As digital marketers, SEOs and SEM specialists, we spend so much of our time focusing on getting more visitors to our client’s websites.
The bottom line is that this is what they pay us for.
Traffic is a real vanity metric but it’s one that we all chase relentlessly, every single day as it’s what keeps us in a job.
However, what if we focus not just on getting more visitors to our website but on keeping them there once they get there and getting them to come back time after time? Now that’s where the money really lies.
Content Noise
In the past, marketing was all about grabbing attention. Getting people to hear what your brand had to say was the end goal, even if it was just for a short moment.
The problem with this approach? A lot of people weren’t sticking around. Brand recall was getting lower and lower due to the amount of content noise out there. Brand awareness suffered as people simply couldn’t remember the brands in the long term.
Whilst grabbing attention is great, holding attention is so much more important in this day and age of content clutter.
So how do you not only make yourself heard but engender a feeling of loyalty that keeps people on your website for longer and gets them coming back time and time again?
That’s the million-dollar question and one we look to answer in this post.
How to hold attention
There’s no shortcut to take when it comes to holding people’s attention.
It has to be authentic.
The reason people show loyalty to a brand and come back time and time again is that they genuinely have a great experience with that company.
You can’t fake that.
If you want to truly hold people’s attention, you need to create experiences that keep them coming back for more. Worthwhile experiences that showcase why you are a company that people should want to engage with.
So, what does this look like? Here are some ideas that can really help to grab and keep the attention of your visitors.
Video
Video content is a great way of showcasing your brand and what you do.
Not that long ago, we used to recommend that video content should be no longer than 30 seconds – make an impact. A couple of years ago, we upped that recommendation to one minute. These days, we recommend making your video content as long as it needs to be.
Whilst a teaser video on social media may grab attention, produce a show if you truly want to hold attention. Create a piece of video content that entertains. People today love to watch video content and this no longer has to be short and sweet.
Whether it’s entertaining or educational, the right sort of video content can really help to hold attention and build brand loyalty.
Podcasts
It feels like everyone is talking about podcasts at the moment, but there is a good reason for it.
Podcasts are on the rise. Not just the number of podcasts that are being created, but the number of people that are listening to them.
According to Podcast Insights, there are over 2,000,000 podcasts available for download comprising over 48 million episodes (April 2021). Looking back to January 2020, this number was 900,000 podcasts and 30 million episodes.
The beauty of podcasts? They tend to be longer. People listen to them at home or in the car when they have got time on their hands and therefore, they present a great opportunity to really hold attention and build your brand.
Long-form content
The oldest form of content that really helps to hold attention is long-form content. This can be as simple as a highly engaging blog or as complex as creating a well-designed infographic.
We have found a lot of success with long-form content for our clients. One thing it tends to do, as well as holding attention, is present the opportunity to rank for a high number of keywords, increasing your chances of being found.
Long-form content must deliver on one of the ‘Es’ – educate or entertain. With so much content noise out there, what is it that makes your content stand out?
Series
One thing that we feel ties all of these things together is ‘series’. Instead of producing just one podcast, or one piece of video content, create a series.
Whilst one great podcast might get people discovering your brand for the first time, a series of great podcasts will get them coming back time and time again.
People are obsessed with series. Whether it’s your new favourite show on Netflix or a brilliant podcast you have discovered, people love to ‘buy into’ a series.
Another thing people love to do when they discover a great series? Tell everyone they know about. This helps to build your brand awareness and loyalty – when you get a recommendation about a series from a friend, you tend to pay more attention.
Summary
The key to grabbing and holding attention is to give people a show. Give them something they want to come back for time and time again. Whether that’s a podcast, a video series of how tips and tricks or a regular blog that informs and entertains – it doesn’t matter how you do it.
Just find the sweet spot for your audience and keep giving them more of what they want.