Check out Instagram’s new Reels metric – Skip Rate.
Skip Rate will show you the percentage of viewers who decided to skip your Reel after 3 seconds.
Oh. My. God.
Now, for a lot of marketers, this kind of shiz is our bread and butter – we love data (I’m a weird marketer, because I hate it). For a small business owner who doesn’t have an entire team to dedicate their every waking hour to how they can hook people in for more than 3 seconds, this is a terrifying metric.
As social media consumers, our attention span is getting shorter and shorter. It used to be 8 seconds. Then it was 6. Now it seems to be 3.
And this shrinking of our attention capabilities is what’s contributing to more and more outrageous content (particularly on TikTok). The kind of outrageous content that has seen a young man literally gnawing on a toilet seat to create an ASMR video. Fortunately (?!), it was a brand new toilet seat that hadn’t been attached to a porcelain throne yet, but still. What, I beg of you, the actual fuck?
Before any of you feel the need to rush out and purchase a double-ended dildo to gnaw on (apologies, it was the next most ridiculous thing I could think of), just ask yourself: will this attention bring the results I want to my business?
Are you aiming to get eyeballs on your profiles? Then yes, possibly posting outlandish content will help.
Are you wanting to convert these eyeballs into potential customers? Then pranks like this aren’t likely to build the element of trust that you need in order for people to put their hard-earned cash in your pocket.
Social media for business is different to social media for clout/influence. As marketers, we bang on about consistency all the time: consistency of message, of tone of voice, of graphics and images etc.
What we don’t always mention is the consistency of content. Bear in mind that if you’re constantly chasing trends so you can top the algorithms and get more views, then the content you’re sharing is, in fact, quite scattered. If all you’re doing is posting about hopping on trends (which fade rapidly) then you’re not sharing what you actually offer your potential clients. You lose the message of how you can help.
I’m not saying to never get involved with a trend, as it can be a very helpful boost to your follower count and engagement rates. But remember why your business is on social media – it’s not to go viral for being ridiculous. It’s to educate people about the services you offer or the products you sell. It’s to show how you can help your target market.
It’s easy to get lost in chasing the newest trend and trying to surf that wave. But if that’s all you ever do, you’ll burn out rapidly and stop posting altogether.
Yes, it’s a bit of an uphill battle to get attention on social media. But don’t forget that we use social media to research brands and businesses. Sure, we’ll take a look at your website, but that’s all polished to perfection and says only what you want us to know. But your social media is less polished and more of the moment: that’s where we’ll see what you’re like to work with.
In conclusion, Your Honour, don’t panic about 3-second view metrics, because that’s not what you’re here for. Focus instead on keeping consistent with your content, and remember that slow and steady wins the race. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was your social media following.
Carry on. And apologies again for the dildo reference…
