Snackable content is short, straightforward and easy to digest.
It’s consumed quickly and is perfect for readers using mobile devices.
What makes content “snackable”?
Humans crave new information.
But with the average attention span lasting about 8 seconds, they don’t have much time to find it.
This is where snackable content comes in.
Instead of fighting to be seen online, you create (and share) eye-catching and easily digestible tidbits of information.
Snackable content can come in a variety of forms:
- Tweets
- Social media captions (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn posts)
- GIFs
- Memes
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Videos (Instagram reels, Tik Toks, short Youtube videos)
- Quotes (testimonials or user-generated content)
- Q and A sessions
- Quizzes
This type of content aims to be easily read/listened to/looked at.
As a result of that ease of consumption, the content is easy to share.
If it’s short, snappy and scroll-stopping – you’ve got snackable content.
Let’s look at examples from copywriters using snackable content in their business.
Podcasts
Podcasts are great because they can be consumed while doing other tasks.
And they don’t require the listener to watch a screen.
A study by Spotify found that 77% of podcasts are listened to on a mobile device.
Meaning people are on the go when they’re interacting with this content.
With an average length of 20-40 minutes, podcasts are great for addressing one topic and giving the audience actionable takeaways.
Take the Business Badassery podcast with Amy Posner and Kirsty Fanton.
- 20 minutes long
- Answers one question at a time
- Gives the audience an answer by drawing on the hosts’ years of experience
Infographics
Infographics are highly visual representations of a more complicated process.
But you can’t just slap some images together and call it a day.
The infographic must have a clear path to follow,
- Explain how to do something
- Outline key messages
- Display data or statistics
- Depict a timeline
In this example from Content Bistro, they’ve put the top takeaways from their blog post into an easy-to-share format.
Videos
Although video content can be time-consuming to make, it’s also the most consumed.
92.6% of global Internet users watch videos weekly.
Copyhackers does an excellent job of creating snackable videos in the Tutorial Tuesdays series.
The videos are all around 20 minutes.
They focus on one idea. And they ensure the viewer has a specific action they can implement by the end.
LinkedIn Posts
As a primarily “professional” platform, there are always questions surrounding LinkedIn posts and how to write them.
The nice thing about LinkedIn is that no one will pretend they’re not there to promote their business. There are promotional posts everywhere.
For LinkedIn, follow these tips:
- Stick to clear word choices
- Use your own voice and personality
- Use storytelling
- Break up walls of text
- Have a great headline
- Use emojis
- Ask the reader a question (this helps with post engagement)
It would be impossible to talk about LinkedIn posts without mentioning Seth Godin.
He’s become known for his infamously short blog posts.
Usually under 200 words, these don’t take more than 1 minute to read.
For his LinkedIn posts, Seth uses key takeaways from his blog to create a sense of curiosity and encourage the reader to click the link to get the answer.
Quotes
When using quotes for your content, there are three ways to go:
- Customer testimonials
- Inspiring quotes (correctly attributed to the author)
- Quotes you’ve said or from something you’ve written
The key is adding a visual component to the words.
Whether it’s a photo background or using your brand colors, the content needs to attract the attention of someone scrolling on social media.
Eman Ismail does a great job of leveraging social media to reach her ideal clients.
She often uses client testimonials as her snackable content.
This example is visually appealing as it uses brand colors and gives social proof to potential clients.
Writing your snackable content
It can be easier said than done when creating short, impactful content.
Even though short content is consumed quickly, take your time in making it effective.
Stick to these tips when creating:
One topic
Since this content is supposed to be easy to digest, adding a bunch of topics and ideas will result in the opposite effect:
Your content will be hard to read, so no one will want to.
Break it up if you feel like there’s a lot to talk about on a particular subject.
Create a ‘subject series’ where you address one idea each time you post.
This allows readers to follow along to find out your next tip and complete the learning.
Make it visual
Adding photos or pops of color can get readers to stop scrolling long enough to read your content.
It also makes it more shareable.
An image directly in your tweet can increase the number of retweets by 119.5%.
But, when you’re adding visuals, you must make them on-brand.
This builds a cohesive storyline for readers.
Get your audience to recognize your color palette and become more likely to stop and read your content.
(as long as you’re providing valuable information each time)
Repurpose your content
This is one of the most overlooked ways to create snackable content.
Any content you already have can be broken down to make some great snackable posts.
- Blogs
- Testimonials
- Website copy
- Emails
- Client conversations
- Questions you’ve answered
You can pull quotes, make a tutorial video or do some engaging LinkedIn posts with all this content you’ve got lying around!
Optimize for mobile
Most readers are consuming snackable content on their mobile devices, so you need to make it a good experience for them.
Think about how your content will display on mobile.
- Are there long areas of text?
- Do the images show correctly?
- Does the post load fast enough?
- Do the colors and font make it easy to read?
- Have you included an easy way for readers to share your content?
Start using snackable content
Try your hand at posting some content to catch the attention of your ideal customers.
Start out by taking the FREE Conversion Copywriting 101 course to write your content the way a copywriter would:
With an attention-grabbing headline and a clear call-to-action.
Then, watch this Tutorial Tuesday and learn how to get more conversions on your snackable social media content.
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