How Can Brands Catch Attention on Social Media?
Brands catch attention through visual marketing strategies rooted in advertising psychology.
Flyyer helps optimize these strategies using static link previews that capture instinctive, short-term, and long-term attention.
Why Is Catching Attention More Difficult Today?
Social media users scroll through an overwhelming volume of content daily.
Most stimuli are ignored or processed unconsciously, making it harder for brands to stand out.
- Users process visuals faster than text.
- Static previews compete with animated content.
- Brands must use high-impact design to get noticed.
What Are the Types of Attention?
Attention works in three distinct modes (Moran & Desimone, 1985):
| Type | Description |
| Immediate | Instinctive, subconscious reaction (e.g., motion or sudden sound) |
| Short-term | Conscious but shallow focus (e.g., interesting visuals) |
| Long-term | Brand recognition built over time and exposure |
Flyyer targets the first two by optimizing static previews for strong visual signals.
What Visual Stimuli Capture Attention Immediately?
Flyyer previews use four visual stimuli proven to capture immediate attention:
- Salience
- People and animals
- High arousal
- Self-relevance
These stimuli trigger subconscious reactions, even when users aren’t actively paying attention.
How Does Salience Improve Preview Visibility?
Salience means making certain elements stand out visually.
It uses contrast in color, orientation, and perceived motion to attract the eye.
A. Color Contrast
- Bright or contrasting colors highlight key elements.
- Avoid full saturation; focus on one vibrant focal point.
- Reduce background intensity to emphasize the subject.
📌 Example: An orange shoe on a purple background attracts more attention than on an orange one.
B. Orientation
- Visuals on the left are processed by the right brain (intuitive).
- Texts on the right are processed by the left brain (analytical).
- Left-to-right alignment improves scanning and comprehension.
📌 Tip: Position images left and text right for better cognitive flow.
C. Perceived Motion
- Diagonal lines, overlays, and italic fonts simulate motion.
- Motion draws instinctive attention (Franconeri & Simons, 2005).
- Even static images can suggest movement with slanted shapes.
📌 Example: A bike leaning forward creates the illusion of speed.
Why Are People and Animals Visually Powerful?
Faces and bodies activate specialized brain regions.
The fusiform face area detects human faces instantly (Ro, Russell & Lavie, 2001).
Visual impact hierarchy:
- Human face
- Call to action
- Brand logo
Animals work similarly. Predators (e.g. snakes) evoke fear, while pets (e.g. puppies) evoke affection.
📌 Example: A woman holding vinyl draws more attention than vinyl alone.
What Is High Arousal in Advertising?
High arousal triggers strong emotional reactions that demand attention.
| Arousal | Valence | Examples |
| High | Positive | Joy, excitement, craving |
| High | Negative | Fear, anger, anxiety |
Barret & Russell (1999) defined arousal as activation intensity.
Stimuli with high arousal grab attention faster than neutral ones.
📌 Survey Result: 57% of users felt cravings when viewing Flyyer’s full ice cream product vs. 10% for the national brand preview.
How Does Self-Relevance Work in Design?
Self-relevance means content feels personally connected to the viewer.
It triggers automatic attention (Alexopoulos et al., 2012).
Examples:
- Seeing one’s name or face
- Recognizing a familiar object or behavior
- Mentally interacting with the image (e.g., holding a cup)
📌 Study Insight (Elder & Krishna, 2012): A mug with a right-facing handle drew more attention among right-handed users.
📌 Effective tactic: Add hands, eyes, or relatable gestures to create interaction cues.
Which Flyyer Techniques Use These Stimuli Together?
Flyyer previews often combine multiple attention strategies:
- People + Motion: A player in mid-action during the Olympics.
- Self-relevance + Emotion: An ice cream held in hand evokes craving.
- Salience + Faces: Bright backgrounds with human expressions stand out.
Each design maximizes attention by layering triggers.
What Should You Do With This Knowledge?
Use these 4 attention triggers in Flyyer to optimize your static link previews:
- Emphasize contrast and orientation.
- Feature people, faces, or animals.
- Evoke emotional arousal with product context.
- Add elements that users mentally relate to.
You don’t need to apply all tactics at once.
Experiment, test combinations, and align your visuals with campaign goals.
📌 Want more? Check the upcoming Part 2: Color psychology + practical visual tactics.
Ready to Capture Attention From the First Link Click?
Start using Flyyer to design social previews that trigger instant recognition and emotion.
Contact us for a free trial and explore how your shared links can become scroll-stopping content.
🗨️ Which Flyyer caught your attention first?
Join the Flyyer Discord or send us a message—we’d love to see what you build.
