Pretty sure you prefer content that grasps your attention quickly and isn’t long or boring. The world of content marketing changes fast, and now we are at a point where the audience will consume your content if it’s short form content and takes 8-10 seconds only!
More like, it’s the only few seconds they can pay attention…
Unless your content hooks them under 8-10 seconds, they are most likely to close the tab. Why? Because the attention span of a regular audience is getting shorter and shorter!
It’s 2023, and we can’t ignore a big chunk of the audience who will only sit through a video or a blog if it’s short enough. So, there’s only one thing to do. Learn all about this content form and how you can utilize it.
Here’s a list of our topics-
- What is short or bite-sized content?
- Snackable content ideas
- Short-form videos in content strategy
- Are we damaging our brains?
- TL;DR
Let’s start!
What is short or bite-sized content?
In the age of TikTok, Instagram reels, boomerangs, and YouTube shorts, this question doesn’t sound very smart. Everything in content marketing is changing to short-form, bite-sized, snackable content that people can consume in under a minute.
However, this content form has different types. It’s not always short videos from social media feeds. Even a blog can be bite-sized. Blogs should be like that since our attention span is decreasing.
Bloggers can use data tables or an infographic to deliver the message they wanna send. As long as these aren’t too wordy, you can consider them snackable info.
You must have used GIFs or taken a boomerang video with the little magic box in your pocket. These are a type of short content too. Likewise, a TV advertisement or a digital billboard with a 3-second video are bite-sized.
Funny thing is, even a meme is considered short content these days! We say it’s because it makes you laugh without dragging it with words.
What duration or word count is considered short?
In our opinion, the duration for a video clip can be a maximum of 3-minutes to be short-form video content. And for blogs, it should be summarized within 1000-1200 words.
Set your content duration considering how much time your audience spends with your content.
Short form content marketing 2023: Snackable content ideas
You always skim through a long video or a wordy blog post. Even while reading the newspaper, you don’t follow every word. As long as the headlines are informative, you barely need to get into the detail.
Bite-size length means you get the info you want just in a bite! Similarly, stackable content is easy to take in like tasty snacks.
Here are some short form content ideas.
There’s probably more to add here. But we better keep this blog short too!
Short blogs
Avoid long and wordy paragraphs as much as possible. If one or two sentences are enough, let’s leave it at that.
Cramming multiple paragraphs with more than 50 words can make the blog look content-fat, but it won’t keep the audience engaged. Try adding lists, tables, or infographics to convey the message in short formats if the blog crosses 1000 words.
Ironically, we’ve already crossed 500 words, and we still have a couple of points to discuss. But duration is what this blog demands!
Infographics
This is the best part where you can show a summary of anything you wanna say in colorful and informative images.
It can be a chart, graph, or visual presentation. Summarize your blog in one nicely designed infographic. You can either insert it in your blog or keep it standalone content.
Posting infographics on social media platforms is nice practice companies, or individuals follow. It’s easier to get people to notice because of the minimal data and colorful presentation.
Social media
Social media platforms are a collection of short, stackable, or bite-sized content.
Be it Facebook posts, YouTube videos, Snapchat, or Instagram stories; people will only spend very little of their time on it.
Do you really go through all 50+ photos on Facebook uploaded by your friend? Be honest.
This is why Instagram only gives you a 10 slides option! Luckily, nobody would know if you clicked the heart button without going through the rest of the 9 slides.
Then there’s the “stories” option that disappears after 24 hours. Boomerangs and Instagram reels have short durations too.
TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram
Instagram will focus on reels after shutting down IGTV, a long-form video content.
Interestingly enough, TikTok users will get 10-minutes long video option. And these 2 happened quite simultaneously.
With the 10min duration option, TikTok is trying to compete with YouTube, the platform where we get long-form content the most. On the other hand, YouTube is getting quite a positive response because of YouTube Shorts!
TikTok hasn’t discontinued 15-seconds videos and only expanded the option to 10min, but Instagram is disabling the long-form content type.
It’s clear what content is more in demand.
Emails
If you’re putting out content for a targeted audience, you need to reach them on their email address with permission. Once you get there, avoid sending them a long and tedious topic in the email body.
An email is where you wanna sound friendly in a formal way but also deliver a message. So, the email subject line also needs to be compact.
Add the intention of your email within the first 4/5 words of the email subject line. When they see your email notification, the goal should take half of the mobile or laptop screen. This way, they’ll at least read the topic before ignoring it.
Speaking of getting attention, visuals in emails helps more than texts in emails!
Memes & GIFs
Not conventional, but memes and GIFs are popular short format content of this decade.
The curious T-rex, Pepe the Frog, Kermit, Doge, Grumpy Cat, hide the pain Harold, side-eye meme girl, and so many more memes defined our 2010 and onwards. Memes are the quickest and smartest ways to get people to notice what you wanna say.
As for GIFs, they can be static or animatic. Film production companies can post a GIF for promotion, and that definitely counts as short content. And at this point in 2023, we have seen many GIFs as memes too.
Memes or GIFs can also be part of blogs or standalone content, not just for social media. As we’ve mentioned earlier, it’s just a way of keeping the audience engaged.
It’s even better if you can make them informative.
Videos & ads
YouTube has been the sole source of detailed videos, both short and long ones. After that, lots of other video formats came along.
- TikTok
- Loops
- Boomerang
- Timelaps
- Vines
- Slowmo
- YouTube Shorts
- Instagram reels, etc.
These formats of videos and sharing platforms are more convenient than you think. If you’re a brand, you can use any of these for promotions.
And as for ads, we mean the billboard ads you see during a commute, not just the TV ads. If you’re not stuck in traffic, the billboard video (suppose of a product) has about 3 seconds to deliver the message properly. It sticks to your brain, and maybe you’ll want to buy the product on your way home.
Take shoppable videos or Instagram story ads that are captivating, interactive, and short. You get customers’ attention and also get them to buy from you.
Just remember to show the video duration before the video starts auto-playing. Viewers wouldn’t know how long they have to sit through the video. So, if it’s 3-5seconds long and shows the duration below, they might stick around.
Short-form video content in marketing strategy
We saw TikTok and Snapchat blow up because of the short duration of the videos. GIFs or social media reels are reigning too. But it’s not just the length of the video that helps attract.
Sometimes a short dance challenge, quick unboxing, a DIY can entice the audience to watch it fully.
Short videos are mainly used for entertainment, and if you can adapt your brand to this format, you can promote and even have fun with your audience.
Sharing promotional GIFs, posters (online or offline), or video clips anywhere is the easiest way to let everyone know your brand or product.
You can check out some types of videos for marketing. Tap into the examples and see if they work out as short videos for you.
Are we damaging our brains?
We got a smart little box in our pocket that keeps us connected to everything. With one “ting” from social media, we get distracted.
As convenient as it is, it’s also very damaging to our focus and attention.
You can see yourself as an example- If you could sit till this paragraph here without having to check your phone or browsing something else in another tab. Maybe some of you have left without even reaching here!
Attention span coming down to a few seconds is not exactly a good thing. Everything around us is designed to steal our attention- From TV ads to the car honking outside, so many different apps we jump between, or from the books to the smartwatch that reminds you to workout!
So, what does changing attention span mean in 2023, and what can content creators do?
- The content market is highly-saturated now. Bite-sized information, catchy visuals, and melodic audio/tunes- This combination is what you need.
- The better the quality, the bigger the chance to keep the audience hooked. So, making longer content is not necessary. Choose quality over quantity.
- People are multitasking these days since there’s so much to do and pay attention to! Content creators need to provide content that keeps people entertained while they’re on the go.
- It’s not always the best to jump in to create content around a trendy hot topic. People might want a break from those considering trends and challenges are everywhere on social media platforms.
- Keep up with short-form video content trends because people watch snackable clips more.
TL;DR
Probably the only things we don’t want to be short form content are a good book, a movie, or a TV show. Arguably, a good song that lingers is short in duration as well.
We’re living in a time where everything compact is smart. Sometimes it’s not “content is king” because “content with a short duration is king”!
There’s no point in rolling out unnecessarily long videos, blogs, or advertisements if your audience is leaving right after noticing the duration. You still got about 10-seconds to intrigue them into staying with your long-form content.
Some blogs also add multiple short sections and highlight them. For instance, a table of data, a list of pros and cons, a summary in bullet points, an infographic, or charts. With different headings and separate sections, a wordy blog becomes a cluster of bite-sized content.
Notice how your audience responds to either type of content, and go ahead!
