Which posts catch your attention when scrolling through social media? Is it the most recent vacation post of your next-door neighbor bragging about his Caribbean cruise? Or maybe it is the heart-warming puppy chewing on a toy? Stay with me, said video will be playing at the end of this blog post. Well, it most likely won’t be the post of your insurance company promising to be the best there is.
Social media is a tough channel to work. Whether for said insurance company or any other business trying to catch the interest of their current or potential new customers. But it’s worth it, with over 3.48 billion active users in 2019 (We Are Social Ltd., 2019). And, with nearly half of the baby boomer generation (ShareThis Inc., 2019) on social media and over 6 million health-related groups on Facebook (Haymarket Media, Inc, 2016), it also includes your target customers.
Here is a simple guide on how you can catch your audience’s attention and increase your presence on social media.
Grab their attention quickly
People scroll through 90 meters of social media feeds every day (NetNewsledger.com, 2018). This is roughly the height of the statue of liberty. When playing a video, you have less than 3 seconds to catch your audience’s attention before you lose them to the next post (Facebook, 2016). So, you need to go all out in these first few seconds and bind your audience to your video. Then your message should come fast and be direct and concise and your brand should be visible throughout the entire time.
Visualize with videos and images
You know the saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words”? This is particularly true in today’s social media world. Images and especially videos capture your audience’s attention the best. Forecasts say that by 2022, 79 % of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video (Cisco, 2019). Mobile studio on Facebook gives an overview of tools that help create animated content easily.
Choose the format that fits your channel
Nowadays, 93 % of social media users access their accounts via mobile phone (We Are Social Ltd., 2019). This is nearly 300 million people more than in 2018 (We Are Social Ltd., 2018). Posts therefore need to be adapted to the smaller screens and the portrait view. Make sure you post close-up and full-screen pictures, especially when presenting small hearing aids. Videos need to be filmed or adapted for the portrait format too. And don’t forget, your videos must work for the 85 % of users watching social media clips muted (ShareThis Inc., 2019).
Be positive and playful
Social media offers you the unique opportunity to be more playful and personal than in your regular business communication. It’s about creating positive emotions your audience can relate to. Push some boundaries, attract attention, be surprising and make a memorable impression with your audience.
Create a personal connection
Do you remember the origin of social media? This used to be a private medium to connect with friends and share happy moments. Try to connect to your audience by giving them a glimpse behind the scene and by engaging them. Ask for their opinion and feedback and invite them to share their stories. But don’t forget, when starting to interact with your audience you need to respond quickly and keep topics positive.
These are just a few tips gathered from various trainings, research, and conferences, to help you better catch your audience’s attention on social media. Ideally your future posts will be as capturing and cheering as the video below – thus, triggering positive emotions and creating their own small puppy-effect.
Press play and wait for the smile on your face.
Mission accomplished! 😉
References
Cisco. (2019, February 18). Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update,
2017–2022 White Paper. Retrieved from https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/white-paper-c11-738429.html
Facebook. (2016, April 20). Capturing Attention in Feed: The Science Behind Effective Video Creative. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/capturing-attention-feed-video-creative
Haymarket Media, Inc. (2016, November 1). Five things for pharma marketers to know. Retrieved from https://www.mmm-online.com/home/channel/roundup/five-things-for-pharma-marketers-to-know-tuesday-november-1-2016/
NetNewsledger.com. (2018, January 1). Average Person Scrolls 300 Feet of Social Media Content Daily. Retrieved from http://www.netnewsledger.com/2018/01/01/average-person-scrolls-300-feet-social-media-content-daily/
ShareThis Inc. (2019, May). 50 social media statistics every marketer should know in 2019. Retrieved from https://sharethis.com/best-practices/2019/05/social-media-statistics-for-marketers-2019/
We Are Social Ltd. (2018, January 29). Digital in 2018 Global Overview. Retrieved from Digital in 2018 Global Overview (January 2018)
We Are Social Ltd. (2019, January). Digital 2019 Global Digital Overview v01. Retrieved from Digital 2019 Global Digital Overview (January 2019) v01