What Babies Can Teach Us About Consumer Attention Spans

written by

Jim Mucci

posted on

October 3, 2024

consumer attention span insights

Tired of Losing Sales Because You Can't Keep People's Attention?

Just like babies, we all start with tiny attention spans of about 20 seconds. Think about a baby learning new things – they do best when it's quiet and fun. We're the same way! We learn and focus better when:

  • There's not too much going on
  • Someone talks to us like they know us
  • Things are short and sweet
  • Videos show us how things work

Want to grab people's attention? Make your videos short. Write simple words. Keep things clear. And talk to folks like you know them.

Smart business owners use CRM tools to make this easy. A good CRM helps you:

  • Track who's interested in buying
  • Send the right message at the right time
  • Save hours on boring tasks
  • Remember what each customer likes

Ready to keep people's attention and win more sales? Try a free CRM that makes it simple.

Start Your Free Trial Now – Limited Time Offer!

Key Takeaways

Your brain works like a baby's! When you want to focus, you need a quiet place with no distractions.

Start with easy things before moving to hard ones. This helps you learn better, step by step.

Fun matters! When something is fun, you pay more attention to it. This is true for both grown-ups and babies.

Just like babies love to play with their parents, you learn more when you can touch, click, or join in.

Keep things short and sweet. Your mind works best with quick, clear bits of info – just like how babies learn from small moments.

The Attention Crisis Today

focus and distraction imbalance

Our brains find it harder to focus now than ever before. In 2000, we could pay attention for 12 seconds. Now we can only focus for about 8 seconds.

We spend less time reading things online too. Back in 2004, people would read for almost 3 minutes. Today, most of us read for less than a minute before moving on.

Many of us love our phones and social media. One out of every three people spends two hours each day checking posts and messages. Young people use social media the most.

All these beeps and alerts make it hard to think. Our phones keep pulling us away from what we're doing.

Children who grew up with phones and tablets feel this the most.

Learning From Infant Development

Growing babies show us amazing things about how we pay attention. Just like babies, we often get distracted in our busy world full of screens and noise.

Watch a baby learn, and you'll see they start with tiny bits of focus. At first, they look at things for just a few seconds. Over time, they learn to watch longer, just like we need to learn how to focus better.

Think about what helps babies pay attention:

  1. Less stuff around them helps them focus more
  2. Time with real people helps them learn better
  3. Things they like keep them watching longer

When babies have a quiet, calm space, they can learn and grow.

We grown-ups also need the right space to pay attention well. Good focus takes time to grow – it's like a plant that needs care and the right place to grow strong.

Joint Attention's Marketing Power

joint attention boosts marketing

Just like babies copy their parents' smiles and actions to feel close, people connect with brands they trust.

Brands build trust by showing they understand what people want and need. When a brand talks to people the same way across all places – like emails, ads, and social media – it makes people feel heard.

This helps them form a strong bond with the brand, just like a baby bonds with their family.

Mirroring Builds Trust

When we copy what others do, they feel closer to us. This simple truth helps us make friends and build trust.

Think of it like a dance. When two people move the same way, they feel more connected. You can do this by:

Speaking like they speak

Being as formal or casual as they are

Using the same apps and tools they use

When we talk online, we can still copy others in small ways. We can use the same kind of video space they use. We can type the way they type. We can even use the same emojis.

Studies show this works well. When people match others in these ways, they make more friends and do better at work.

Remember to keep it real. Don't copy everything – just the small things that make sense. This helps others feel safe and understood.

Sick of wasting hours on marketing that doesn’t pay off?

What if you could skip the hard work and still grow your business? 

Automate your marketing and see how easy it can be to save time and close more deals.

Discover the simplest way to take charge of your business!
Woman on laptop looking over shoulder

Shared Focus Drives Engagement

When people focus on the same thing together, they connect better. This starts when we're babies. It's like when a mom points at a bird, and her baby looks too. That shared moment helps the baby learn and remember.

We can use this same idea to help people connect with our message. When folks look at something together, they understand it better and remember it longer.

Here's how we can get people to focus together:

Team Up With Others

  • Work with trusted brands
  • Share good info with both names on it
  • Reach more people

Do Online Meet-Ups

  • Have live talks on the web
  • Share what you know
  • Let people ask questions

Share on Social Media

  • Post fun things together
  • Split the work and costs
  • Get more people to join in

Build a Group

  • Make a space for talks
  • Share stories and ideas
  • Help people feel like they belong

Personalization Through Focused Engagement

We all know how babies connect with us when we share special moments together. The same idea works when talking to customers online.

Smart tools help us learn what each customer likes and needs. We can then show them things they care about, just like how we point to things that make babies smile.

When we change what customers see based on what they do, it's like having a real chat with them. This makes them feel special and want to stay connected with us.

Mimicking Joint Attention Moments

We learn best when we share moments with others. Think of how babies learn by looking at what their parents look at. This same idea works in marketing too.

When people look at something together, they:

  • Remember it better
  • Pay more attention
  • Feel more connected

To make people feel like they're sharing a moment:

  1. Host online events where everyone can join in and see the same things
  2. Use smart tools to make each person feel special in the moment
  3. Make fun stuff that lots of people can do at the same time

Building One-to-One Connections

Getting to know each customer is key today. We look at what they like and do when they visit us. This helps us talk to them in ways that matter.

We want to have nice talks with each person. We learn what makes them happy or sad. This lets us chat with them like a friend would. We start with simple things everyone likes. Then we add special touches for each person.

When we mix both big and small details, people feel we get them. They know we care.

We also ask them what they think, so we can keep making things better for them.

Short Content Wins Hearts

concise messages resonate deeply

Short Videos Are Powerful

People love quick videos more than ever. When we watch short videos, we remember almost all of what we see. Most of us watch these small bits of video for about an hour each day. This shows how we like to learn things now.

Let's look at why short videos work so well:

  1. Short clips get more likes and shares than long ones.
  2. When videos are brief, most people watch them all the way through.
  3. Fun, quick videos help more people buy things.

You're not alone in liking short videos. Most people watch them when they take breaks.

And when folks want to learn about something new to buy, they pick videos over reading.

This isn't just something that will go away soon. Short videos are how we talk to each other now.

Building Lasting Consumer Relationships

We want to be real friends with our customers. It takes more than quick videos to do that. We need to talk to people in many ways and always do a good job. When we learn what each person likes, we can make them feel special.

Like a baby smiles at a kind face, people know when we really care. We show we care by being honest and helping fast when they need us. We listen to what they say and make things better.

We bring people together who like the same things. We give rewards to say thank you. We also share happy times with them and keep in touch to know what they need.

Conclusion

Babies show us how to get people's attention in marketing. Just like babies learn by watching and sharing moments, businesses can build better connections with customers. Think of how a baby learns – they look, they try things out, and they smile when something works. When businesses follow this simple pattern, they build trust naturally. This makes their content better and helps create lasting relationships with customers.

Stop Losing Track of Customer Relationships

Managing customer relationships by hand is messy and time-consuming. A CRM system helps you track leads, set up automatic follow-ups, and never miss a chance to connect with customers. It's like having a smart assistant who remembers everything about your customers.

Try a free 14-day trial today and see how much easier customer management can be →

Struggling to manage sales and marketing?

Explore the platform honored as the Best Sales and Marketing Platform and CRM by the 2023 World Future Awards.
Learn more and claim special free trial
Screenshot of CRM in action