According to disputed research released by Microsoft in 2015, the average reader will have lost interest in this post by the time I start the next sentence. That is of course assuming it took you eight seconds to get this far. The cause of our decreasing attention spans is thankfully not attributed to this author but instead we are to blame the internet age, and the rise of the smartphone. We are bombarded by messages and exposed to as many as 10,000 advertisements every day which means humans have fallen behind the mighty Goldfish when it comes to our ability to focus.
There are counter arguments of course that opine our attention spans are influenced by task and context dependent factors. My children's ability to watch other children unboxing toys on YouTube for hours on end suggests that we are able to selectively focus on something that we find interesting and relevant.
What does this mean for content marketers or those trying to differentiate their business? Long form content is certainly not dead in the water but you need to ensure it is personalised, relevant, engaging and immersive. You also need to consider the context in which your audience is consuming your message. The holy grail is to reach them in a state that psychologists refer to as open mode; when we are relaxed, feel free from pressure, distractions, demands and complexity. I would propose that might not be found in an email inbox.
If the above is a tall order, I would certainly propose that less is more in trying to engage your audience with content. A recent study by Kantar on respondents abilities to playback key messages from advertisements that had 1, 2 or 3+ messages demonstrated that a single message was more impactful than multiple ones.
One message in an add has much more impact than multiple
Source: Kantar Link database, US TV ads
The study reported that "The findings were a clear plea for simplicity. Too many messages can dilute communication as our brains can only really think about 3-4 things at once."
Focus on creating snackable content. That is content that is designed to be straightforward, short-form and easy to consume and share. And finally ensure it is visual. Information recall for visual content is far greater than the written word.
The findings were a clear plea for simplicity. Too many messages can dilute communication as our brains can only really think about 3-4 things at once
Originally published 31 August 2022
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