How to Deal with the Short Customer Attention Span?

| January 20, 2016

How to Deal with the Short Customer Attention Span?

It might not be news to you that the attention span of the customers has dropped significantly. We live in a very busy world where people are forever distracted by new and shiny things. A customer might be shopping for something and place an item in the cart, only to be distracted by the latest cat video update on their friend’s Facebook timeline. They might never come back to finish that transaction.

Today, small business owners have to deal with this shrinking attention span and make the best of it. You need to capture the attention of the customer in the first eight seconds, or they’re gone, looking for something more interesting. Here are some tips on how to avoid this.

Get Inside Your Customer’s Head

The first thing you need to do is understand what would interest and engage your customer. The idea is to connect with your customers and make them focus on the message you’re trying to convey. One of the best ways to achieve this is by communicating with them in their own language.

For example, if you’re trying to sell a product to teenagers, using a formal language and ignoring the trends amongst the demographic will only alienate them. You should carefully study your target customers, understand their preferences and requirements, and design your marketing campaign accordingly. If you’re able to connect with the customer quickly, you’ll be able to retain their attention.

Keep Improving

There are business owners who get too attached to their product. That can make you blind to the faults in your products and services. You will start to resist improvement and growth, which can be very harmful for your business. One of the best ways to retain customer attention is to keep improving the product. By improving the product, you keep it interesting.

The moment you stop improving, you start becoming boring. There’s nothing new about the product or service to hold the customer’s attention. Eventually, your product would become irrelevant and your customers will forget you. Growth is the only way to avoid this.

Get on the Video Content Bandwagon

Consider this; if you’re a customer, would you buy a handbag after you see a couple of still photographs, or a small video that shows all its dimensions realistically? You’ll most likely go for the bag with the video. No matter how well you describe a product in words, actually seeing the product in use is much more convincing.

You’ll retain your customer’s attention better if you have a video accompanying your product rather than just photographs. The video would also improve your search engine rankings.

Find Ways to Stand Out

There is a lot of competition out there so it’s vital to find ways to stand out. You can do that by finding a unique way to sell your product. You should highlight qualities that would make your product different from the competitor’s products.

With these steps, you’ll have a higher chance of retaining your customer’s attention and getting ahead of the competition.