An exponential shift of social media attention span

Wondering how to increase customers social media attention span? Find out more on social media attention span and how fortune 500 companies use this a

Social media isn’t what it has been for the past decade . . . and that’s a good thing. In the old world, you could post some stuff and see a fair amount of engagement. A few likes here and there, a few friendly comments, maybe even a DM (“direct message”) or two. Social media feeds were flooded with pictures of inspirational quotes, exotic destinations, exotic food from those destinations, favorite nieces or nephews, and cats being, well . . . cats. So how do you increase social media attention span?

Social media attention span

From then on, social media became “the front page of the internet” the source for almost all information, the latest breaking news, entertainment, live-streamed video games, and tutorials to help you fix your broken sink.

And then the algorithms changed. Suddenly, you saw less from your friends and more ads. And if you ran a professional brand or business page, your engagement started drying up. Fewer DMs and comments from your favorite customers [social media comments]. It didn’t matter if you had a few hundred followers or a hundred thousand, the apps started to feel like ghost towns. It was like a post-apocalyptic landscape from The Terminator, after all the machines took over.

Two things happened:

the apps switched to pay-to-play models of engagement for businesses on their platforms; and

the feeds switched from chronological displays, where you could see everything, to displays based on weighted-interest algorithms.

If you weren’t paying for ads as a business, your visibility online became pretty much non-existent. And so, brands started paying the piper. Years later, the ads stopped working, as well. Smart-targeting options got removed. Privacy settings rolled out as the default on phones, making you invisible to advertisers. In some cases, you had to spend twice as much on ads to get the same results as the year before.

And then a miracle happened. In the midst of a divisive election season, with people abandoning social media left and right, a new app was born. This app was named TikTok. On TikTok, you could post a fifteen-second video synced to your favorite music track. At first, it was just a cute app teenagers used for dancing videos and memes, but its care-free spirit and levity was such a welcome change, it kept people on the platform. As a result, it began to grow exponentially.

But I attribute TikTok’s meteoric success to one thing: the For You page. Unlike other apps, in which you have to follow people to see content, TikTok’s default “homepage” is full of videos from creators you’ve never seen. And so, the number of creators began to grow exponentially. It’s said that, on Instagram, only 10%–12% of your following will ever see your content [Instagram marketing strategy for business]. This is night and day compared to TikTok, where people see your content first, then follow you. 

Creators and brands from all apps started using TikTok instead. It became a new frontier. As of the time of writing, TikTok has surpassed Instagram in monthly active users1 (the holy grail statistic for apps), reaching one billion. That’s a lot of people. Even grandma is on TikTok. Don’t believe me? Here are four of the top grannies of TikTok:

• @thechainzfamily
• @jrudderz
• @grandmadroniak
• @its_j_dog

The point is, it’s not just for teenagers. In fact, teens only make up about 25% of TikTok users. Surprising, eh? As a result, all the other apps have taken notice and made their own TikTok clones to compete. YouTube created Shorts, Pinterest added Ideas, and Instagram created Reels [youtube video marketing strategy for business]. It’s like a high-stakes game of copycat. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri even claimed that Instagram is “no longer a photo-sharing app,” naming TikTok as one of their biggest competitors. They’re putting all their weight behind Reels.

Oh, and remember good ole Facebook? [facebook marketing for small business] They’re doing Reels too. So what does this Game of Thrones style battle for attention mean for your brand? Simply put, as a creator on these platforms, you hold all the power. The apps want your content now more than ever and will do whatever it takes to keep you. The result? Brands are growing like never before.

But before we continue, I want to pull back the curtain on one of my marketing strategies one that has been tested by time, no matter what the algorithms are doing. It’s this: The Law of Preferred Placement.

Attracting social media attention span in a crowded marketplace

The law of preferred placement

The idea of Preferred Placement has been around since the dawn of time. It’s the article above the fold of the newspaper. It’s the restaurant or gas station located on the corner of the main road. There are businesses that get more attention from customers simply because of where they are positioned. So how does this translate to the digital world of social media?

On the apps it’s no different. When a social media app develops a new product or feature, it pours a ton of resources into that feature’s success. It also “boosts” that new feature, at the cost of the old ones. When the head of Instagram says, “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app,” he is literally telling you what to do next to succeed. The Preferred Placement has shifted. Back in the old days, Preferred Placement used to be image posts; now it’s short-form video.

And, as the head of Instagram, if something like TikTok is eating your lunch, you need this new feature to work. Why do I say all of this? Because I’ve seen it proven true again and again.

At a Mastermind event in Spokane, I talked about Preferred Placement with my colleague over a wonderful crème brûlée breakfast. Intrigued, he decided to give short-form content a try. He shot his first video right there at the restaurant. It wasn’t even twenty seconds long. In under an hour, he saw more engagement from that single post than he had on his account in an entire year.

The truth is this: on social media, people only find new brands because of Preferred Placement. Notice I said “new brands,” not brands they’ve been following before—although Preferred Placement will put you in front of your followers more often, as well. Most brands, though, are trying to figure out how to reach new people.

To engineer success on whatever platform you choose, you have to understand two things.

Preferred placement happens on social media for two reasons.

The algorithms are designed to do two things above all else. The first is to serve up more ads and acquire more users. This means that every platform is looking to:

• get new people to serve ads to;
• make more money from advertisers;
• build new, enticing features that cause people to share the app; and
• do anything else that will increase the number of monthly active users.

On social media, people are the product. The problem is, the algorithm is also trying to do something else. It’s trying to retain attention. In order to sell more ads, it has to keep users on the app for as long as possible; in other words, it has to retain their attention. What this means is, if we don’t position our content in such a way as to keep people engaged, the algorithm will drown it out.

Every time someone sees your content or somebody goes to your profile, it’s as though there’s an invisible stopwatch that starts timing [timing social media]. The less time people’s eyes linger on it, the less engagement you’ll see on your account. So that means I should create longer content to keep people watching—right? Wrong.

Netflix vs. the potato chip

If you asked anyone on the street where they spend the most time watching content, they would probably say Netflix. Netflix is arguably the most-watched platform for movies and television. It is the master of the entertainment industry, skilled at keeping people on the platform for as long as possible. Social media apps are playing the same game [Integrating traditional and social media management services]. They too have algorithms designed to retain your attention and sell more ads to businesses.

Wait–what?!! Sell ads? Netflix doesn’t have any ads.

In July of 2016, Netflix debuted the first season of Stranger Things. It’s perhaps one of their best original shows. This 80s-era, nostalgic series was brilliantly engineered to keep people bingeing on it—and it worked. It was also engineered to sell Eggos. And Eggo sales BOOMED. In fact, each season triggers an Eggo sales boom. According to Business Insider, “When Stranger Things Season 2 arrived on Netflix in October 2017, Eggo waffles saw the most social mentions in a single month ever [Social media services proposal guidelines]. In Q4 2017, Eggo consumption saw a +14% year-on-year increase.” That’s a lot of Eggos.

Now, the average user’s monthly time spent watching content on Netflix is 8 hours and 54 minutes (Statista, 13 January 2021). That’s a lot of time. But that pales in comparison to TikTok. The average user’s time spent watching content on TikTok is 52 minutes PER DAY (Oberlo, 16 February 2021). That’s 26 hours per month and nearly triple the time spent on Netflix. In the battle for our attention, TikTok is winning. I think the reason is this: people consume potato chips more readily than they do a whole potato.

I haven’t met a single person who hates potato chips. I’ve met people who try to find healthier alternatives, but no one who hates them. If you’re reading this and you hate potato chips, send me a DM on Instagram. I would love to meet you. Just thinking about those salty, crisp potato confections is getting me hungry. I have, on the other hand, met people who hard-pass on a whole baked potato. Here’s what I think: short-form content is like potato chips. It’s significantly less of an investment of time. It is much easier to consume. I hope it’s becoming clearer to you how significant this shift in human behavior is. If I asked a brand if it wanted its own Netflix show, it would leap at the opportunity in a heartbeat. Yet, something greater than Netflix has arrived, and anyone can make their own show.

Now is your time.

Exponential results require exponential thinking

MOST PEOPLE ARE STUCK in the trap of analog thinking. Analog thinking sounds something like this: “What is this adding to or subtracting from me?” It’s simple math on a continuum with a plus or a minus at each end. 

Social media and attention span

Analog thinking IS black and white. If someone wins, there must be a loser. It’s gain on one side and losses on the other. We do it in just about every part of life. When it comes to marketing, the thinking goes something like this:

• How much is it going to cost?
• If I show up on one platform, I can’t spend time on another.
• How much time is it going to take?
• How much money will this make?
• What if it doesn’t work? What if I fail?

Now, these are all valid concerns. All of these thoughts are perfectly rational. The truth is, the Analog Continuum is only a small aspect of reality, but if it dominates our field of view, it becomes problematic. I don’t think you’re stuck on the Continuum, though. Actually, I think you might be different. You probably picked up this book because you believe there’s more. Maybe your current reality isn’t the one you envision for the future. If this has ever crossed your mind, you are in good company. You’re on the verge of exponential thinking. Here are some ideas worth thinking about:

• What if you could be twice as effective in a week?
• What if it took significantly less effort to do so?
• What if all it took was a single hour of your time?

I am telling you it is not only possible, but I’ve seen this principle proven true over and over again. Let’s do a little exponential math together. Don’t worry it will require very few math skills on your part . . . but it may stretch your thinking in a good way. In the left column we’ll add 2, and in the right column we’ll multiply by 2.

Does social media affect attention span

Imagine your business when comparing these models [social media business value]. Clearly, the figures on the right are much more appealing, even if the numbers start out a little slower. (Did you notice that? Look again!) Now imagine these figures to the power of five . . . or even seven! This is the foundational principle of the book you are reading.

EFFECTIVE CREATION X EXPLOSIVE CONTENT X PREFERRED PLACEMENT = EXPONENTIAL RESULTS

When my friend spent twenty seconds on his post, it got more engagement than his efforts in an entire year. What if that was every day for you? How would that change your business? How much more visible would your business be in the marketplace? What is it going to cost your business if you don’t show up? How much more time is it going to take for you to do things the old way? What if this actually works? Every entrepreneur and brand must seek to MXLTIPLY their EFFECT, not their EFFORT.

Gary Vaynerchuck’s Secret to Success for social media attention span

In 2019 Gary Vaynerchuck (a.k.a. Gary Vee), a well-known social media guru, published a massive 270-page deck called How to Create 64 Pieces of Content in a Day. The title alone sounds daunting, I know, but in it he reveals the secret to his success on social media: volume. In a volume-centric creative world, it’s about creating more context for the audience you’re trying to reach and more context on the platforms that you’re distributing on. I’m not proposing that you need to create 64 pieces of content in a day, but what most brands get wrong here is that they play favorites. They focus on building their favorite social media network and abandon the rest [What is open source social media monitoring?]. That is analog thinking at its finest. Instead, as exponential thinkers, we can create one piece of content and multiply it.

Social media effect on attention span

Building One Channel vs. Building Volume

In a marketplace full of noise, you need to crank up the volume. Volume gives you an unfair advantage. Many multi-million or even multi-billion dollar brands aren’t thinking exponentially. A smart brand can dwarf its competition with volume. Here are a few examples of smart brands and their followings.

Impact Theory

1.1M followers on Facebook

21K followers on Twitter

1.8M followers on Instagram

47K followers on LinkedIn [how to use linkedin for business as a marketing tool and strategy]

143.2K followers on TikTok

2.34M subscribers on YouTube

Jenna Kutcher 

144K followers on Facebook

71.4K followers on Pinterest

913K followers on Instagram

8.831K followers on LinkedIn

3.54K subscribers on YouTube

Mr. Beast

2.1M followers on Facebook

11.4M followers on Twitter [Twitter marketing strategy for business]

13.7M followers on Instagram

22.7M followers on TikTok

70.8M subscribers on YouTube

You might be thinking, “Those are all great examples, but I still have to create so much content. Doesn’t that take a bunch of time?”

Elon Musk’s Secret to Exponential TIME

Elon Musk accomplishes more in his day than the average person. You’ve probably heard of him. He’s the super-genius behind those sexy electric Tesla cars, who hurls Space X rockets out of the atmosphere like a madman. He was also the genius behind PayPal, before it rebranded. Surprisingly, Elon claims he’s never read a single book on time management. But you don’t have to be a super genius to learn his time saving secrets. They’re actually quite simple.

Musk uses a method called Time Boxing.

If you give yourself thirty days to clean your home, it will take thirty days. But if you give yourself three hours, it will take three hours. The same applies to your goals, ambitions, and plans.

Working with time-boxing is an important part of goal setting. You start by asking yourself, “Where do I want to be in X amount of time?” That could be one year from now, a month, or even a week.

The next step is to write down the tasks that will support your goal. So, if you want to grow on TikTok in one month, your tasks could look something like this:

• Find the right hashtags to use.
• Plan and write content.
• Create a compelling caption.
• Record content.
• Follow up with replies and comments.

Now, instead of working on each task for as long as it takes before moving on to the next one, you will set aside a block or blocks of time to do each one. For example, you might decide to spend twenty minutes researching hashtags; then you’ll move on to the next task. Once you figure out how much time you want to allocate to each task, block it off on your calendar. By focusing on one task-block at a time, you’ll gain an incredible advantage and won’t waste time wandering down rabbit trails.

When you combine the principles: Exponential Mindset, Cranking the Volume, and Time Boxing you won’t just be thinking exponentially; you will gain exponential results.