Are you paying attention? This is what every marketer wants to ask consumers.
Attention has become a scarce element in today’s world, and only a select few can truly hold onto it. It’s no secret that attention spans across the globe have been steadily shrinking, with numerous studies and evidence proving this shrinkage. So how can we as marketers navigate a world driven by short attention spans? That’s what we’re going to explore in this blog.
What Is Attention Span
In The Attention Span Economy: How Short-Form Media Shapes Consumer Behavior, Marketing Strategy, and Society, attention is described as the “selective allocation of cognitive resources over time.” In simpler terms, attention is how we choose to allocate our limited mental energy to something over time. But why does this matter to marketers? Without attention, any marketing effort goes unnoticed, and we, as marketers, definitely don’t want that.
Why Do Short Attention Spans Matter to Marketers?
In a world full of advertisements and products, consumers are constantly fatigued by the number of ads they encounter on a daily basis. This oversaturation naturally leads to ignoring most advertisements, which makes marketing efforts only valuable if they manage to capture attention. In this sense, attention becomes the most essential element a marketer can seek. And shorter attention spans certainly don’t help.
But not all hope is lost. There are ways marketers can navigate and adapt to this global phenomenon.
5 Tactics Marketers Can Use to Overcome Short Attention Spans
Below are some tactics marketers can integrate into their efforts to better navigate short attention spans. But remember, nothing can beat valuable and quality effort.
Hooks
A very common practice among marketers and creatives is the “catchy hooks”.
It is the very first thing you encounter when reading, watching, or listening to an ad. It can also be a phrase, a visual, a sound or anything designed to capture attention instantly.
The use of hooks is a widely adopted concept in marketing, seen everywhere from old long-copies in newspapers to high-budget, visually impressive campaigns.
Hooks are (probably) the easiest way to catch attention today, but it is (surely) the easiest way to lose people’s attention too.
Juxtaposition and Breaking Expectations
One of the most widely used concepts in marketing is juxtaposition, which refers to placing two contrasting elements next to each other.
Juxtaposition naturally catches the eye. When people see two things together that don’t usually belong together, it creates curiosity and forces attention, simply because it breaks expectations.
A classic example of effective juxtaposition is the famous Volkswagen “Lemon.” ad. The word lemon is typically used to describe a flawed car, and In this context, the ad showed an image of the iconic Beetle paired with the word “Lemon.” This instantly raised questions: why would a car manufacturer describe its own product this way? That curiosity pushed readers to continue reading the copy to understand the message.
Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft – “Think Small / Lemon” campaign (1960)
Storytelling
Let’s be real: people don’t like forced marketing. They see it everywhere, and it often feels invasive. So how can this be turned into something valuable? The answer is storytelling.
Unlike traditional marketing messages, people actually enjoy stories. Providing a strong narrative around a product or service makes the ad itself valuable. Storytelling delivers two of the most important currencies for marketers: attention and memorability. Think about the ads you still remember today, they likely had a strong storytelling element!
Personalization
Everyone likes to feel special. Personalizing ads for specific groups, using names in emails and curating content based on audience preferences are relatively simple ways to get more value out of marketing efforts and combat shorter attention spans.
Keeping It Short
As attention spans shrink, it makes sense for marketing content to adapt accordingly. Analyzing engagement time, testing different formats and lengths and aligning content duration with how people actually consume media are effective ways to deal with short attention spans, without trying to overcome or change anything.
Ultimately, as marketers, we can’t control short attention spans. What we can do is manage them in smarter and more efficient ways, without losing touch with our creativity.
If you’re looking for an agency that understands marketing in an age of ever-shrinking attention spans, Chapters is here to help. We’d love to explore how we can support your marketing efforts.
