What is Micro-Content?
It all started in a 1998 article when Jakob Nielsen referred to short content as micro-content. When you check the weather, look at arrival and departure times for a flight you are consuming micro-content. It seems we’ve been creating and consuming micro-content all our lives.
So what are the most popular pieces of Micro-Content for Small Businesses?
Infographics
Infographics are graphic visual representations of information to present information quickly and clearly. Infographics helps readers visualize patterns and trends.
Images and Photos
This one is simple. A single photo can convey and explore a lot of different ideas while covering a lot of objectives.
Graphs, Tables and Charts
Like infographics, these pieces of micro-content help readers visualize and understand complex concepts. They help readers understand the relationship between multiple data points.
Memes
A meme is one of the few words that uses itself in its own definition. Maybe we’ve been trolled. Either way an internet meme is typically a photo with text that conveys an idea, opinion, or style. Memes may seem simple enough but they have had a major impact on popular culture and the way we communicate.
Short Videos
Micro-Video content is frequently defined as video under 15 seconds. To be clear there is no exact time requirement for a video to be deemed a Micro-Video. For Example: A movie trailer that runs for 3 minutes would be a form of micro-video content as it’s the shortened version of the full feature.
Now that we have a better understanding of what micro-content is let’s discuss its importance.
Think about when you access social media. The average Facebook user for example is plugged into Facebook 2.5 – 3 Hours a day. This doesn’t mean to say the average user is spending 3 consecutive hours on the platform. One might for example check Facebook at breakfast, when they’re waiting in line at Starbucks, then another time before dinner. These are in essence Micro-Breaks from the world. It may be out of boredom or a desire to feel connected in unfamiliar environments but at any rate they are short interactions.
Whether we like it or not our audience isn’t sitting in a stadium waiting for our keynote. They are walking by our soap box on a noisy corner.
Micro Content is a way of spoon feeding our ideas, purpose, products and services to the masses. That is until they are ready for the full course meal.
Micro content is very attractive as it is very efficient for small businesses to produce and extremely cost effective. Let’s use film again as an example. A Hollywood film requires a large budget, character development, plots, sub-plots….. A commercial on the other hand covers a simpler idea. Therefore it is usually less costly and requires less production.
Before you hit record on your phone or camera you’ll need to decide on a specific feature or benefit of your product or service. There is no room for rambling or filler. I like to think of the line from the movie The Patriot. “Aim Small, Miss Small”.
Platforms like Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram and TikTok are great places to showcase your micro-content. These platforms cater to users that prefer micro interactions. Check out our micro-content packages here to see what we have to offer for your social media platforms.
Now go out there and create some Micro, Tiny, Itsy Bitsy content you superstar!