The power of micro content for your sustainable brand
By Rebekah Mays
Tell me if this sounds familiar …
Your marketing team has worked hard on a juicy piece of content for your sustainable brand.
You put it out into the world.
A few people really love it …
But overall, the reception is less than what you expected.
Don’t worry if this hits close to home. Sometimes experimentation is just part of the content marketing process!
But today, I wanted to share a simple strategy for getting more mileage out of each piece of content — especially the content you pour a lot of time into creating.
Let’s call this strategy “micro content.”
With micro content, you take a big piece of content and break it down into something more digestible.
The result is:
- More awareness of the “macro” content you originally created
- More content to share with your audience
- And, more people getting value from your content!
Let’s look at a few sustainable and impact brands applying this approach.
Example 1: Sustainability / impact report
An impact report is a perfect example of macro content that can benefit from some supportive micro content.
Impact reports are usually so long and dense that few people actually sit down and read the whole thing. But what if you provided some quick insights for your audience *from* the report?
Sustainable electronics brand Fairphone did this by creating a short version of their impact report, and even producing a bite-sized YouTube video about it. This allows their audience to get the key points quickly, but it also raises awareness of the importance of impact reporting in general.
Here’s another approach from Murphy’s Naturals, a brand which sells natural insect repellents. On the web page for their impact report, they show some of the highlights with easy-to-skim graphics.
See how easy Murphy’s make it easy to get the gist of the report, without even having to read it?
One glance at this page and we understand they’re a B Corp, a 1% For the Planet member, and a whole lot more.
Example 2: YouTube Videos and Podcasts
Micro content can also support your long-form video and podcasting.
Let’s look at a recent example from Athletic Brewing Company.
The non-alcoholic beer brand partnered with WZRD Media to produce a 30-minute documentary about P.E. teacher Jason Hardrath’s attempt to summit 100 peaks faster than anyone.
The film is absolutely worth watching IMO, but it does require you to set aside 30 minutes.
So, Athletic Brewing Company created a whole series on YouTube with some of the highlights from the film.
These short clips give viewers the taste and inspiration of the full documentary. And they only take a minute or two to watch.
No doubt, the documentary took a lot of time, effort, and resources to produce. By creating shorter clips, Athletic Brewing Company is getting more eyes on their content and expanding the reach of their awesome message.
Example 3: Webinars and Events
Micro content can also make webinars and live events more digestible for your audience.
See Change Sessions, which produces events and experiences for climate-conscious folks, knows it’s not enough to host an event and call it a day.
They post content on their YouTube channel and create short clips from their content to publish on social media.
Take, for example, this 40-second clip on LinkedIn from a session on indigenous perspectives in outdoor adventure.
They also use this micro content to promote upcoming events, to get even more mileage out of each session.
Smart content marketing, don’t you think?
Micro + Macro = the perfect combo
I’m not saying that shorter is always better.
There’s a place for long-form content. Unlike micro content, it allows your audience to really dive into a topic.
But when done well, micro content can encourage more people to dig into your macro content.
And if nothing else, it will make sure more people get value from your content. This can be a major gift to those in your audience who simply don’t have the time or attention spans to engage with the long-form stuff.
So, what do you think of this idea?
Have you ever created micro content to complement your macro content?
If you think this idea might help someone, please share!
Keep exploring
The sustainable e-commerce content specialist
Rebekah Mays is a content strategist and writer for sustainable brands. She helps marketers and executives cut through the noise and focus on the areas that will make the biggest organic impact.
Ready to get help with your content optimization? Get in touch.
