Your readers are scaNNers.
Your readers are NOT readers. Anymore. Yep !! They ARE scaNNers.
Watch your 11-year-old daughter or granddaughter. Does she really actually READ anything anymore? Except when required for school?
And. Then. Does she read her social studies assignment? Or just scan for the answers to the questions?
And whom do advertisers target? The 11-year-old mind? Yes. Advertisers target that 11-year-old ADD “ping – ponging” mind.
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Your readers are NOT readers. Anymore.
So if you think that your audience is patient enough to read your academic treatise – your weekly manifesto – that boring monthly email or newsletter.
You are so wrong.
If someone tells you that they read your blog (your important emails, your monthly newsletter) – every word – every time. They are being REALLY nice. Or they work for you. And are afraid to tell you what they think.
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Your readers are scaNNers.
Your readers are NOT readers. Anymore.
Take a quick trip with me right now. And…
…and travel with me to my Panera Bread at Lake Nona in Florida…
… and imagine you’re sitting here with me this morning at Panera Bread watching people arrive in our little neighborhood.
Watching all of them arrive. Watching…
- the business people
- people dressed for job interviews
- moms with babies and strollers
- the early morning runners and walkers
- the retired folks
- the students
- those Bible Study Guys, and
- the laptop and iPad people.
What’s that in their hands?
No, not their car keys. It’s their mobile device. Usually their phone. And most are not talking on their phones when they come through the door. They are scroLLing and scaNNing.
When they are standing in line alone, you see this. They are…
- scrolling
- quick pause
- slight smile
- scrolling some more
- now a frown
- continue scrolling
- another smile
- tapping the screen
- pinching the screen.
All done in 13 seconds or less. And then she places her order.
So you have just 13 seconds. To capture her attention. And to communicate “whatever.”
This is her mobile moment. This is your mobile moment.
Just 13 seconds.
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Consuming data. Constantly.
And mostly visual data. Some print. But mostly visual data. They just keep scroLLing. MoMMie scroLLers pushing baby stroLLers. This is your mobile audience.
(Detailed research to come soon in my next blogpost – ScaNNers – version 2.0 – featuring the Mobile Moment and Gamification)
Even grandma and grandpa sit down with their coffee and two strawberry pastries. And their matching iPads or android tablets.
Oh no. Grandma and grandpa are scroLLers and scaNNers, too.
I have conducted unofficial research with my friends at Panera Bread. And with grandchildren. Observing how they consume digital data.
And using an objective questionnaire while reading and after reading a blogpost. This research confirmed. They are scaNNers and scroLLers, and NOT READERS.
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Your readers are NOT readers. Anymore.
So don’t fight it.
If you write a blog, emails for your business, or that boring church newsletter.
Address the scaNNing and scroLLing generation. Embrace this new “reader.” And make your blog (email, newsletter) more readable, more scaNNable.
Have a Readability Plan
Embrace this change…
- with an “ease of reading” plan
- and with great images
- and white spaces
- and page breaks
- and bulleted lists
Use images that pop. First. First? Yes, first.
Use images that pop. AND STOP. Stop the eyes of your scaNNing reader.
Headlines used to be the king of blogging. But not anymore. Images – not HEADlines – demand that I stop and read your headline. Images first. For your scanning reader.
Images that pop AND STOP. And NOT those overused and “oh-so-traditional” dull and boring images that p00p, not pop (like two well-dressed business people in suits and ties – one white man and one black man – shaking hands – that is so 1980’s). I want to yawn just thinking about that picture.
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Create clear topical headlines…
…that allow me to scan to an area that I want to read.
Insert INTENTional page breaks…
[ like this ]
[ six (6) colored and BOLDED and (centered) asterisks ]
[this concept thanks to my grandson, DREW]
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Your readers are NOT readers. Anymore.
So insert INTENTional page breaks…
…that allow me to stop reading. That gives me permission to take a break from reading. While I order my coffee and bagel with my favorite roasted vegetable medley (yum) cream cheese. And while I respond to that demanding (ping) notification on my tablet.
And then those same intentional page breaks create a “mental bookmark” in my mind’s eyes where I stopped scanning. And allow me to come back to your blogpost. To continue my scanning and “reading.”
Page breaks allow your words to breathe.
[Maybe we should rename this type of reading – screading / screaNNing (pronounced scr-EE-ning). Our new blogging word for 2016 – a mashup of reading, scrolling and scanning.]
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Readability is eSSential.
Click this link to Ease of Reading. And use a tool like Yoast to teach you the discipline of intentional readability. To be readable, ya must score above an 80 on the Flesch Reading Ease Test. Ya gotta go to the link and read – not scan – “reading ease score” to understand this last sentence.
A Concern about Too Many Images
Do images slow the loading time of your blog? And negatively affect your SEO and g00gle love.
Yes. So compress your images.
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What should you do NOW?
Intentionally criticize this blog. In the comments below.
See if I practice what I preach. What changes would you make?
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Info disclosure: This blogpost…
- scores a GREEN light on Yoast SEO
- scores 85.5 in the Flesch Reading Ease test
- and is 1,165 words long.
* * * * * *
More info is coming.
The mobile moment is the heart and science of this discussion. And gamification and addiction to Candy Crush are critical to understanding the mobile moment.
Read the Mobile Mindshift. This book is a game changer for your organization. Buy it here.
Your readers are NOT readers. Anymore.
They are the Mobile moMMie scroLLers.
These Mobile moMMie scroLLers pushing giant baby stroLLers. (My Dr. Seuss moment) This is your target market. They buy stuff on their tablets from Amazon. While they’re running with their babies.
If you miss their mobile moment, you lose. You lose in business. And you lose in any other place where you are trying to get the attention of your “scroLLing and scaNNing reader.” Including your church email or your lengthy charity newsletter.
More info is coming. About your scanning reader and her mobile moment.
All of which will teach you how to keep your viewer engaged in this “New York City nano-second kinda world.”
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Stay connected to America’s GRUMPiest Grandpa.
And now you can save some time…
…by just joining our ongoing party. Share your email address right here. Right now. Just do it, Ya know ya wanna hear more. From America’s GRUMPiest Grandpa.
( grandpa will NOT spam you )
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