Social Media has become a major part of 21st century living,
but has that had an effect on the physiology of our brains?
Microsoft recently released the results of their 2015 study, in which 2,000 people were surveyed and 112 people had their brains monitored. They used electroencephalograms (EEGs) to observe that the average human attention span is rapidly declining.
The average human had an attention span of 12 seconds in the year 2000. Sixteen years on, the Microsoft study revealed that we now have an attention span of eight seconds. Yes, this makes our attention span shorter than that of a goldfish (at nine seconds).
Whilst this is pretty radical news (and a little bit scary), there are plenty of reasons why this news can affect your online marketing strategy:
A Slow Website = Big No No
The whole point of having a website or social media presence for your business is to increase sales and improve your brand image. Make sure that your website is super-speedy, as research shows that a website having a one-second delay in loading time leads to a 7% loss in conversion. This is pretty major, especially when taking into consideration that for Amazon, just a one-second delay means a loss of £1.1 billion every year.
Ensure Your Website Is Mobile Optimised
As the market currently stands, there are more mobile internet users than desktop users – and this amount is only going to increase as mobile technology continues to improve at the ever-rapid rate. And people actually spend more time browsing the internet on their phone, so this is your biggest window to catch your potential consumer’s attention. There are plenty of ways to make sure that your website is fully optimised to mobile use, and you should also consider other strategies such as social media, apps, push notifications, SEO and more.
The More Exposure, The Better
According to industry experts, we are now exposed to around 5,000 ads every single day. This, alongside our decreasing attention spans, shows why many prospects are not paying attention to your ads. Whilst this can seem rather demotivating, research shows that the more ads provided, the better. Ever wondered why major brands continue to show the same adverts every single day? This comes from the psychological principle called the ‘mere exposure effect’ – also known as ‘the rule of 7’ – an idea that stems from: the more people are exposed to your offer, the more they take note of it and eventually act upon it. Use multiple channels to repeatedly communicate with your potential consumers for a long-term strategy of increased brand awareness and loyalty.
Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of marketing experts on 01206 588000 or email sales@universalwebdesign.co.uk with your query.