Microcontent and bite-sized marketing

Attention spans are dwindling. The human attention span is now allegedly shorter than that of a goldfish (and theirs is only 9 seconds [1]). With the market ever growing and changing, we need to find new ways to attract customers and think outside of the goldfish bowl.

How do we capture the attention of a modern audience, when the modern audience engages differently? What techniques can we use to connect and relate to new customers?

By using microcontent and bite-sized information to gradually feed your audience, they can learn about your brand and engage with you in short bursts, creating a longer term relationship. Microcontent refers to snappy, short form content that informs the reader and encourages them to engage with longer forms of brand content.

MAKE CONTENT VISUALLY APPEALING

It’s a case of the ever true “don’t judge a book by its cover”, however we all shop with our eyes before reading the fine print. Your brand should be as engaging as the products or services you offer. Research clearly shows that users are more engaged with visual stimulus, image over text and video over everything else [2]. Video generates the most engagement of any tool, with video you can engage, thrill, teach and persuade in one visually striking package. 

According to one source [3]) 59% of executives agree that when text and video are both available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video. Video allows you to engage with a new topic visually, audibly and you can actively reference what you are trying to learn. Multi-tasking, whether you believe it’s effective or not, is a key process for many. 

Short snippets or teaser trailers are a great way to grab attention and drip feed what a longer form piece of content contains. These are great for advertising, lead generation or quoting from longer articles.

Video is also more digestible and accessible for many who struggle to engage with written information and need a visual to actualise what a product or service does. This can help the customer to empathise and see how this could work for them.

ENSURE CONTENT IS ACCESSIBLE

Accessibility is incredibly important to make sure that all users can gather information in the best way for them. From making fonts and colours accessibility friendly, to adding image descriptions and closed captions, these are important to ensure users with different needs can interact easily with your brand. 

Furthermore, recent studies have shown that closed captions are the preferred option for many users, with a 40% increase in views on captioned videos and 80% higher likelihood to watch to the end of a video [4]. Captions not only make content easy to understand for those hard of hearing, but are useful for those that prefer videos with sound off. Many users are scrubbing for relevant information before clicking on a full video. Closed captions are the best option to ensure that language translation is most effective as well.

USE YOUR PLATFORM TO ENGAGE THROUGH TEACHING

Microcontent or short form content is particularly valuable to teach prospective customers about your brand. Feeding bite-sized insights gives them a detailed and well-rounded understanding of your brand.

Utilising multiple platforms to share a variety of content types will allow you to engage users in different mediums and analyse the results. For example, carousels and videos are great to engage and teach in short bursts. Videos up to 2 minutes get the best engagement [5].

Apps like Blinkist and Nibble are great examples of brands that have taken microcontent or nano learning and turned this into a viable learning platform where users can learn without the constraints of short attention spans or lack of time.

Nano learning is a versatile tool that enhances both marketing and internal communications. Read our blog on the value of nano learning to improve employee experience. Nano learning refers to digestible, highly focused learning modules that allow users to focus and learn topics on the go, improving attention and driving new learning.

Webinars or live streams can be another great way to engage and educate about your brand or service, giving prospective clients or customers an organic way to listen and ask questions whilst adding that opportunity to focus for an allotted period.

MAKE THE AUDIENCE FEEL SPECIAL

Personalising the user experience is great to grab onto a user’s attention span, cutting in with a question that is relevant to their needs or using visuals to show a relatable scenario. For tools like email marketing, or lead generation, this can be taken further with opportunities to share more insight that is relevant to their needs at the right time. People love a secret, so opportunities to share early insights, offers or access will surely make valued customers feel special and enhance loyalty to your brand.

Sound is also a great way to speak to the viewer directly, asking them questions or solving a need in the first 15 seconds. Users are typically more likely to watch videos with sound off (92% according to LinkedIn [6]), however for those that watch videos with sound on, organic video works well to feel connected to the brand and see that a brand has honesty and integrity. Using trending music is a good way to find users organically through suggested posts.

KNOW WHERE AUDIENCES ARE LOOKING

Platform research is essential to understand who your audience is and where they are looking. Depending on your audience’s varying demographics, you can jump onto relevant trends and share brand insights or stories that are best suited to your audience.

Furthermore, there are a number of valuable tools you can use to uncover your audience’s behaviour. For example, using HotJar can give you useful insights into how users are engaging with your website, especially useful for landing pages and lead forms. Furthermore, newer tools such as Neurons that use AI to enhance eye tracking data can help you to see which content is engaging user attention the best. This can be a helpful tool to inform UI and UX design.

SHORT N' SWEET

Short and sweet is key to engaging new customers while providing valuable and digestible information. Hopefully these pointers are a good starting point to show how different tools and platforms can improve both attention and retention of information. As with everything it's great to grab attention, but it is important to nurture your leads. That way they see continued value and become loyal customers.

If you are interested in discussing how a dynamic and visual content strategy could look for your brand, we are here to help. Mosaique is a full service agency with 35 years of experience across design, digital, marketing and strategy.

Sources:

1. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2015
2. Wifi Talents
3. Wifi Talents
4. Visual Data Media
5. Wifi Talents
6. LinkedIn Data Consumption Fact Sheet