“Nobody can focus these days.”
“No one reads anymore!”
“Nobody can sit still.”
How many times have you heard people say things like this? Everyone is convinced that our attention spans are diminishing. But that’s not the truth.
People’s attention spans aren’t shorter.
More people read now than ever before.
More people binge-watch entire seasons.
More long-form content is being consumed and created.
More people are pursuing higher education which means engaging and understanding complex subjects.
So it’s not attention spans that are shorter—it’s consideration spans. Consideration span is how much time someone decides to give you before deciding whether to give you more.
The same person who will scroll past a 15-second TikTok will listen to a 45-minute long podcast all the way through.
Consideration spans are a massive thing when it comes to TikTok content. You’re battling the next scroll, the next notification, the next text, and the next app for your viewer’s time and attention. So how do we set ourselves up to win the battle?
1. Diversify throughout your content
You have to get creative. That’s the name of the game. Just because you’re creating videos doesn’t mean you can’t also integrate other forms of media like images, stills, green screens, screenshots, and stop motions.
2. Format your content
The different font and text features are there to help engage the viewer and animate the video further. Use them but do so with discretion—don’t make them dizzy.
3. Understand that people don’t owe you anything 😅
Okay, time for some tough love. We LOVE our company and its products. We think they’re the best in the world, right? So it’s easy for us to assume that other people will care, too. People won’t care unless you give them a reason to. And how do we do that? Make it about them and don’t waste their time and attention. Get right to the good stuff.
4. Pick the right platform and use it how it’s intended
Posting Canva graphics and stock videos to TikTok is NOT the move. And neither is having a bunch of random influencers post to your page.
Take the time to understand the platform, trends, inside jokes, humor, and challenges (or hire a partner who will do that for you wink wink nudge nudge).
Make sure your audience does in fact use TikTok and would be receptive there to what you offer.
For example, we’ve learned that our audience (CMOs and founders) do use TikTok but typically for personal entertainment and not to find partners or marketing info. If we posted marketing tips on TikTok, it would most likely not really reach them, gain qualified leads, and would probably just reach other UGC creators.
The battle of attention is not something you have to face alone. We’re here to provide top-quality creatives and handle everything from pre to post-production. Check out our work here.
