The average person spends over seven hours of their day online. With so many websites and social media channels vying for attention, it’s more important than ever to understand how the brain decides what to pay attention to and what to ignore.
Remember from Part 1 (How the Brain Processes Information and Why It Matters in Marketing): The Reticular Activating System, or RAS, is the brain’s bouncer. This pinky-sized part of the brain determines if we should give conscious attention to something (like what your date is talking about in a restaurant) or if we can ignore it (like other people’s conversations in that same restaurant).
In today’s digital environment, this filtering system is working overtime. To get someone to stop scrolling and look at your website or ad, you need to send a clear signal to the RAS that you are worth the mind’s conscious thought.
There are six approaches for getting on the VIP list so the RAS bouncer lets you through:
PERSONAL
VISUAL
TANGIBLE
CONTRASTABLE
MEMORABLE
EMOTIONAL
The highest-impact approach you can use right now in your marketing efforts is visual. Around 30% of the human brain is dedicated to its visual system, making it the largest area of the brain devoted to a single function. It follows that images and visuals have the greatest impact in capturing attention.
Content with visuals gets around 94% more views than content without visuals.
You’re probably already using visuals in your content. So now the question becomes: which visuals actually work?
The Right Visuals Make the Right Impression
There are unlimited ways to present your content visually, but only some will get your messaging past the bouncer. One technique is to appeal to the viewer’s emotions. When visuals create an immediate emotional response, they signal to the brain that something is worth paying attention to.
Take a look at how visuals and emotions work together in advertising.
This image has an immediate emotional impact. The two faces have a striking contrast and present a relatable situation. It’s clear how this product differentiates itself; it’s not just good, it solves a real-world problem in a way that resonates emotionally. For the right audience, that becomes a powerful draw.
Another technique is to capture attention through a clear visual hierarchy and a strong focus on the product itself.
Apple is the master of using composition to guide attention. Their products are front and center, with minimal distractions. This makes it easy for the RAS to prioritize what matters.
On the other hand, cluttered visuals make it harder for the brain to decide where to focus. When there are too many competing elements, colors, shapes, and messages, the result is often confusion rather than engagement. Even strong products can lose attention if the presentation doesn’t support clarity.
For businesses working with a digital marketing agency, this is a critical takeaway: good design isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about directing attention.
The Right Colors Make the Right Impression
The science behind the impact of color on our brains is powerful. Let’s compare red and blue.
In one experiment, red increased performance on detail-oriented tasks (like memory retrieval and proofreading) by 31% compared to blue. On the other hand, participants produced twice as many creative outputs when working in a blue environment.
Color doesn’t just influence how something looks; it influences how people think and respond.
When product imagery uses a red background, people tend to respond better to specific, detail-focused messaging. When blue is used, audiences are more receptive to creative, aspirational messaging.
For example, in one study, participants were shown a fictional toothpaste brand. They were more receptive to negative, prevention-based messaging (“cavity prevention”) when the product was presented on a red background, and more receptive to aspirational messaging (“tooth whitening”) when it was presented on blue.
This isn’t just interesting, it’s actionable.
Colors matter. There’s a reason why so many fast food chains use red in their branding: Red encourages appetite and urgency. In modern marketing, color remains a powerful tool for shaping perception and behavior.
For brands working with a digital marketing agency, like Brillity Digital, color is not just a design choice—it’s a strategic decision that can directly impact engagement and conversions.
A great example of color used strategically can be seen in the campaigns we’ve run for Sim2Grow. We intentionally use their brand and product colors, blues, and greens throughout their ads to reinforce the brand identity and messaging. Blue builds trust and credibility, which is extremely important in the medical field, while green supports growth and progress.
This combination creates a visual experience that feels professional, trustworthy, and results-driven. Instead of relying on urgency, the goal is to build confidence and encourage engagement. From a performance standpoint, this works. Ads that maintain this consistent color strategy tend to perform better because the visuals and messaging are aligned, making it easier for the audience to understand and trust what’s being offered.
Try the 5-Second Test
To test if your marketing visuals are getting you past the Reticular Activating System (RAS) bouncer, perform a 5-second test on your website or ads. In a 5-second test, a user is asked to view your graphics for five seconds only. Then they are asked to describe what they saw.
In 2026, this test is more important than ever. Attention isn’t disappearing; it’s becoming more selective. Your audience is constantly filtering what deserves their focus.
After viewing your visuals, users should be able to clearly answer:
- What do you do?
- What makes you unique?
- What’s in it for them?
If they can’t, it’s time to make a change.
Test Your Visuals
Try Hotjar for testing pictures of people to see how others react to them. Getting objective feedback is critical. What feels clear or engaging internally doesn’t always translate to your audience. Testing helps ensure your visuals are actually building trust, capturing attention, and reinforcing your message.
A strong digital marketing agency will continuously test and refine visual elements, not just rely on what looks good, but on what performs.
Final Thought
Your visuals are often the first, and sometimes only, chance you have to capture attention. Before someone reads your copy or considers your offer, their brain has already decided whether you’re worth paying attention to. That decision happens in milliseconds.
At Brillity Digital, we help businesses align visuals, messaging, and strategy so they don’t just look good, they work! As a strategic marketing company, we understand that in today’s attention economy, it’s not enough to be seen. You have to be understood instantly.
