14 / August 2O19

Snackable Content – Using Video to Support Engagement

The Journal
Snackable Content – Using Video to Support Engagement

In today’s busy age of millennials, brands have a huge opportunity to generate results by planting little, snackable seeds that can grow into larger forms of engagement.

I want you to think of the last time you were in line for coffee. Look around, you’ll notice nearly everyone has their phone out, noses buried in whatever social app they prefer. Standing in line in front of you, you catch “Joe” watching a 15sec Instagram time-lapse for Brand X. When it’s over, he continues scrolling, orders his tall mocha latte and off he goes.

Later at lunch, Joe is on his tablet and remembers the time-lapse he watched before had a link to an extended cut on Facebook. With only a little time to spare, he finds the link and watches a 30sec Brand X video before moving on.

When he gets home, he recalls seeing links to an entire series of videos on the Brand X website. Now on his laptop, he visits their website to check out what the series has to offer, spending 2-3 minutes on video after video after video. Great! Traffic is driven for Brand X.

Now, let’s go back to the coffee shop and imagine Joe was presented with a full-length video series. He won’t have 3 minutes to spend watching the entire video in line. Instead, he’ll keep scrolling onto something more snackable, and Brand X has lost their chance with Joe.

RELATED READING: Utilizing Emerging Media Channels – Twitch Advertising

Why Snackable Content?

According to Entrepreneur the average millennial is spending 5.4 hours on social media per day, and that time is largely spread out in short stints of scrolling. By creating short-form, snackable content, today’s brands are engaging millennials on their terms. It is so important to play to our shrinking attention spans and gain traction during those few moments people spend scrolling throughout the day.

Generally speaking, snackable media is geared toward the mobile consumer. Whether they’re in line for coffee, in the elevator, waiting for a ride share, or taking care of that post coffee ritual, the odds of someone seeing your content during these times are increasing rapidly. AdWeek claims 66% of millennials follow brands on social media.

“ By using short-form snackable content, brands can use the vast amount of social channels to get on consumer’s radars when it counts. ”

Content marketing is a race of attention grabbing. As branders and marketers, your goal is to race out ahead and seize someone’s interest with something so fast and compelling that they want to visit your website or Vimeo page or YouTube Channel when they have more time.

In a recent blog post, we talked about the impact of video marketing, laying out how much a sizzle video can generate results for your brand. Within that marketing funnel lies an exceptional amount of opportunities to drive traffic to your main project.

Key Benefits of Snackable Content:

  • Supports actionable engagement that drives site traffic and lifts brand awareness
  • Mobile based to gain viewers on multiple social channels
  • Scalable to use on various platforms
  • Fits more information into a smaller timeframe
  • Easily shareable

RELATED READING: Should you be shooting vertical mobile videos?

The Lure of Snackable Video?

Unlike images or text, you can deliver a lot of information in a short amount of time with video. Let’s assume your brand has or is planning to have a 2-5 minute sizzle reel, or “About Us” video on the website. In just a few steps, you can leverage that long-form video to create snackable assets that support your broader marketing funnel.

If done right, you could end up with a 1-1.5 minute version of your sizzle video to use as a teaser or for promotional spots: 30sec edits to funnel through Facebook and other social media outlets: 15sec Instagram posts, and even shorter clips for apps like Vine and Snapchat. It’s all the footage you already own, just repurposed to feed all the communication channels in your arsenal.

Use What You Already Have:

  • Create shorter versions of your existing video. Have the editor keep the same story but condense the clips and audio.
  • Share one full scene that acts as a teaser rather than an overview of the story.
  • Cut together outtakes. Everyone loves bloopers.
  • Use visually striking clips that can stand alone on apps like Instagram and Snapchat.

Snackable video content should be two things:

1. A self contained visual that is compelling and entertaining.

2. A marketing tool designed to send traffic to long-form content or another landing point within your strategy.

For example, we cut together this video for Instagram to highlight our recent trip the Magnetic South Africa office. So while we’re still finishing up the full-length video, this bite-sized video will act as a teaser.

Planning to Capture Short-Form Video:

Now that you understand the benefits of short-form videos, how can you be sure that you’re getting the assets you need to create them for your own brand?

  • Capture more. Cast and crew are already on set. Build some time into your schedule to capture extra footage without setting up a whole separate scenario.
  • When shooting, do longer takes. Even if the editor only needs two seconds, add time before and after in case that shot can later stand alone as a snackable clip.
  • Capture behind the scenes footage. Everyone loves to peek behind the curtain to see how the magic happens.

Let’s go back to that coffee shop with Joe. Will you be the brand that he wants to revisit in his free time? Or will you continue making long-form, hard-to-digest content that he forgets in an instant? By giving him a few sips instead of the entire pot of coffee, you’re vastly increasing the odds that you grab his attention and gain a consumer. Don’t corner yourself with only long form media, or Millennials will speed right by without ever noticing you.

Not only will this type of branded video content spread awareness and drive traffic (sweet, sweet millennial traffic) to the other media you have on your site, it can also stand alone as entertaining social media posts. Its shelf life is long and relevant regardless of when a consumer discovers your brand. Use these resources to grab a consumer’s attention on the platforms they are spending the most time with, and you’re well on your path to driving all that traffic straight to your doorstep