The “Scrolling Zombie” Problem: Are You talking to people who aren’t listening?
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Content is king, but marketing is queen, and she runs the house.
Gary Vaynerchuk
I want you to think about the last time you were on Instagram. You were probably lying on the couch, maybe waiting for a friend, just swiping up. Swipe. Swipe. Swipe.
Did you actually read anything? Probably not.
We have a saying around the office: “We turn scrolling zombies into loyal customers.” It sounds a bit aggressive, I know, but it’s the reality of the world we live in. Most people online are zombies. Their brains are on autopilot. They are over-stimulated and under-interested.
The "Post and Pray" Strategy
I see so many businesses—even big ones—using what I call the “Post and Pray” strategy. They pay a designer to make a nice graphic, they write a generic caption like “Check out our new collection! #Fashion #Style,” and then they post it.
And then… nothing. Crickets.
They blame the algorithm. “Oh, Instagram is suppressing my reach,” they say. No, Dave, Instagram isn’t suppressing you. You’re just boring.
At Swyft Media, when we take on a social media client, the first thing we ask is: Why would anyone stop scrolling for this?
If the answer is “because we want them to buy it,” that’s not good enough.
Interrupting the Pattern
To wake up a zombie, you have to shock them a little. Not in a bad way, but you have to break the pattern.
This is why we focus so much on Content Strategy and not just “posting.” A strategy means knowing who the customer is. Is it a stressed-out mom? Is it a college kid in Ahmedabad looking for a cheap cafe? Is it a CEO looking for supply chain solutions like our client iWare?
The way you talk to the CEO is different from the college kid. But both of them are scrolling.
For our client Tapanshi Finanziel, for example, finance is boring to most people. If we just posted charts, people would fall asleep. We have to find the hook—the fear of missing out, the security of the future, the human element.
Algorithms bow to brands (eventually)
We put on our website that “algorithms bow to your brand.” It’s a bold claim. But it’s true if you play the long game. Algorithms love retention. They love it when people stop and look.
If your content is good, the algorithm will find you. If your content is trash, no amount of hashtags will save you.
It’s not rocket science, but it takes effort. It takes sitting in a room and arguing about whether a headline is punchy enough. It takes our video editors cutting a reel ten different times to get the timing right.
So next time you’re about to post something, ask yourself: Would I stop scrolling for this? If the answer is no, don’t post it. Call us instead. We’ll help you figure it out.
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search Engine Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Marketing Analytics
- 360 Branding
