Get User’s Attention in 3 Seconds: Principles of Attention

We get exposed to hundreds of ads, notifications and visit a lot of websites every day. But very few of these ads, posts, banners, or websites are caught our attention. Most of the ads that we see daily in social media, search engine ads, or websites are being ignored. That is the reason for wasted marketing budgets.

Measure Outcomes, Not Exposure

A good ad is about getting attention at first. If we did not get the user’s attention in 3 seconds, we lost at that moment. All ads could get thousands of reaches or impressions. But how many of them actually hit the goal?

In this blog post, I will share the most important attention principles in marketing / digital psychology which you can use in your ads, designs for improvement.

CONTRAST

Contrast means the differentiation of an item from other items in design (or text). Show people that what is important or what is not. Use the contrast principle in your images, videos, posts. People always pay attention to things that differ from the rest of them.

SPACE

Space helps people to digest the information given and not distracting by unnecessary things. Complicated designs or copies always distract people and it leads us lost their attention.

PEOPLE AND FACES

Using faces on your website or social media makes people look at that spot. It is a human instinct. So, use this instinct to get people’s attention in marketing.

MOVEMENT

Eyes always focusing on things that move. Moving things attract people’s attention in motion designs, videos, or landing pages of websites every time. Use moving items to deliver your main message on advertising.

BREAKING RULES

A different thing in the row will get attention. Break the rules. Use the different points of view.

PERSONS’ NAMES OR THEIR FACES

People are likely to respond when they see their name or photo. Remember Coca-Cola bottles with the names on them? 🙂

How Do We Know If We Got Attention?

Setting the right KPIs for each ad is one of the most important steps while measuring success. Find the main KPI. If your ad reached 100.000 people but only got like 10 conversions, it doesn’t mean a successful ad.