Respect Your Audience's Attention Span
Posted 11th October 2008 at 10:23 PM by Robert Plank
YouTube - Respect Your Audience's Attention Span
Over and over I see internet videos "supposedly" meant to sell prospects that are just plain too long. When marketing with video, whether it's a screen capture video, talking head, or full blown multimedia presentation, you need to keep your message short.
The average human attention span lasts 8 to 10 seconds, which in itself is only enough time to display 26 words on screen. If you grab the attention of a web site visitor, you only have about three minutes to drive your point home. It would be nice to think that your web site visitors are patient enough to sit through your 30 to 60 minute presentation, but that is not at all plausible.
Your web site prospect might be ready to buy, or they might have landed on your site looking for some specific answer to a question. They might have 10 other browser windows open. They might be waiting for a phone call, about to leave, or watching television in the background. You cannot assume that people will want to watch your entire spiel from start to finish.
What to you do? Limit your video sales pitch to 120 seconds. You might not reach that goal, but when I record videos that are meant to sell, I try to hit that target. If your video message lasts 3 to 5 minutes, that's still okay as long as you stop in the middle to direct a call to action "buy now" message. If you watch infomercials late at night you will see that every 2 to 3 minutes, they revert back to a call to action (an 800 number or web address) because they assume you might be flipping channels or about to turn off the TV.
Too many inexperienced video marketers present long video messages because they are used to speaking in person, at physical seminars where very few attendees will walk out of a presentation, even if it is boring.
Instead of having the seminar model in mind, think of your video message as an "elevator" pitch. You only have 20 to 30 seconds to get attention and then just a few more minutes to sell them or at least get the visitor to read your sales letter. Allow them to fast forward the video or purchase at any time if you have hit the right emotional hot button with your video. Finally, make sure your video has a REAL message to it, instead of the generic, "Welcome to my web site" greeting.
Robert Plank, internet marketer, PHP programmer, and 23 year old homeowner, made an average of $10,000 per month every month in 2008. Check out his marketing ideas worth STEALING at: Robert Plank: "PHP Author and Programmer Gives Away Insane Internet Marketing Advice Worth Stealing!"
Over and over I see internet videos "supposedly" meant to sell prospects that are just plain too long. When marketing with video, whether it's a screen capture video, talking head, or full blown multimedia presentation, you need to keep your message short.
The average human attention span lasts 8 to 10 seconds, which in itself is only enough time to display 26 words on screen. If you grab the attention of a web site visitor, you only have about three minutes to drive your point home. It would be nice to think that your web site visitors are patient enough to sit through your 30 to 60 minute presentation, but that is not at all plausible.
Your web site prospect might be ready to buy, or they might have landed on your site looking for some specific answer to a question. They might have 10 other browser windows open. They might be waiting for a phone call, about to leave, or watching television in the background. You cannot assume that people will want to watch your entire spiel from start to finish.
What to you do? Limit your video sales pitch to 120 seconds. You might not reach that goal, but when I record videos that are meant to sell, I try to hit that target. If your video message lasts 3 to 5 minutes, that's still okay as long as you stop in the middle to direct a call to action "buy now" message. If you watch infomercials late at night you will see that every 2 to 3 minutes, they revert back to a call to action (an 800 number or web address) because they assume you might be flipping channels or about to turn off the TV.
Too many inexperienced video marketers present long video messages because they are used to speaking in person, at physical seminars where very few attendees will walk out of a presentation, even if it is boring.
Instead of having the seminar model in mind, think of your video message as an "elevator" pitch. You only have 20 to 30 seconds to get attention and then just a few more minutes to sell them or at least get the visitor to read your sales letter. Allow them to fast forward the video or purchase at any time if you have hit the right emotional hot button with your video. Finally, make sure your video has a REAL message to it, instead of the generic, "Welcome to my web site" greeting.
Robert Plank, internet marketer, PHP programmer, and 23 year old homeowner, made an average of $10,000 per month every month in 2008. Check out his marketing ideas worth STEALING at: Robert Plank: "PHP Author and Programmer Gives Away Insane Internet Marketing Advice Worth Stealing!"
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