This goldfish probably has a longer attention span than you

We are subjected to so much 'content' these days, all competing for our views and clicks, that our collective attention span appears to be shrinking. Which means we need to work harder than ever to stand out.

According to a study led by the Technical University of Denmark and reported in Nature Communication in 2019, the collective global attention span is narrowing due to the amount of information that is presented to the public.

“Content is increasing in volume, which exhausts our attention, and our urge for ‘newness’ causes us to collectively switch between topics more regularly,” said Philipp Lorenz-Spreen of Max Planck Institute for Human Development that participated in the study.

The study shows that people have more to focus on these days, but less time to do so.

The advent of 24 hour news coverage has no doubt had an impact, as will the prevalence of smartphones and the 'always on' approach to email that they're responsible for (in its day, the BlackBerry was nicknamed the 'CrackBerry' because of its addictive nature) but those of us that create and distribute content are obviously partly to blame too, a point I've raised this before in this article.

“Content is increasing in volume, which exhausts our attention, and our urge for ‘newness’ causes us to collectively switch between topics more regularly,”

However, let's face it, we're all going to carry on doing it aren't we? So how do we make sure we reach the audiences we're trying to communicate with?

Reaching people in a fast-paced world

Think: creative, disruptive, multi-channel and integrated.

It goes without saying that every effort to communicate needs to be much more creative in order to improve the chances of it getting noticed amongst all the noise and competing content. 'Guerrilla' campaigns can be very effective in this regard, capturing our attention where and when we least expect it, as can video.

But for a better chance to cut through, our messages need to appear simultaneously across multiple different channels, which includes our websites, social media, traditional media, email and, importantly, hard copy that arrives in the post - an often overlooked channel in this digital era. A totally integrated approach like this means we stand a much greater chance of our messages landing where want them to, reaching people wherever they are.

Example: Imagine you're launching a new product (or service, or even an establishment like a bar or restaurant). You'll get it in front of more people if you advertise on billboards, promote a dedicated landing page using pay-per-click advertising with Google, Bing and Yahoo etc, pay for sponsored posts on the various social media platforms, run a remarketing campaign, get it some coverage in the news, and have leaflets delivered or write to potential users.

A fully integrated, multi-channel effort that uses the same, distinctive visuals and messaging, will increase the likelihood of you getting seen - with some of your communications crucially being digested at a slower pace because they'll have less competition.

And guess what? There's another great reason to adopt this sort of approach: a cognitive bias known as 'The Mere Exposure Effect'.

It's a psychological phenomenon that causes us to develop a preference for things simply because we're familiar with them.

So, the more you can get your brand in front of your target audience, the more people will buy into it. It's how their brains are wired!

Remember, though, before you get carried away putting together any sort of communications, PR or marketing campaign, you should first figure out how you want to be seen by those audiences that matter. Because perception is everything.

Need help putting together an integrated, multi-channel #Communications, #PR and #Marketing campaign? Just ask!