How easy is it to get someone’s attention? Not very, if statistics are anything to go by. For instance, you have about eight seconds to get someone’s attention with a video. And it’s considerably less when talking about static visuals, such as marketing and advertising campaigns. Some suggest it is as few as fifty milliseconds!
If that seems overwhelming, don’t despair! Just because it can be difficult to capture someone’s attention doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.
In fact, we’re going to look at five different tricks that will help you to keep the attention of your audience beyond that first split second that statistics say you have.
Use Your Visuals to Tell a Story
Want to get your audience engaged and involved in your marketing?
Tell them a story.
Of course, we don’t mean this in a literal way. Starting your marketing off with “Once upon a time…” is only going to appeal to a select few.
But it is possible, and recommended, to tell a story by directly using your visuals. And it doesn’t have to be a complicated story. In fact, the simpler, the better. There’s not really any need to craft a compelling narrative beyond, “This person uses this product, and here is how they benefited.”
Everyone loves a happy ending, even if it’s just in their marketing.
Use Color
In terms of quick tricks to grab attention, smart use of color is probably the most often recommended for visual design. After all, we often react to colors without even really taking the time to think about them; they tend to elicit an emotional reaction of some kind, as well.
The psychology of color tells us how the majority of people tend to react to certain colors. Red, for instance, is one of the most motivating, dynamic colors. That’s why red is so often used to get attention.
But for eye-catching colors, simply using a preponderance of a certain color, even if it is dynamic, isn’t really enough. Using too much of one color is potentially more likely to turn someone’s eyes away, rather than attract them.
An important aspect of color is the use of a palette that has already been established by the brand, such as colors in the company logo and other previously designed marketing materials.
The best way to use color to get attention is to include a pop of bright color along with accents, and thorough use of auxiliary colors like white, black, and gray as well. It takes caution and care to enhance the visual and avoid overwhelming the viewer.
Combine Fonts
Here’s a sad fact: people don’t really like to read. In fact, it’s much more likely that your viewers will simply look at the images and graphics included in your marketing, and base their impression on that alone.
But if you want to maximize the chances that your audience will actually be drawn into reading the textual content, then here are a few tips:
- Use highly legible, user-friendly fonts.
- Combine a few fonts together, including a heavier weight and a lighter weight.
A combination of typefaces is immediately more interesting and visually appealing than a single typeface on its own.
Include a Call to Action
Calls to action, or CTAs, are a common sight in marketing, but they don’t have to be as blatant as “Buy now!”
Effective CTAs use the perceived benefit to the viewer to motivate them to act. And that may be even more effective on a standalone piece of marketing.
It may be something like, “Get your free product now!” Or, for social media, it could be as simple as posting a trending hashtag, which in itself is an invitation for the viewer to repost or share and do the same. Because we are social animals, and love to be part of a trend, this is an effective way to both get the attention of your viewer and to involve them in marketing.
Brand Your Visuals
A final way to enhance your visual marketing and get your audience’s attention is to focus on branding. Include the name of the business, the company logo, the tagline, or some other aspect of branding within the marketing.
Not only should you make it clear who the marketing is for, the style of the design should also harmonize and blend well with the brand’s style as already established.
This helps to identify the marketing even without logos and brand marks, allowing customers to gain a sense of familiarity with the design. It also promotes the brand personality and aesthetic, adding each piece of visual marketing to a well-designed whole.
It’s true that there are a lot of pieces of marketing out there vying for the limited attention span of the audience. But there are definitely ways that you can up your game, and increase the likelihood of catching — and keeping — the interest of your viewers.
Author Bio
Sabrina Jackson is a content writer with experience in web content, blogging, sales copy and more. She writes with a passion to match her coffee color. Her favorite pass time is trying out new and unique tongue twisters.
Franchises have proven wildly successful across America and the rest of the world, and their growth rate continues to increase. However, franchises should not be confused with other small businesses; while there are obvious similarities, there are also a variety of traits that are more important for franchises. Here are three such examples.
Experience
Experience is one of the traits the top franchises have in common. Having experienced operators and staff is important for any business. But when it comes to a franchise, you need a different kind of experience. It’s critical to have someone on board who understands the ins and outs of a franchise system, their policies and procedures, how to interact with upper management and more.
At the same time, in addition to a franchising expert, you need someone who knows how to run a business and who is an expert in the industry in which you are franchising. If this isn’t you, make sure you hire someone who knows this field and can work with you to ensure your business’ success.
Growth Rate
Business growth is important everywhere, but the growth rate of franchises is particularly important. Franchises have certain expectations of their franchisees, and a consistent growth rate is usually one of those requirements. Growing at a regular rate can bring additional resources and opportunities; conversely, failure to grow at an expected rate can bring additional scrutiny from upper management.
A franchise can be successful if it keeps open in just one location; however, real success can be found in owners who open multiple locations. Doing so will expand your business, your customer reach and your overall profit margins. The good news is that most franchises are already set up to be easy to scale.
Good Communication
Good communication is a cornerstone of any successful business, but this goes double for franchises. Communication skills are required with customers and other staffers, but franchises require an entirely different level of communication because you have to discuss your plans and operations with area managers and franchise management. As such, you have to be prepared to communicate your overall business plans, marketing decisions, human-resource moves and more. You also must be ready to accept advice and directives from your home office.
Success is not a guarantee in any business, but franchising has unique challenges and opportunities. Any franchise business owner must master the above traits to succeed. Do that, and you will be well on your way toward long-term franchise success.
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As an entrepreneur, you have a wide array of business strategies to choose from. One handy strategy would be values development—that is, finding the kind of values you want representing your brand. Consumers want to know what a brand stands for and what to expect when it comes to customer experience. One of the most important values would be brand consistency.
So why do consumers like brand consistency? Here are the three biggest reasons why you should be incorporating brand consistency into your business strategy.
Brand Recognition
Brand recognition certainly means adding your logo and brand colors to every interaction, but more than that it involves controlling the quality of the interaction so that your brand integrity is strong and evokes a positive emotion in the future. The feeling of familiarity is a powerful tool that keeps your customers wanting to come back. This is partially why giant brands continue to be successful; a brand’s success creates recognition among customers, and that recognition establishes feelings of trust. As a business owner, try to create as much exposure as possible for your brand.
Quality Customer Service
Consistency plays a key role in building trust and loyalty. If a customer feels like he or she can expect the same quality experience every single time, that customer is more likely to revisit the business in the future. If, however, the product or service is constantly changing, the customer may not know what to expect in the future. That kind of uncertainty is exactly what you want to avoid during customer exchanges.
Reputation for Reliability
You will always want brand consistency for reputational purposes. Customers are much more likely to recommend your business if they feel it is more reliable. A reputation in reliability will attract new customers to your business. To them, reliability will indicate that a business is performing well.
How to Create Brand Consistency
In order to establish brand consistency, it is important that you look at messaging. Start by creating a great message and stick to it. Make sure that the message properly represents what your brand stands for.
As the name suggests, brand consistency is the consistent delivery of identity, strategy, and experience over time. Customers want a consistent message, a familiar visual brand, and a consistent service or product to consume. You will also need to look at the product or service you are selling. Once your business has settled on a quality product or service to sell, start selling it at a consistent pace.
Brand consistency is an essential ingredient in the secret sauce to success. Perfect your brand today with brand management services from RyCOM!
