The 3-Second Race To Capture Consumer Attention

fergus-lynx

With multiple sources for a consumer to browse through on mobile or laptop, one of the biggest challenges that brands face is attracting and retaining consumer attention. With just a flick of a finger, consumers can run through pages and swipe ahead and it is during this time that brands need to create advertising messages that catch the consumer’s eye.

One media platform that fights this challenge every day is Facebook. The social networking site has nearly 1.4 billion people logging in daily, and the advertising effort ultimately boils down to the three or five seconds before consumers scroll through their News Feed.

“In mobile advertising you have to capture people’s attention in seconds. One swipe and your content is gone and one pause and you are engaged in the content. We only have three seconds to capture attention. It has always been like this for all media – be it television, print or Facebook,” commented Fergus O’Hara, Creative Strategist at Facebook MENA while attending the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity.

For Facebook, however, the scope and scale of viewership is much higher as billions access the site from their mobiles.

“Unlike other media like TV or print, Facebook has the unique ability to reach consumers on a personal level and that’s based on demographics, interests, products they like and the topic they discuss. You can send specific ads to different people – we call this personalized marketing,” explained Mr O’Hara.

He shared the work that Facebook in the region had done including making posters for Etihad Airways that were put into people’s newsfeed. The posters were created in line with the airline redefining itself as a premier brand.

Clarifying common perception that Facebook is just a place to upload photos, videos and post messages, Mr O’Hara stated, “Like any another creative company, even Facebook has the platform to built creative work which includes copywriting, art direction, storytelling, basic craft and the works.”

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