Thumb Stoppers: How To Capture Attention in the Age of Endless Scrolling

We scroll through Facebook. We scroll through Instagram. When those are down, we scroll through Twitter. Our thumbs want to swipe up whether it’s because of short attention spans, FOMO, or something else entirely. With people consuming so much content every day – for better or for worse – how do you get them interested enough to interact with yours?

In the digital world, you have fractions of a second to reach your audience before they keep scrolling. These tips can help you create engaging content, lower the cost-per-click of your digital ads, and make the most of your social media following.

 

Offer Real Resources

After seeing and hearing advertising all around us, many of us develop a subconscious ‘screening’ that blocks out advertising messages. One way to overcome this hurdle is by offering something to your audience: inspiration, information, or resources. Some businesses are scared of ‘giving away their secrets’ online, but sharing a piece of your knowledge often proves your worth while intriguing your audience!

Ideas To Get You Started

• Create blogs about topics your audience is interested in
• Answer frequently asked questions on your social media
• Experiment with a small digital ad spend promoting your existing blogs or resources
• Create a PDF resource or tool that requires the viewer to fill out their contact information

 

Know Your Audience

Your messages will resonate the most when they’re targeted at just the right audience. If you haven’t identified your target audience yet, start by evaluating your customer base or social media following to see who’s interested in your business. Knowing you’re speaking to that audience, brainstorm the messaging they’d respond to. What are their paint points? Why would they need your services? What do they interact with online? With the hyper-specific audience targeting available with digital advertising platforms, you can craft specific messages made just for your niche – or even run simultaneous messages to different audiences.

Ideas To Get You Started

• Identify different sub-groups within your customer base (organized by interests, age, gender, etc.)
• Run a digital ad campaign focused on the biggest pain point caused by your competitors or the problem your business solves
• Create content starring someone who looks like your target audience (feature your customers, use carefully chosen stock photos, or step into the spotlight yourself)
• Craft a relatable headline that reflects your audience’s daily life

 

Jump On The Latest Trends

Yes, it’s okay to jump on the bandwagon. When people see a new take on something they recognize, they’re more likely to take their time to see what you have to say. Make sure to be clear about the trend you’re following to capture attention fast. Then use that attention to tie in a message about your brand. Using trends often helps social media post performance and might even get you promoted to accounts similar to your current followers.

Ideas To Get Your Started

• Post your (tasteful) take on the latest meme, focusing on your industry or offerings
• Take inspiration from businesses you see on your Instagram explore tab, Pinterest, and more; most of these posts are there because they’re performed well
• Think about how you can relate a news event, TV show, or other phenomenon to your business, then turn it into a blog post

 

Make A Joke

Humor is a great way to grab someone’s attention. The effort to incorporate humor goes a long way here – even if your jokes don’t land, you’ve still bought yourself a few moments of the reader’s time. And if your humor does hit the mark, your content is much more likely to be remembered, liked, and shared.

Ideas To Get Your Started

• Post a joke setup where the user needs to interact or read on for the punchline
• Talk about your selling points in a specific, lighthearted examples; instead of saying “we save you time”, say “we give you more time for meetings that could’ve been emails”
• Poke fun at your own business, your industry, or common client pain points

 

Catch Them With A Hook

You want all your copy to be snappy and attention-grabbing, but that’s especially true on the front end of your content. Whether it’s an email subject line, a Google search headline, or bold text on a social media graphic, whatever comes first is what’s most likely to be read. If you can grab their attention there, you can get them to keep reading. Give them a cliffhanger, a helpful insight, or an intriguing statistic to capture their interest.

Ideas To Get Your Started

• Start with a common question; if they’ve thought about it before, they’ll want to read on
• Feature the benefits first, then explain how your product/services offers that benefit
• Break up longer copy with subheadings, bullet points, graphics, and more to encourage reading
• Use numbers and adjectives to capture your content, such as “8 surprising benefits to hiring a digital agency”

 

Quality Rules Everything

In general, the secret of getting someone to stop scrolling comes down to the quality of your content. Well-written copy, eye-catching graphics, and strategic campaigns will get you the most engagement and clicks every time.

 

Need some help stopping the scroll? Liquid Creative helps small businesses manage their social media, run effective digital advertising campaigns, and more! We can help you enhance your presence both online and off, with strategic ways to reach your business objectives. Our team crafts solutions for any business goal. Call, email, or leave us a message to see what we can do for you!