick to move along when perusing their news feeds, so make sure your content is targeted and eye capturing. Eight seconds is a small time frame, but it can make a huge difference for your brand.