Microcontent is King

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Enter microcontent.

At its core, microcontent is just what it sounds like: content, only smaller. It could be text, images, video, or any other media optimized for social and consumable in 30 seconds or less. It’s enough time to tell your brand’s story, share insights and expertise, and drive leads. For your target audience, it’s something valuable to engage with, save, and ultimately share. All the while, it points people back to your longform content, though that’s not the end game here.

Microcontent Is

dmit it—sometimes, it seems like your average human reader has a shorter attention span than a goldfish. And what’s worse, it might be getting shorter all the time. Humans swim in an endless sea of online content, and if you want their attention, seconds really do matter. While in-depth blog posts, explainer videos, and complex infographics will always have a place in the digital landscape, they sometimes get passed over on the social media we spend hours a day on. So how do you get your work the attention it deserves? You downsize.

How to Create Microcontent

Story by

Simon Martin

When it comes to storytelling, small is getting huge. Here’s how to create short, sweet, social-friendly content.

Design by

Jeffrey Kurtz

The best part about microcontent is that you’ve already done the hard work of creating it! All you need to do is extract the juiciest tidbits from your longform work and present them in a useful, delightful way.

Longform Content

Pull Quote

Tips

Infographic

Checklist

5 Examples of Microcontent in the Wild

While microcontent can exist on any social site, Instagram provides one of the best platforms. Here are five examples of brands using expertise, data, and insight to create engaging content that audiences crave—and save—on IG.

Start by looking for pull quotes that can be made into carousel cards or actionable tips and tricks. Maybe there are key takeaways that can be presented as a numbered list, a checklist, or even a small infographic, like a Venn diagram. These collective card carousels can then function as the foundation for a social campaign. Once you have at least five pieces of microcontent, format them for the individual social platforms you’re using with compelling designs and proper dimensions. If it’s part of a monthly or quarterly campaign—in support of content designed for lead generation, for example—plan distribution to fit your campaign schedule. Again, note that short-form content—such as promotional video trailers or an image series—is different microcontent. Microcontent is bringing value to the user before promoting something for sale.

To celebrate New Year’s Day (and to tempt resolution-setters everywhere), Ben & Jerry’s created a few gut-busting recipes that would certainly ruin your New Year’s resolution before it even started. The post teases a Bacon Breakfast Sandwich, a S’Mores Ice Cream Cake, and Cookie Dough Dessert Dip, and it directs viewers to a link for the full recipes.

Ben & Jerry’s Recipes

Rather than simply advertise its latest running shoe, Nike chose to make an information-based story highlighting the reason behind that sneaker—preventing running injuries. Using compelling imagery, the sportswear brand adds a layer of story to the product that otherwise may have been lost in a traditional advertisement. And then, naturally, users can click the link in bio to buy the shoes.

Nike Brand Storytelling

SEMRush, a cloud-based software platform that tracks its customers’ online presence, regularly publishes actionable checklists for its audience of digital marketers. This SEO Checklist also encourages users to save the post—a key Instagram engagement metric—and directs users to read the full explanatory blog post on their site.

SEMRush Actionable Checklists

The New York Times is no stranger to 5,000-word feature stories, but it’s also mastered the art of breaking up its full-length articles. These bite-sized, social media-friendly microcontent posts include this carousel, which answers key questions about January’s GameStop stock surge. The post include this carousel, which encourages users to click the link in bio for the full article… see what we’re getting at here?

NY Times Mini Articles

For this clever campaign, Airbnb commissioned illustrator Elena Xausa to highlight the most wish-listed homes and Online Experiences in different regions of the United States, with different carousel posts highlighting the different regions. The post encourages users to click the link in bio for the full list.

Airbnb Most Wish-Listed Airbnb Campaign

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