Does Your Social Media Content Pass the "Blink Test"?

A while back I wrote an article titled "What Stops Your Thumb" which focus on your sense of touch, but one of the key factors at play here is "What Stops Your Eye"?

By this, I mean the action, the action that causes your thumb to stop is what have I just viewed? Marketers call it the "Blink Test", where a visitor typically views your site for 3 - 5 seconds, scanning the content, imagery, grammar, tone etc. and decides if they want to stay or move elsewhere.

This experience is also typical of the social media audience, however, the landscape that one is dealing with is somewhat different, especially considering that a large proportion of users are making use of mobile devices.

What is key here is that the audience needs to be captured first with an image that is striking or appeals to them emotionally. Failing that, the audience will skip over your content and move to the next best thing.

Here are some considerations to put into place when creating your next Social Media Content Piece:

1. If you want to encourage engagement and shares, your image has to appeal to your target audience. Create images and infographics that either solve a problem or inspire your community to take action.
2. Be consistent. If your image has a particular form of branding don't change it radically, it takes focus away from the brand, similarly don't over brand an image. Less = More. People are more likely to share an image that has subtle branding nuances.
3. Be original. Create original imagery that is aligned to a specific brand persona or phase of the buyer's journey. This is nothing worse than an image that screams 'stock photography'! It shows that the audience neither understands them nor don't want to take the time to create imagery that resonates with their everyday lives and experience with your brand. Your image should tell a story.
4. Optimize the image and size. Make sure the size of the image is optimised for its native platform, but also mobile devices. Never assume that because an image looks great on desktop, it will look great on mobile.

Remember your image "speaks to your audience". It is the first pitch to your content and thus needs to make an impact. The image needs to portray what you are trying to say with the copy.

Making use of colour in your imagery can also communicate your message, as well as your brand identity and who, or what you stand for.

It's becoming more and more clear in this fast-paced world, to capture the attention of the online audience, we need to create meaningful, impactful content, beginning with the imagery, and in saying that we have a limited 3 - 5 second "Blink Test" window to capture this audience.