In this fast-paced, media-driven era, attention is a currency you can’t afford to lose. In order to grab their attention, you need to understand your consumers so you can createengaging content to retain their focus.

Here are some tips to grab your audience’s attention within the first 3 seconds:

1) Thumbnail

Thumbnails are the first thing your audience sees, so make sure it’s exciting and relevant. The image should be compelling enough to arouse their curiosity. Here are some tips on choosing a good thumbnail:

#1: Use a Close-up of a Person’s Face

Choose an image with a person making eye contact with the viewer. This subtle visual cue draws people in and makes them feel more connected.

#2: Choose an Image That Conveys Emotion

Humans are intrigued by strong emotions. A thumbnail of emotional display captures more attention than an image void of emotion.

#3: Include Simple Yet Powerful Text

Video thumbnails are small, so you don’t have a lot of room to add text. To make the most of this space, it’s important to write something that inspires users to click.

#4: Embed Your Logo

Your logo helps differentiate your brand from your competitors and can bring some consistency to your thumbnails and videos.

Grab your audience’s attention with audio. Music and sound often accompany visuals to relay emotion, moods and subtle information. Script-wise, your opening line matters. If a video script began with a voice saying, “…And that was the day I’ll never forget,” your audience will automatically be curious and and feel inclined to keep watching to find out.

First impressions matter. The opening shot of any video is your audience’s first step into a whole new world. This step is essential in conveying the story’s plot, theme, character arcs and perspective. Accompany your soundbite with a creative shot to draw your audience in. Capturing and maintaining your audience’s attention is not easy, but it’s not impossible. If you’d like to start grabbing attention, then practice these three steps and you’ll soon be on your way to having viewers tuning in to your content for longer than 3 seconds.

Contact us now on how you can grab attention in the first 3 seconds!