The cell phone has become an extension of the arm. Not surprisingly, consumers consume a great deal of content on their mobile and, consequently, mobile advertising. For example, 89% use Facebook only on mobile[i]. Moreover, they not only consume more content, but they do so faster than on desktop. What are the implications for the effectiveness of mobile advertising & social advertising and how can you capture consumers' attention in a split second?
Faster consumption & advertising recognition
Whereas consumers on desktop look at a post on Facebook for an average of 2.5 seconds, on mobile it is only 1.7 seconds. Incidentally, the speed does vary by age: the younger, the faster they scroll through their timeline[ii]. Teenagers scroll through their timeline 2.5x faster than those over 60[iii]. By the way, this does not mean that teenagers pay less attention to the content they are viewing, they are just used to processing it faster because they have grown up with mobile devices.
That people consume content on mobile faster is not a disaster, in fact, they remember content when they have seen it for 0.25 seconds, according to independent research by Fors-Marsh. Research from Twitter and Nielsen also shows that people remember a video ad after only 1 second. So it is important to capture attention quickly, because even within two seconds, an ad not only has significant impact on recall, but also on brand awareness and purchase intent[iv][v].
How do you capture the consumer's attention?
So it is important to catch the consumer's attention quickly. Here are two tips that are crucial for this:
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Adapt your expression to the target audience
Surely the most important tip for capturing the attention of the target audience remains by tailoring it to what engages them and what they find interesting. By pre-testing the expression among the target group, you can find out whether it catches on. In addition, we always recommend to use multiple expressions, so that we can optimize to reach the target group with the most effective expression.
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Image more important than text
It may seem obvious, but an image (preferably moving) says more than 1,000 words and is better at capturing attention than text. In fact, we process images 60,000 times faster than text. Video often grabs attention more easily than a still image, because motion stands out more in users' crowded timelines. Motion results in 30% better results than a still image.
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Videos shorter than 15 seconds deliver better results than longer videos
On mobile, short videos that immediately capture attention and are relevant yield the best results. Facebook research shows that short 6-second videos and long 30-second video ads are viewed for the same amount of time on average. So you would say that the length of your video doesn't matter, but nothing could be further from the truth. The recall of the 6-second video was 11% higher than that of the 30-second video. So it's important to keep your videos short and bonding and convey the most important message in a few seconds. Therefore, also make sure that your brand, logo and product are already in focus in the first 2 seconds so that viewers know who and for what the ad is from. [vi]
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Surprise with nonlinear storytelling
Videos that tell stories in a non-linear way, such as the boomerang, a short 6-second video that keeps looping continuously did better in the mobile Facebook timeline than of videos with traditional linear storytelling. They generated more video views, were viewed longer and generated more interaction than linear videos. Because they stood out more. Moreover, the message was better understood and had a positive effect on brand association.[vii]
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Square eyes
Finally, another quick win to make sure your ad stands out more. Use a square image instead of a horizontal image. This will actually make your ad 78% larger and thus stand out more!
Mobile advertising increasingly important
Did you find this interesting? Then also check out the blog on "mobile advertising first". Google is going to prioritize mobile-friendly websites. If your site does not comply, you will quickly drop as a search result.