There are all kinds of studies about eye tracking in advertising and the importance of catching your audience’s attention with high-quality images, bold fonts, and captivating videos. In fact, there are several online tools that track a user's cursor movements on each of your landing pages – giving you real-time feedback on what your customers do when they come to your website. These invaluable tools help you to pinpoint what your customers are focused on each time they peruse your offer. However, is all that needed or does it really come down to common sense?
Think about how you go through a website. When you arrive you instantaneously decide whether that website is a relevant source of information, whether it addresses your needs and can answer your questions, or whether you should simply move on and continue your search. That decision happens within seconds of arrival. You quickly ascertain whether the website is worth reviewing. So, what are some of the considerations about eye movement and digital marketing that will help you keep your customers at your site and engaged?
Break Up Your Content Into Manageable Pieces
Nobody wants to read a webpage with nothing more than the written word. There is nothing worse for a customer than visiting a website with elongated text. You can’t answer every possible question your customer has. Break up your content into manageable chunks. Give the appearance of space and your customer will quickly pick out what portion of your content or landing page is of most interest to them based on what you want them to notice.
Bold Fonts to Draw Attention on the Right Information
Want to convey a message that your customers will remember? Use bold fonts and larger size fonts to introduce the user to a more important portion of your message. Itemized lists and how-to videos work best when they guide the prospect to an attention-grabbing headline or sub-heading.
Your call-to-action (CTA) should draw attention to help you convert more customers. However, if you focus on accentuating the wrong portion of your landing page, then you’ll draw your user’s attention away from your CTA. A simple solution involves making your CTA bold with a different background color that catches the user’s eyes.
Eye-Catching Visuals: High-Quality Images and Info-Graphics
Digital marketing professionals have always known that larger format advertisements and banners attract the most attention. However, now there’s proof: Fairfax Media's eye-tracking study revealed that users are three times more likely to notice large banner advertisements on mobile devices and desktops. Ultimately, larger is better when those advertisements are eye-catching and attention-grabbing.
Descriptive Videos
Your videos should follow the same concept as your written content. Short, concise topics covered in a succinct way generate interest. Rambling on with endless discussions and descriptions doesn’t work. A video that’s broken up with headings, separate introductions to sub-headings, and with clearly defined benefits, all help to keep the user engaged. Define what you consider to be a focal point of your video and make it stand apart from the rest of your message.
Guide the User
Take the user along a journey much like you would when moving a buyer persona from a lead to a customer. Your content should do the exact same thing. Open-ended questions and broken sentences force users to continue on their journey. Breaking up your content isn't the only way to draw attention - you can also break up sentences and paragraphs in a way that forces your prospect to continue reading.
Put yourself in your potential customer's shoes. Ask yourself if your website is drawing the customer's attention to the items that matter most. Focus on your offer, accentuating your CTA and on the natural progression your audience should take as they review your offer.
If you want guidance on how best to attract your audience to the information that matters most, then contact us.
Written By: Doug Milnor
