Attention Span -- don't loose them

Waiting to see what shocking stuff will occur on the latest episode of Fear Factor is almost painful. Almost as painful as watching the news. "Next up a shocking story about a home safety hazard" turns into a 20 second sound byte at the very end of the 30-minute news program.

Don't leave dial-up in the dust

When it comes to viral marketing making your viewers wait just isn't an option. This means load times are important. If you are going to use flash, make sure someone on dial-up doesn't have to wait 10 minutes before it downloads. The longer the viewer has to wait, the better your content must be. This applies not only to viral marketing, but also numerous other internet websites and marketing methods.

The internet is all about speed -- right here, right now. E-mail was too slow, IRC meant finding people - so we got instant messaging.

The big guys can learn a lesson here too

The best thing DRM paid content has going for it is instant gratification. People will pay $1 a song rather than spend 2 hours trying to find it on their favorite filesharing networks. People will pay $4 to download a high-quality full-length movie from a high speed source rather than wait overnight for it to download. Marketers who recognize the importance of 0 second attention spans make money. Don't make people loose interest the moment they see your webpage or message.

Remember attention span whether dealing with viral marketing, guerilla marketing, banner ads, web design, videos, pictures, you name it. Don't let them loose interest until they've received your message!

©2004