Recently
the consumer research company Bridge Ratings [link] created a stir with the
release of a report saying digital media burnout has reached a tipping point.
I
am not certain what the researchers mean by the “tipping point” but I know my
own limits of digital fatigue. The meds are great but I needed to take action.
For several years I tried to keep up with every
new device or app. Then along came
Twitter and I said Enough all ready!
I drew the line at Twitter and I don’t think I have missed anything.
Sometimes
I feel like I am working for social media, keeping things up to date, being
asked to “friend” by someone I don’t know or being asked to “like” something –
literally the least a person can do for someone else. And, Facebook is instant
messaging me now…
 |
| Image Courtesy of Bridge Ratings |
According
to the report, Americans are spending more than 15 hours daily consuming media
from a long list of providers and platforms. Some consumers are saying Too Much and feel increasing
dissatisfaction with their digital experience, particularly with social media.
Dave
Van Dyke, President of Bridge Ratings put it this way:
“Digital
Attention Deficit happens when the amount of individual potential digital
platform use exceeds daily time available. [This can cause] much higher levels
of unhappiness — even depression.”
The
Bridge Ratings study found that social media is the preferred platform of people
in all age groups. However, daily social media usage has fallen from 70% to 63%
over the last year. This is particularly the case for millennials. Their use of daily
use of social media has fallen from 84% in 2016 to 72% in 2017. The biggest
decline was with heavy users – folks who check their accounts more than 10
times a day. These folks are also known as your best customers.
HOW YOU CAN HELP ELIMINATE
“DIGITAL ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER”
Here
some tips about keeping your social media from creating digital attention
deficit disorder. The following thoughts are based on suggestions by
researcher John Anderson as published on the blog All Business [link]:
1. SYMPTOM: USERS AREN’T
ENGAGING WITH CONTENT
SOLUTION: If visitors are
spending less time on your social media page, ask yourself if your content is
relevant to your target audience. Engagement begins with knowing your audience,
beyond their demographics. You have to learn what draws visitors to your social
media. You can do this by asking frequent visitors their likes and dislikes.
2. SYMPTOM: SITE VISITORS
ARE “JUST BROWSING”
SOLUTION: If visitors are clicking
in and then leaving in less than 15-seconds, you have a problem. People are busy and don’t want you to waste
their time. The problem might by more than the content. It may be clutter on your
site, too many choices and oblique navigation.
Be
clear, precise, and brief. Ask yourself before you post: Who cares? Is this a waste of the
reader’s time? Is it being written for other folks or for yourself?
3. SYMPTOM: TOO MUCH INFORMATION POSTED TOO OFTEN
SOLUTION: Sometimes absence does
make the heart grow fonder. If you are knocking on the door too often, visitors
may avoid you the next time you knock. Draw
the line between trying to be informative and just being plain annoying. Post
when you have something to say, not when you want to fly the company flag.
4. SYMPTOM: THE NUMBER OF
SITE-VISITORS IS DECLINING
SOLUTION:
Don’t ignore this trend. If your metrics are going down, not up, consider that
people may be growing tired of you and your content. The only way to know is to directly
solicit feedback.
Keep
in mind that social media is a NEW tool. It thrives on the here-and-now –
that is what visitors want – relevant new information and ideas. Ring the “new
bell” as often as the content warrants.
PROMOTE YOUR STATION WITH
A YOUTUBE VIDEO
We
saw question on the PRADO list about best practices for stations to promote
themselves using YouTube. The person writing the post asked for examples of
videos that work. After all, YouTube is free, ubiquitous and easy to use.
One
of the people who responded was WKMS Development Director Asia Burnett. She
provided a link to a homemade video the station created to tell their story. It is terrific. Check it out:
No comments:
Post a Comment