Snack Content: An Engaging Way to Connect and Learn from your Audience

s content creation grows, our attention span lowers. Information overflow can be countered with short and high-quality content that translates into brand recognition and gaining your audience’s favor respecting their time.

“Time is money” and “Offline is the new luxury” are two phrases that went into fashion with about 250 years of difference. Benjamin Franklin popularized the first in a 1748 essay, and the latter was made famous by internet gurus and CEOs when the smartphone era took over; Both refer to how the use we give to time can add or subtract different kinds of value in our lives, but most importantly, how our attention is a kind of currency.

Snack Content is based on the premise of providing a high amount of entertainment or knowledge through audiovisuals that take small effort and time to consume. Technology has facilitated creating content, however, with free E-books that require 5-minute registrations, and 40-minute YouTube Videos containing 15-minute intros, Snack is an opportunity to stop being background noise and be paid attention to.

Short videos such as TikToks and Reels are the signature format of this engagement phenomenon that goes beyond the likes. Our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and a catchy song is well… Catchy. These characteristics make the products highly memorable and shareable in an ocean of unopened newsletters, texts, and links.

How to Make a Snack

There are healthy and unhealthy Snacks, and in digital marketing one thing can become another. In March 2020 most of the world's population faced lockdowns like never before; it was then when the short video app TikTok Peaked and demonstrated that what was considered an app for kids and teens to joke around and avoid homework, could also be a powerful tool to connect in raw and interesting ways. It gave us perspective on how to deal with confusion and boredom, made songs from the 70s come back to the charts, and has been showing us that companies can and need to have more casual conversations.

It is important to have in mind some key elements to make the format work for your brand instead of forcing your branding to the format.

Short but not incomplete: It must introduce and have a climax but also an ending.

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Trend Research: To stay relevant it’s vital to be aware of trends that apply to your audience / potential customers, even in areas that are different from the product or service that your brand offers.

Don't just follow the leader: Not all brands need to do viral choreographies or challenges, but definitely can have fun and be casual. Proposing new ideas is a good way to stand out and let them take part.

Teach and be remembered: Share something that people can easily implement into their daily lives.

Keep it Dynamic: Enhancing keywords and the implementation of elements such as music, graphics, filters, and effects that are coherent to the topic is very important to make an impact in a reduced amount of time. Less is not always more.

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Curate your content: Identify which topics and formats get a better response from your audience. In the beginning, you will only know by trying!

Take note from the audience: As Snack content feels more casual and closer, the Remixes, duos, stitches, and comments it generates tend to be alike. They might have the responses you have been wanting, the idea for your next development, and the insights of what you can make better and what you should keep doing. Don’t forget to thank and give credit if necessary.

Don’t forget the rest of the menu

Snack content is just an option, still, it is one you should have so that customers can have a taste of the rest you have to offer. In this way, it is important to implement it without leaving aside formats that have worked and built loyalty in the audience. Snacks can help impulse larger content while working as a window for newcomers to enter the brand’s universe or just stick for the quick fun.

Next time you are Snacking remember that people may not remember exactly what you told them, yet they will not forget the way you made them feel, which means these contents can not only help position to reach the top of mind but can also connect with the audience on an emotional level by presenting the human and emphatic side as well as the people behind it.

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