For many people, the term “micro-engagement” means absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, most will have seen it on a regular basis.
The term micro-engagement refers to today’s trend toward making things smaller. This has been fueled by the fact that we all have much more hectic and busy lives than ever before. And, that means we have little time to engage with the various elements in our lives. It is no wonder, then, that “micro” has become the byword for the 21st-century attitude to life. We give small amounts at fundraisers. We only pay a small amount of attention to the things we see and read. We only dedicate a small amount of time to each task. This is why micro-engagement is so important these days.
If we were to define the term micro-engagement, it would be as follows:
“Engaging people in ways that only require small amounts of money, attention, time or involvement.”
In short, micro-engagement means providing tiny bite-sized chunks of content that will appeal to smartphone users. Geared toward attracting the reader’s attention during their quiet moments, these snippets represent a valuable opportunity for brands.
Today, people spend a considerable amount of time checking their cell phones for texts, e-mails, and notifications. Many brief periods make up this time. If brands can take advantage of those many short moments of smartphone checking, they can boost their revenue effectively. By harnessing the power of micro-engagement, brands can target their audiences in an efficient way. Of course, this will only work as long as they provide content that is high quality, consistent, and relevant. It is this element that can cause problems for brands.
Why Is Micro-Engagement Important?
When it comes to content writing, it is not enough to simply know what micro-engagement is. We also need to know why it matters if content writing is to be successful. The key to its importance lies in the way that people live these days. They don’t have time and they have short attention spans. Finding a way to appeal to them that does not involve too much attention and time is vital. This is where micro-engagement comes into play.
Microblogging – The Ultimate Form Of Content Micro-Engagement
If you don’t recognize the term “microblogging,” that doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is that you recognize it when you see it in action. Twitter is a classic example of microblogging. In fact, it is the ultimate example. By restricting content to a maximum of 140 characters, it forces writers to keep what they have to say brief. Other microblogging platforms you’re probably also familiar with include Tumblr and Facebook.
In today’s busy world, we often lack to time to read a long article, full-length blog or entire newsletter. We do, however, have sufficient time to engage with short status updates or brief marketing messages. By using microblogging techniques, brands can build up a positive relationship with their customers through many small interactions over time.
Micro-Content And Social Media
Social media fueled by microcontent is an effective way to micro-engage with a target audience. It’s been proven that the average reader gives a piece of content only eight seconds of consideration before moving on. It’s no surprise then that microcontent is so vital in any successful content strategy.
Microcontent refers to short-form content in small bursts. This term includes bite-sized content, such as memes and visuals. This type of content is ideal for use on social media channels, especially in the era of smartphone use. Reading a couple of short sentences is much easier than reading a long blog post when using a mobile device.
Can Microcontent And Long-Form Content Work Together?
Although microcontent is an important element in any content strategy, it shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all.
Since attention spans are very short these days, short-form content is useful for capturing attention. This means it can be a useful tool to drive readers to blogs and websites for further engagement. Creating short-form content that points readers to more informative long-form content is the best of both worlds. By tweeting or using short-form Facebook posts, brands can direct their target audiences to their content hub. Here, they can find useful and engaging information that will drive conversions and boost revenue.
Use the takeaway content that is microcontent wisely and have a purpose for it. Its function isn’t to stand alone but to persuade interested readers to find out more about the brand.
What About Micro-Engagement In Long-Form Content?
Although microblogging and microcontent are effective strategies, they won’t work for everything. Sometimes, long-form content is the only suitable option. However, admit it, long-form content is often pretty boring. No matter how much spare time you have, it takes some effort to sit down and read a long article. Even the most engaging content can become tedious after a couple of pages. For people who have busy lives, long-form content can be more irrelevant. Potential readers won’t embark on reading an article that is as long as a novel when time is tight.
It’s no wonder, then, that keeping the reader engaged to the end of a piece of content is hard. That’s where micro-engagement makes a big difference to a brand’s SEO content strategy.
Informative content is important, but, sometimes, it can be boring. Therefore, trying a variety of tactics will help to keep readers engaged. Micro-engagement, in a content writing sense, means involving elements within the content that keep readers reading, scrolling, and clicking.
What Kinds Of Micro-Engagement Techniques Can I Use?
Although long-form content can be difficult to engage with, there are several micro-engagement tricks that can be used. These are highly effective in encouraging readers to stay with the content until the end.
So, how can you harness the potential of micro-engagement in your long-form content? The first step is to understand the target audience. Having a clear sense of the type of content that appeals to the brand’s audience is essential. Trying a variety of approaches and then observing the results is an effective method to see which strategies work.
Expert content creators have a number of strategies for boosting micro-engagement in long-form content. These include:
- Creating bulleted or numbered lists to break up content.
- Adding engaging and relevant photos and images.
- Including funny memes or GIFs.
- Including interesting and informative relevant videos.
- Adding visually appealing and informative infographics.
- Adding surveys or quizzes.
- Having a visually attractive content design.
- Including calls to action interspersed throughout the text.
- Adding block quotations.
- Bolding some relevant text to draw the eye.
- Posing thought-provoking questions that the reader engages with.
- Telling personal stories.
- Including personal examples that the reader can identify with.
- Including handy hints and helpful tips that solve a problem for the reader.
By incorporating some of these suggestions into SEO content, expert content writers make a big difference to the brand’s success. Over time, it becomes easier to develop an understanding of the target audience’s preferences. By observing the things that engage them and encourage them to take action, it becomes possible to harness the potential.
A team of skilled content writers can harness the power of micro-engagement, effectively driving conversions and boosting revenue exponentially.