What is snackable content and why do you need it?

I love long form content, to me there’s nothing like diving into a topic and really getting into it. But there’s a time and place for it, just like there’s a time and a place for short form, or snackable content. 

We don’t always have time to get stuck into topics, sometimes when we’re scrolling or in a rush we want quick and easy. The best marketing strategies have both snackable content and long form so whatever mood your audience is in, you’ve got what they fancy.

What is snackable content?

Snackable content is something that’s easy to digest, quick to read and simple to understand. The idea is that it’s shareable and ideal scroll-fodder. 

The best way to think about snackable content is to think about the types of posts you’d notice if you were scrolling through social. They’re highly visual, to the point and high impact. 

Unlike long-form content which requires research and time, snackable is quick to produce and quick to consume.

Why do you need plenty of snacks?

Everyone learns in different ways and consumes content in different ways. You’ve got those who want to watch videos vs reading text. Long-form vs short. In depth vs surface level. That means your content strategy needs to cater to all those different people.

Think of it like food. You need your hearty, wholesome meals but you might also want a few biscuits with your cup of tea at 11am. It’s ok to have both, in fact that’s what makes it balanced.

There are other benefits to snackable content too, take a look.

Attention grabbing

Think of memes, people engage with them, share them, they spread far and wide for most of the time with minimal time investment on your part. They’re shared because they grab your attention.

In today’s world our attention spans are shorter than ever, having a snackable content bite that shouts to your audience hooks you into their mind. 

Shareable

Snackable content is usually stand-alone. You don’t need any other context to enjoy it, what you see is what you get. That makes it imminently shareable.

Making shareable content increases your engagement levels and your brand visibility across different social media platforms.

Engagement rates

When people are short on time they won’t even attempt to read a full article. But if there’s something short and sweet they’re far more likely to drop a comment, give it a like or share it. Boom - your engagement rates will be higher.

Thanks to the algorithms, once they’ve engaged with your content they’re more likely to be shown future content, including your longer form options - starting them off on their journey with you.

Quick and easy

Easy to consume, in theory easy to produce. Now we all know that’s not always the case, but once you get into the rhythm of creating snackable content you’ll find it easy to create these short bites. 

It might be jumping on a meme trend, a quick video teaser from a longer clip or using stories - the idea is that they shouldn’t take long to produce. Think making a sandwich vs gourmet meal.

Snackable content ideas

So you’re on board with the idea of snackable content but what can you create? How do you get started? Well before you start from scratch, think about what content already exists and if you can repurpose it.

Infographics

Often far easier to consume than their text counterparts, particularly if the information is number heavy. Infographics can be a great way to repurpose existing content in a new way. 

GIFs

GIFs can be a quick and easy way to lift a social media post. I’ve heard them described as photos that are still alive, which sums them up beautifully!

The moving image catches the eye and makes the audience want to read the caption. Simple but very effective…..just pick your GIF carefully.

Memes

Businesses that have the ability to move quickly can easily hop on the meme train. There are always memes doing the rounds that you can adapt to suit your business. These are the most shareable content and can go far and wide if done in the right spirit.

Quotes

For this one I want you to channel your inner Steven Bartlett and his quotes. They end up everywhere, some are even from him but have been wrongly attributed. This is particularly helpful for businesses that do some form of interviews or podcasts - you can take a key statement, add some impactful design and you’ve got a snackable piece of content. 

If all you produced was snackable content you’d have a social feed bursting with ideas, but it wouldn’t go any deeper than that. You need all types of content to build a solid audience and convert them. But snackable content plays a key role in the top of your funnel, attracting and engaging your audience. This is where you need to start thinking about how all of your content slots together and repurposing is a big part of that.

Using highly visual snippets is an easy way to repurpose your existing content into helpful tidbits that will fill your feed and drum up some vital engagement. 

Discover how else you can repurpose your content, or drop me a message to chat content strategy.