The Follow-Up to Why People Keep Seeing the Same Content
In the last blog, we explained dwell time from the audience’s side—why people keep seeing the same kind of content, and how their behaviour shapes the algorithm. Now let’s flip the view.
As a content creator or advertiser, dwell time is one of the most important metrics you’re not tracking—but should be. It influences reach, relevance, and results—especially in a feed-driven world.
The Algorithm Doesn’t Care About Effort. It Cares About Attention.
You might spend hours perfecting a post. But the platform only cares about one thing:
Did your audience pause?
If someone lingers—even for a few seconds longer than average—that’s a win. The platform assumes the post is relevant, and pushes it to more people. So while likes and shares still matter, watch time, scroll speed, and replays carry more weight.
Why This Matters for You
If you’re running ads or trying to grow organically, you’re in the attention business.
The people you’re trying to reach are already being served content similar to yours—because of what they’ve already spent time on. If your post can’t compete for that pause, it gets skipped.
This applies to:
- Organic Reels and carousels
- Paid ads in Stories or feeds
- Static posts with longer captions
- Even memes, tips, and quote graphics
Everything gets judged by how long someone stays with it.
How to Increase Dwell Time
You don’t need to go viral. You just need people to pause. Try this:
1. Lead with curiosity.
Ask a question. Make a bold or unexpected statement. Interrupt the scroll.
2. Make your content “sticky.”
Use layered visuals, small text, or carousels that reward sliding. Each second spent = stronger signal.
3. Slow down the scroll with formatting.
Use white space, line breaks, or bold text to make long captions easier to read.
4. Test watch time, not just likes.
On Reels, monitor completion rate. For posts, use insights to see how far users scrolled through carousels.
5. Reuse what works.
If something earns attention, find the pattern. Then repeat it—new words, same strategy.
Dwell time is what turns views into reach—and reach into results. As creators you don’t need more content you need better attention.
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