How Marketers Accommodate to People with Short Attention Spans
- Helen Luu
- Apr 6, 2020
- 2 min read
Do you ever just scroll down Instagram for hours and double tap on photos? Well, your brain probably didn’t register half the photos that you just liked.
There is a growing fixation to electronic screens which has changed the way our brains work in the new generations. The increased consumption of mobile content and mobile phones have made consumers attention spans shorter and more impatient. Google has explained this with micro-moment as an intent rich moment when a person grabs the nearest device to know, go, do or buy something.
While it does seem like it is negatively impacting society, marketers have to learn and adapt new ways to cater to the majority who have shorter attention spans. Mobile users are generally abrupt and act out of convenience when it comes to researching on their smartphones – whether that be for purchasing, researching something that they just saw on TV or go somewhere.
It is important for marketers to assist their consumers fast and know what they want. This has taught marketers to shift their ways of thinking by showing content to consumers that are straight to the point and simple but at the same time provides useful information.
On the left-hand side displays a very cluttered and unprofessional website as opposed to the right side where it is simple, clean and easy to discover for consumers.
Google has recently introduced BERT as part as their update to help consumers clearly search for what they are looking for. This means that SEO is not as effective – the best way for a marketer to be on top of search ranking is to improve mobile page speed and optimize content for keywords.
With a high search engine, consumers will immediately be drawn to your brand even if they have never heard of it!
Are you an impulse buyer or someone who researches a lot before purchasing? Let me know in the comments!
I agree and can definitely relate, as soon as I search for something on google and it shows me an essay, I leave straight away and look for the answer on another site thats short, plain and straight to the point. Even with Instagram, the new IGTV.. we like instagram for the 30 second videos and not 5 minutes! All companies need to get on board with this and update their social media accounts, especially cluttered websites which are hard to navigate.
@cheesiawtong Hey there! That's great that you do a lot of research before you purchase. It's so important to do research as there as so many suppliers selling the exact same goods at different prices - it's good to find out which seller is most reliable and cheap! SEO's are great as it helps consumers with their buyer needs and allows businesses to target their audiences.
Hey Helen, well written post! I'm a person who will do a lot of research before buying a products especially those high involvement products such as smartphone and laptop etc. I will also compare about there products price to the other brands. Additionally, I think SEO is quite effective as this target. people who regularly search online for your goods and services and the inbound design of SEO let business save the money.
@Rebecca Allouhi That's great that you are super mindful when buying something! I only do my research if I'm purchasing something expensive but if it's cheap (something like clothing), I will just add to cart.
Although I'm constantly browsing and searching for the next thing to buy, I still think I'm quite wary about shopping online and tend to do my research before purchasing. In saying that, the convenience and use of apps definitely play into my purchasing habits and can sway me either way. I am also someone with a short attention span when it comes to my apps, which makes sites like Facebook and Instagram appealing to me as there is always something constant and new happening.