Congratulations – you’ve successfully attracted someone to your website! Now: how do you stop them from clicking the dreaded back button so they have time to gain value from your content?

Incorporate motion.

Here are 3 reasons to include motion in your marketing.

People have short attention spans

Several studies have stated that the average person’s attention span is about 8 seconds. While this seems hard to believe and has been widely discussed (including by us in a blog called Marketing for … Oh look! A Squirrel!), the point is that, as marketers, we need to find ways to prevent people’s attention from straying away from what we have to say.

An excellent way to do so is with video. Supposedly, the attention span on a video is around 2 minutes, which is a heck of a lot longer than 8 seconds. People simply don’t want to sit at their computers and read content to find the important parts – they want someone to show them. Hence, video.

BONUS TIP: Use videos that play automatically when on the screen; people are more likely to stop and watch those.

Motion draws the eye to certain areas

Websites are full of valuable content, but how does a visitor know what to do when they’re done absorbing the content? This is another scenario in which the dreaded back button often rears its ugly head – visitors simply don’t know what to do with the information they now have, so they leave.

You should be using CTAs already, of course, but up your game a little by using a GIF or small animation to draw the viewer’s eye to the CTA, form, next step, etc. Don’t overthink it and add something that will confuse the viewer – this is meant to enhance the user’s experience, not hamper it.

Better communication

If a picture is worth a thousand words, an animation or video must be worth an infinite amount of words. Animation/videos communicate an idea and bring a concept to life that may have been difficult to do with a simple picture. Videos and animation also introduce a sense of emotion and tone within the content. Connecting with the viewer’s emotions will quickly build a bond between the brand and the user, increasing their interest in what you’re offering.

Getting traffic to your website is an accomplishment in and of itself – but it doesn’t mean anything if they don’t stay. Grab their attention and give them a reason to stay with a little bit of motion strategically placed throughout your marketing.