by Brittany McSorley
Cape Cod social media marketing involves a lot of different content: Facebook posts, Instagram Stories, curated pieces on LinkedIn, blog posts, and. more. There’s a lot to keep track of, and the best marketers are creating and sharing content on a consistent basis.
Fortunately for those of us who struggle to meet high word counts, microcontent is dominating social media these days, so while you do need to post regularly, you don’t need to say very much.
According to marketing agency Brafton, microcontent is content that can be consumed in around 30 seconds — like an Instagram post with a short caption, a Facebook infographic, or the blurb on your website’s landing page. The previews you see on Google search results pages are microcontent at work, making a distinct impression in the short time it takes for you to skim through a list of links. Microcontent makes a point and makes it fast, so that even the speediest scrollers are impacted.
While the idea of creating short and succinct marketing content is certainly appealing (we’re all busy, right?), it’s not as easy as it may seem. No one sets out to make rambling, long-winded marketing material, but we see it all the time, because diluting your brand message down to a few choice words can be challenging.
Online attention spans are not getting any longer, though, so every marketer should get comfortable with creating and sharing microcontent. Here are some tips for keeping your social media posts as short and sweet as possible:
- Grab attention with a compelling visual. Make photos as vibrant and eye-catching as possible to slow down the scrollers.
- Whenever possible, choose video. Since videos automatically play on most social feeds, customers are more likely to engage with them over photos. It’s hard to ignore a short video (10 seconds or less) or GIF.
- Share fun facts. Infographics with a short statement or statistic can make a serious impact. What’s better than consuming a nugget of compelling information and immediately moving on with your day?
- Break down longer messages into bite-size parts. For those moments when you need to communicate something bigger to your customers, try doing it piece by piece, such as with one on-theme post a day for a week.
- As with all marketing, make sure your microcontent solves a problem, answers a question, or provides your audience with a call to action. Once you’ve caught their attention with microcontent, you have the freedom to be much chattier.
What more can I say? (Get it?)
