Be A Scroll Stopper

Brian Curee

Today I’m going to share some tips and samples on how you can create content that stops the infinite scroll on Facebook, Instagram, etc. But before you become a scroll stopper, be sure you are not confusing your customers. Delivering clarity needs to be your primary focus before becoming a scroll stopper. Learn how to Deliver Clarity & Remove Confusion by reading my guest blog post on HisAir.net. Once you have successfully “cleaned up the clutter,” it’s time to become a “scroll stopper.”

A Scroll Stopper

What does that even mean? It’s the skill of creating content that causes the user to stop scrolling.

Think back to a time when you were swiping through your Facebook or Instagram feed, and something grabbed your attention- so much so you stopped your scroll. This is what you want people to do when they see your station’s posts on social media. However, it’s important to remember not to compromise your brand’s message and purpose to accomplish this.

3 Tips When Creating Scroll Stopping Content

These tips are not for creating viral content but for creating scroll stopping content that is loyal to your brand and audience. Try using these tips with organic posts and dark posts (FB ads & IG ads).

  1. Stay Loyal To Your Brand (brand voice):
    Before you begin cranking out content for social media, ask yourself how you want your audience to perceive your station. You cannot stand out by simply copying what others are posting. Build your brand, not someone else’s brand. Yes, sharing content is a good idea, but follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of your post should be content your station creates that are based around your brand’s message and purpose. The other 20% can be shared content, but I wouldn’t stray far from your station’s mission and purpose.
  2. Be Consistent:
    Consistency trumps quantity. Be consistent in your tone, look/feel, and messaging on social media. To help your team stay consistent on post frequency, create a calendar that content creators can use to schedule posts.
  3. Create Compelling Content:
    This is content that stops the scroll. Below is a video post I created for a concert. The purpose was to get people to engage by clicking “play”, learning more about the upcoming show and ultimately buying tickets.

Scroll Stopping Content Samples

At first, we created a video ad using the artist’s music video. The ad received 282 clicks, and it cost us around $0.35 per click, and the cost-per-click was climbing. 🤦‍♂️ Below is a gif of the first few seconds of the ad. When people are swiping through their newsfeeds, you only have seconds to grab their attention, and this may have looked too much like what people have seen before. #scrollstopperfail


1st Video Ad Attempt ☹️


Music Video Ad Statistics
Made For This - Ad One

2nd Video Ad Attempt 😱


Made For This - Ad Version Two

I believed we could create an ad that would perform better if we were willing to step out of the box- so we gave it a shot. I created a new video ad (using an iPhone) geared around Carrollton’s song “Made For This.” The new video ad began with plunging a toilet. This ad received 2,843 clicks and only cost $0.04 per click! When the new ad hit people’s newsfeed, they clicked play because they wanted to know what was going on in that video. This video ad was our first scroll stopper.

You can watch the full video at https://youtu.be/A55S-EZoRBc (Looking back, I would try to wrap up that video ad in 30-60 sec.) Which one would stop you in the scroll?

Creating scroll stopping content isn’t always the quickest approach, yet it doesn’t have to be the best quality. You can create scroll stopping content using images and videos recorded on your mobile device. Videos and gifs are more likely to grab someone’s attention, so use those formats when possible, even if it takes a little more work.

“Video marketing remains best performing digital content type, driving more views, more engagement, and more response than any other social posting option.”

SocialMediaToday

Think & Do Outside The Box

Be willing to test new methods for content creation to find your scroll stoppers, but do so without compromising your brand’s message and purpose. If you step away from your brand message and purpose you risk building an audience that isn’t loyal to your brand. This can lead to an increase in negative feedback on social media.

Creating content that grabs people’s attention must stand out from all the other millions of posts on social media. It takes more time and effort to create content that could become a scroll stopper, but if done correctly, you may set your station up to reach more people than you ever dreamed possible! 😉

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More Scroll Stopping Content Samples


Here are some more animated gif samples from video ads/posts we’ve created. Each of these performed well with low CPC (cost-per-click) and high CTR (click-through-rates).

Pat Barrett Sample

Brant Hansen Sample Ad

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