Goldfish Effect: The 8 Second Content Challenge
9 seconds
That’s the average attention span of a goldfish.
The attention span of a consumer today is less than that.
It turns out that a 2015 remake of Microsoft Corp.’s study revealed that our attention span impairment is now an all-time low of 8 seconds. This is one second less than the average goldfish. That’s how it is! A goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds, 1 second longer than you and me.
In theory, this means that we actually have a better chance of interacting with a goldfish than we do with visitors from the human species.
Of all the movies about animal species trying to outdo humanity, none considered the goldfish. Goldfish is planning to take over the world, outdoing us with his superior attention span.
As a result, your business has 8 real seconds on a customer.
That’s 8 seconds of full concentration and processing power before your brain moves on to the next task. Unless you are in the business of making fish food, your audience is not made up of cute little goldfish.
Today, attention has become a rare commodity for companies, especially among Millennials. When people have such short attention spans, getting their attention is a challenge. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, like a constant stream of announcements and conversations in the form of emojis. It is very easy for your message to be washed into the sea.
This “gold fish effect” affects all business decisions made today and those yet to be made. So how can you attract consumers? Relax, marketing to the attention-grabbing “goldfish” is relatively easy!
Time to go fishing! Here are three tips for baiting your hook and attracting an engaged audience:
- Tell a story – Nothing draws the viewer’s attention more than seeing something out of the ordinary. Make the “hook” of your story unique and people will pay attention. Create ads that induce an emotion.
- be smart – When you write content for a website or flyer, you want to grab people’s attention quickly. You want to pique their curiosity and keep them engaged for those first few seconds. This is where you really let the creativity bubble to the top and create something that will engage your audience and drive them to your call to action quickly. Which brings us to…
- keep it short – Very short. The less familiar the viewer is with your brand, the lower their attention span will be. Will your product or service help them? Talk to it. If you can’t quickly answer that simple question… they’re gone. (Tip: Animated GIFs can grab attention, without the viewer thinking it takes too long.)
It’s okay if some consumers get off your hook and swim away. It’s natural. Not all consumers will be interested in what you are trying to say or offer. However, visitors who are interested will stay engaged and entertained until they decide to stay at your pond.
Now you can congratulate yourself for concentrating enough to finish this article.