Everyone has big ideas, but these days, audiences prefer to consume their content in smaller bits, even for the big ideas, and marketers must find inventive ways to reach new audiences. Content atomization allows marketers to take larger pieces of content and break them up into smaller, more digestible forms, expand ways to distribute the content, and diversify content strategy. This also allows marketing teams to prolong and expand their editorial calendar by filling in gaps when needed to provide a constant flow of content.
Generating Microcontent
Content atomization allows marketers to break content into smaller pieces known as microcontent. The microcontent could come in the form of a blog from long-form content like whitepapers and e-books (splintering) or an infographic from stats included in a whitepaper or e-book (reformatting). The atomized content or microcontent can be found in social media posts, reels, memes, and infographics, among other platforms, and should be easily consumed. The microcontent’s exact makeup and scope may vary based on the audience and the platform used to distribute the content. In addition, some audiences may not have the time or capacity to consume large amounts of content in one sitting, so microcontent is an ideal way to reach these audiences, and an efficient content marketing strategy.
The collection of various types of content together – social media, blogs, e-books, case studies, whitepapers, videos, and podcasts — along with their creation, distribution and measurement, makes up the content ecosystem. A well-organized content ecosystem creates a complete customer journey by engaging the audience through uniform messaging and the sought after outcome. A typical journey to atomize content would be create a video, post it on YouTube, share the YouTube link in an email, and share a shorter form of the video on social media.
Targeting Audiences to Maximize Content Marketing Strategy
Part of the customer journey is understanding the intended or desired audience. Certain audiences may prefer specific platforms, length of content, or type of content. There may also be audiences who have yet to be reached, but a different format or message could achieve the desired outcome.
Audiences may prefer a specific format based on personal preferences or time commitments. The four main learning formats are visual, auditory, reading, and kinetic. Content can be used to share information through the first three formats – visual through video, auditory using podcasts, and reading with blogs and articles.
Another aspect of identifying target audiences is to consider the purpose of the content. One-to-one content is developed for a particular client in a highly personalized manner, and usually for high-end products and services. One-to-many content targets a wider audience for a lower price point product or service, and is usually more cost-effective. One-to-many content allows marketers to reach a more diverse audience, but it may provide a lower return on investment.
The messaging within the content may also change depending on where the audience is in the customer journey, i.e. awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, etc. If the audience is familiar with the product or service, their experience consuming the content may differ. What do they need to hear to take the next step or make a decision? How can marketers capture a more diverse audience based on the customer journey?
At the core of any type of microcontent is the story – the why of the piece of content. Hearing the story often helps the audience to decide. Each brand offers distinct strengths, and each audience has specific interests, so the brand storytelling offers a unique opportunity to connect the audience to the brand’s product or service. No matter the length of the content, it would be ineffective without telling the story. What would be the point of writing a blog or producing a video without sharing why the content is necessary with the audience? The story behind the content is just as important, if not more important because it draws attention to the blog or video.
Repurposing Content
Content repurposing takes an existing piece of content so that it can be recycled on multiple platforms. Examples of repurposed content include a blog with a link to a webinar or podcast, or one article or blog that could produce four to five social posts depending on the length of the original content. When selecting which content to repurpose, keep in mind that it should have value and meaning for a long period of time.
Repurposed content can reach new audiences; someone that may not read blogs or whitepapers or listen to podcasts may follow a social account or see a piece of content shared by a friend and have the opportunity to consume the material in a different manner. Creating as many pieces of content out of long-form content extends the content lifecycle, offering a great ROI from that initial investment, and can create long-term dividends if the distribution is well-spaced out and appropriately placed. Content created for blogs, websites, or YouTube can also increase search engine optimization.
Tailoring Content by Platform
When atomizing and repurposing content to enhance content marketing strategy, the marketing team has to tailor the content by platform. To do this, marketers need to identify the intended audience, and how to adapt the messaging for each audience and platform.
If a platform has multiple audiences, the visual or content should be distinct for each audience. For social media platforms, marketing teams need to establish hashtags which may differ based on the audience, and also the best times and days to post by platform. Tailoring the content by platform can help marketers better reach their target audience, and if the metrics doesn’t reflect the desired outcome, they can change the content as needed.
Measurement After Atomizing Content
After content is repurposed and microcontent is created, the next step is measurement. After all, what is marketing if it isn’t measured? The analytics for which types of microcontent perform the best may vary based on the topic, the platforms where the content was shared, and the audience type.
Another factor to consider is the time spent on the page when the microcontent is linked to long-form content. Even if the atomized content didn’t perform well according to the engagement analytics, if the audience spent a significant amount of time on the long-form content page, mission accomplished — the audience has been converted.
Why Content Atomization?
Atomizing content is increasingly becoming a more essential part of content strategy as audiences’ attention spans grow shorter and have access to multiple platforms to distract them and draw their interest. The capacity to extend the content lifecycle, expand content to new audiences, tailor the content based on the distribution platforms, and offer measurable results is worth investing in content atomization to boost content marketing strategy.
