Gain Social Media Attention and Maintain Engagement by Starting With RED

Capturing Attention in Social Media
Red is the color that demand’s immediate attention. The color of Blood and most commonly used for its Automaticity value. Automaticity is the only trigger for immediate attention and it is what makes the world around us make sense (Desreumeux, 2016). Each and every one of us is programmed with instincts that guide our actions. When we see ads about animal cruelty we are sad because our instincts tell us it is wrong. Our basic instinct of survival programs us to pay attention to the color Red. However, social media requires more than immediate attention. Different age groups may require different strategies to keep attention which requires knowing your audience (Peacock, 2016).

The challenge is to keep the immediate attention of viewer’s and develop it into short term or long term attention. Short term attention and long term attention are goal oriented and usually result because we have an interest in what we are doing (Desreumeux, 2016). Social media sites give the public an outlet by which they can engage with the news and participate in discussions (Peacock, 2016).
Strategies for keeping attention:
Framing- Helps us choose what we focus our attention on based on previous experiences and how we make sense of the world around us. For example our values and belief system can guide what our attention is drawn to.
Disruption- A trigger that interrupts our normal activity. The disruption could be simple, may surprise, or be significant, in order to cause a distraction from normal activity.
Reputation- This is not built overnight and its how a person or product earns praise. Brand’s like Tide and Pamper’s are well known and are regarded by the public as generally having a good reputation.
Maintaining Engagement in Social Media

There are over 1.82 Billion social network users world wide (Forbes, 2014). Once you have gained the attention of social media user’s how do you keep them engaged? Companies and social media sites gather data about their user’s in order to observe their like’s and dislikes. There are companies such as Google Alerts, Icerocket, and Hootsuite that offer free application’s that can listen and monitor social media activity (Forbes, 2014). Have you ever been on Facebook and noticed ads related to your interests without you ever telling them what they were? Companies manage their own Facebook pages and need to stay active and current in order to keep people engaged. Being relevant and accurate is important because technology changes quickly.
Strategies to maintain engagement:

Visuals - Utilize images and product logos that grab attention and show behind the scene clips about products or employees. You can create a collage with applications like Ribbet and Picasa which can also utilize space (Forbes, 2014).
Games, Contest’s and Giveaway’s are a great way to keep member’s active and engage the public. There are always people who will enter any contest but it still got their attention.
Repurpose your content to fit the social media site you are using. There are different audience demographics for Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter so it’s important to know your audience (Forbes, 2014).
Point’s to Keep in Mind
· You get the audience you deserve
· People engage with what reminds them of the person they want to be
References
Desreumeux, G. (2016). Triggers to capture attention on social media and in everyday life. Retrieved from https://wersm.com/7-triggers-to-capture-attention-on-social-media-and-in-everyday-life/
Peacock, C., & Leavitt, P. (2016). Engaging young people: Deliberative preferences in discussions about news and politics. Social Media + Society, 2(1), 2056305116637096. doi:10.1177/2056305116637096
Rampton, J. (2014). Seven free way’s for boosting your social media engagement. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2014/09/22/7-free-ways-for-boosting-your-social-media-engagement/#29156045713f
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