ATTENTION PLEASE!!! Capturing attention in Social Media
What it means to capture attention in social media and why this is important
Think about this….what about a post on social media pulls you in to reading it or clicking a link to find out more? In order for what you are posting about whether it be an announcement or a sale or service for a business it has to catch the attention of the audience you are showing it to. You can post and post on a daily basis but if you can’t keep your readers attention for long enough they will simply flip by. Make you post engage with the consumer, especially if you are trying to market a business or service. By engaging your reader on social media that speak the fans’ interests and that is entertaining in a way can provide opportunities for interaction. The downside of social media is that it is filled with tons of other posts and a lot of them are trying to get the same point across so yours needs to stick out and attract your fans’ attention. Let’s use Facebook for instance, the main reason a lot of people use Facebook today is for pure entertainment. Many businesses today use Facebook for marketing, but they don’t realize in order for them to catch the attention and gain followers and “likes” on their posts or page they have to post things that pull you in and engage you either by something entertaining or by relating to the viewers in a way that no other business is doing.
Three strategies for gaining viewer attention:
Don’t be afraid to entertain!!
Don’t be salesy and boring in your posts. If you are trying to grab the attention of your readers being boring can make them unfollow your Facebook page, which then will lead to your posts forever disappear from their newsfeed (Virgillito 2015). Spice up your post with a giveaway or a video that catches the eye of your audience. When you look at your newsfeed would you rather see a bunch of corporate ick or would you like see something that is more interesting than that of the competitors?
Get Visual!!
As stated by Boot Camp Digital CEO Krista Neher, “Your brain processes an image 60,000 times faster than text,” Krista says. “Adding user images on your site results in a 5 to 7 percent increase in conversions.” (Sheares 2015) Grab the attention of your audience and they will likely choose your post rather than your competitors. I would be much more inclined to click or like a post that is visually enticing than one that is just full of text. How about you?
Strike up a conversation!!
Post questions that engage with your readers and provoke their thoughts. Overall this will encourage your readers to interact with your post and lead to conversation. When others see lots of responses they are more likely to want to be involved which will increase your posts value, giving it higher visibility in the news feed. (Virgillito 2015).
Maintaining Engagement in Social Media
If you are looking to engage with readers on social media that’s great , but do you want them to continue to follow your posts from here on out? If you post once a week or once in a while more than likely you may notice that you really don’t have any followers.
Let’s Talk Strategy!!
Hello? Are you there?
When you make a post and possible consumers are asking questions and engaging in your post and you don’t respond in a timely fashion “it’s like having someone standing right next to you saying, “hello” and you just continue to stand there not saying anything back” (Design 2014). Try your best to engage back with those posters so that they get the feeling you truly value them.
Don’t just post once in a while
Check out how your competitors are doing it and see how you could improve your process. Let’s say your posting 1–2 times a day and your competitor is posting 5–6 times a day, who is more likely to get viewed more? You should do your best to maintain an active presence so that you get value from your use of social media.
Are you human?
Don’t fall into the same corporate ick that all of the others are doing when you post. Break out some funny photos of your team and show that you too are human. This will help you better build relationships with your readers or clients.
References:
Sheares,Adrienne. “3 Social Media Tips for Capturing Audience Attention”. Cision USA Inc. N.p., 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
Virgillito,Dan. “5 Ways To Get Your Posts More Attention In The News Feed”. Adespresso.com N.p., 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.
JVM Design. N.p 2014 Retrieved April 20, 2017, from:
https://jvmediadesign.com/blog/business/social-media-all-about-engagement/