Great content shares many attributes with great snacks: both are tempting to the eye, quick to consume, flavorful, shareable and instantly gratifying.
At Right Hat, we often work with clients to create “snackable” content that alters how buyers see your firm. Here’s how you can apply snackability principles to your content.
Visually tempting
Foodies often say we eat first with our eyes — and that’s also true in consuming marketing communications. Even in professional services, eye appeal has much to do with perceived value. A clean, uncluttered look previews a modern sophisticated enterprise. Striking images show creativity and whet your appetite to learn more. Conversely, a page stuffed with words and lacking white space may make you feel sluggish and tired before you even start reading.
Tempting content is content that’s easy to find. Consider the menu from your favorite restaurant. Does it show dozens of options crowded together or a smaller number of curated items? Think of how grocery stores shelve high-value offerings at eye level — or the bowl of fruit you might put on the counter to distract the kids from junk food. Serve your tastiest content morsels directly to your audience, using tools like bold infographics and smart headlines.
Quick to consume
In Right Hat’s 2024 Top of Mind survey, more than 100 legal services buyers identified shorter content as a priority item. Time and again, they tell us they are overcommunicated, overwhelmed and impatient with wandering, undifferentiated marketing content. Almost 85% said bio and service area overviews should be four paragraphs or fewer, while 94% asked for 10 or fewer representative matter examples in proposals.
Keeping your content brief and focused helps you stand out. Edit overwritten, list-driven copy or create shorter, scannable paragraphs. Use active verbs. Write the way you speak, not the way you draft formal documents. If in doubt, measure your content against a readability tool like the Gunning Fog Index, the Hemingway Editor or the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator. Be especially watchful when using AI tools to generate content, as they tend to include extra words and empty phrases.
Bringing the flavor
A bag of salt-and-vinegar chips, a bucket of spicy wings, a sweet afternoon treat — all are snackable flavors we anticipate with pleasure. Give your content flavor by infusing it with a unique point of view — your own “special sauce.” If you simply offer the same content as other outlets, don’t expect it to be seen as value-added. Your market knowledge, experience and analysis are what set your content apart. And your distinctive voice makes it craveable.
Instant gratification
No one wants to finish a snack and still feel empty. Similarly, avoid the “so what” feeling at the end of your content by providing instant gratification. Include next steps or tangible action items for the reader to follow. Highlight pathways to additional information. This shows that you are attuned to audience needs and can give pragmatic advice. And cross-linking to other information on your site is a proven way to improve SEO.
Shareable
The best snacks are the ones you share with friends. When drafting content, think about how you might break it into smaller chunks for social media, advertising, newsletter or email marketing that can be promoted through your communication channels. Or repurpose the information in a video or podcast. The more ways you leverage your content, the more your work pays off.
Recipe for snackable content:
- Mix valuable information, a point of view and a key message for each paragraph.
- Add character and paragraph limits.
- Sprinkle in active verbs.
- Shred redundant phrases such as “current trends,” “mutual cooperation” and “past experience.”
- Sift out semicolons, list-y paragraphs and killer words (e.g., “help” instead of “provide assistance”).
- Dot with periods to shorten sentences.
- Blend with engaging images, infographics and subheads.
- Pepper in short, punchy (2-6 word) sentences.
- Season with a distinctive tone and voice.
- Test for readability using your preferred tool.
- Garnish with next steps, action items and pathways to more information.
- Serve on multiple platforms.
Interested in a content edit? Want to explore business writing training for your team? Contact Dawn Michalak.