How many of you have read something long and when asked about it can only recall the overall gist of details? We know that we have! This is called the verbatim effect and it is defined as a cognitive bias that causes people to only remember the gist of the information instead of its exact form. And, this isn’t limited to text. It extends to videos, photos, infographics, etc. So, how can brands use this to their advantage in marketing? People are skimmers. They don’t want heavy reads. We know we need catchy headlines, but the information in the article itself should be less precise and more how the article will make the readers feel. Deep details won’t matter if the readers aren’t going to remember that anyway. Create easy to remember snippets in the body of your content that are impactful. If you make them slightly different from the rest of it, it can stand out like a sore thumb. So, if you want people to remember more than the gist of the content, this is a good way to do so. As for the headlines, make sure they’re searchable and give the reader an acute representation of what they’re about to dive into. Sometimes the verbatim effect should be avoided. Say, in terms of your brand name or logo. Your brand will want people to remember this so repeating it in the content will help engrain this into the consumer’s subconscious mind. Repetition is key to overcoming the verbatim effect in marketing and advertising.
