Every day online, it feels like you’re in a constant battle for people’s attention. Videos, thought leadership pieces, social media posts, advertisements, memes – you and every other business out there are attempting to capture a fraction of people’s time and “stop the scroll.”
It can be overwhelming trying to think of new and innovative ways to stand out from the sea of content that exists online today; there are only so many ways you can try to “make the post go viral!”
Here’s the nitty-gritty about posting content online: it’s not always about having the flashiest graphics and most professionally designed content. Good-looking content is important, of course, but for many people – especially agribusiness professionals, farmers, and home hobbyists – the way a piece of content looks sometimes matters less than the message you’re trying to convey.
At Root+Beta, we’re always focused on finding new ways for our clients to stand out and really connect with audiences that are getting harder and harder to reach every year.
What we’ve found is that stopping the scroll isn’t a design problem: it’s a relevance problem. Visuals earn the pause from your audience, but identity, timing, and emotional resonance are what actually pull someone in.
If you’re interested in stopping the scroll, here are some effective ways we’ve found to do just that, and how Root+Beta can help you stand out from the crowd and make a measurable impact online.
Interrupt the Pattern
Mindless scrolling, unfortunately, is how many of us consume online content these days. Whether it’s endlessly scrolling TikTok or Reels, or constantly flipping through your Facebook or Instagram feed in the evenings, sometimes we scroll just because we’re bored and we’re looking for that next dopamine hit. That’s where an engaging piece of content can interrupt the pattern of mindless scrolling. Contrast and unexpectedness will stop the eye in its tracks and make someone pay closer attention. A dirty tractor in a sea of polished stock photography, or a real farmer’s hands instead of an AI-generated image, are two easy ways for agribusinesses to stand out. Authenticity is a very real and very powerful visual strategy. Images earn attention, but authentic images earn trust, and that’s the real differentiator in ag marketing.
One study by Buzzsumo showed that Facebook posts with images got 2.3x more engagement than text-only posts. Although the study is from a few years ago, the principle still holds. However, boring and flat stock images underperform authentic ones significantly, especially with audiences, like farmers and agribusiness professionals, who can spot inauthenticity instantly. When using people, try to incorporate more faces and direct eye contact in images to increase engagement. This works by triggering the brain’s social recognition system: people relate to images when they can see themselves in them.
Pull Them In
This is a key point that most marketers miss: people don’t stop for content, they stop for content that feels like it was made for them. You have to pull them in with visuals that they can relate to, like the faces, direct eye contact, and dirty hands we mentioned before.
But it goes beyond just visuals of people – regional specificity, like Central Valley harvest timing, Tennessee row crops, Midwest corn, sunsets over fields of grain, familiar specialty equipment, and seasonal context, all function as relevant identity signals. Root+Beta aims to create visuals that are highly relevant and targeted to our clients’ specific regional identities. The fact is, if you see yourself in the images, you stop the scroll and slow down for it. Niche-specific content outperforms broad content because it signals: this is you.
Rely on Emotional Resonance
Once someone pauses, they need a reason to stay. Emotion is a proven way to bridge the gap between passive viewing and active engagement with a post. Emotional resonance could be an image of three generations of farmers working on the same family farm, or a young child helping their parents or grandparents harvest in the family garden. You need to tell a story with your content, not just showcase a pretty image or a well-designed graphic.
Storytelling activates more areas of the brain than data alone, so lean into a good story that pulls on heartstrings or reminds the audience of a joyful time in their life. The same emotional resonance can also appear in video content. Storytelling is much easier in a video format, especially if you’re interviewing farmers who are eager to share how much their family farm means to them. Video content is also surging right now, with video content making up 82% of internet traffic in 2024. That number is only going to grow with easier access to video editing tools and audiences who are hungry for not just resonating images, but videos that resonate as well. So whether you need striking visuals or videos that pull at the emotional resonance your audiences crave, Root+Beta knows how to draw an audience in and make them stay.
Apply the Strategy
All of this information is great to ruminate on, but the important part is practical application. How do you apply a visual strategy that breaks through the mold and stops the scroll?
A straightforward starting point is to shift your posting strategy away from just sharing machine specifications and generic stock photos of various models. Instead, focus on including images of actual people operating the equipment who can share how the equipment has helped them accomplish their goals. Your content should be anchored to what’s happening in the field right now, like planting progress, harvest conditions, weather disruptions, and soil preparation. A post that opens with “If you’re running behind on corn planting this week…” will stop a farmer faster than any product photo.
We’ve applied this strategy for our clients at Root+Beta by utilizing original photography of farmers working in their fields or informative graphics to capture the customers’ attention. When someone sees a photo of a person they recognize, or a situation they have found themselves in countless times, they’re more likely to read what you have to say and complete a desired action.
You should let your customers be the content. Customer testimonials and job site photos outperform brand-produced content with trade audiences because other operators see themselves in the person on screen. A 30-second clip of a real customer talking about uptime, parts availability, or a service experience will outperform a polished brand video full of boring stock content almost every time. The bar is low for gathering original content: all you need is a phone, a willing customer, and one honest question: how have we helped you succeed?
Root+Beta: Your Stop the Scroll Experts
At Root+Beta, we don’t just design nice graphics, slap an AI-written caption on there, and call it a day. We’re agribusiness data nerds who love to A/B test our content and adjust according to what the numbers tell us. What we’ve found is that emotional resonance and relevance are key aspects of attracting customers and earning you more business. We make beautiful graphics and love a witty caption, of course, but what we really love is sharing the stories of real farmers and agribusiness professionals who have compelling stories to share. Something that cuts through the noise and stops the scroll.
Ready to see what we can do for you? Email us at howdy@rootandbeta.com, give us a call at (501) 291-1642, or schedule a meeting with us today.