The human attention span is getting shorter and shorter, at least here in America.
When we want something we want it now.
We are moving into a new world where instant gratification is the name of the game.
Amazon drones and the idea of instant delivery within minutes to hours support’s this new reality.
Technology, albeit good or bad is influencing us to want things quicker.
Why wait anymore.
Smartphones, Twitter, Facebook and Mobile Apps, at the heart of their utility all give us what we want or need almost instantly.
We want to interact with technology that get’s us where we want to go, gives us what we want and provides us with a feeling of accomplishment or a sense of pleasure (joy, happiness, excitement, intrigue) instantly.
As we go about our lives the businesses and individuals that can give us what we want or need the quickest will succeed.
My current belief is that you have 2 seconds to influence a user and convince them to take another 5 seconds of their life energy to take a deeper look at your product or service.
Within those precious 5 seconds you need to introduce your core utility, offer or service so that they clearly understand how it helps them “right now” and convinces them to take an action moving them forward to where you ultimately want them to go.
If an action you want a user to take lasts more than 2 seconds to execute/conduct you’re highly likely to loose that individuals interest in some capacity.
As a travel technology startup, how can you position your business and leverage the 2-second rule?
1. Combine your marketing message with an action that gets the traveler/user to where you want them to go and what they need in the shortest time period you can enable. Enable this on your website home page above the scroll, on the first screen of your mobile app and in the first step of most of your business processes.
2. Reduce the time between intention and action. Create less friction and remove any non-essential constraints or roadblocks. Use more images and less text. It takes longer for people to read vs. seeing an image and understanding the message or story in 2-seconds. In 2 seconds you want the traveler/user to clearly understand that the intent is to click that button, choose options from a drop down, submit an email address, click to watch the video, swipe the screen.
3. Think about how the user can experience a little joy after they take an action and enable this into your technology.
Implement the 2-second rule in the development of your business processes, in your mobile application or website and you’ll most certainly move closer to winning the hearts of your customer.