This blog post is too long.
This email newsletter is too short.
Our customers have 5-second attention spans.
Our analytics say they want to read for 7 minutes.
What’s a great marketer to do with so much conflicting data about what makes amazing content?
The answer is to build modular content, or content that fits together with a satisfying click. It’s about tying your business objectives to your customers’ buying process so you create content that’s the right size and length for where your customer is in the buying process.
Sounds easy, right?
Nothing with content is ever easy. (Unless you hire us.) But modular content is something you can learn how to build. Here are five tips below that will help you create content that’s the right length for your organization’s needs, without reinventing it each and every time.
5 Tips for Building Modular Content That Gets your Customers to Click
- Use aspects of an asset; not the whole thing: When designing the idea behind a piece of content, don’t think about length or size, think about what purpose the content serves for your customers. (Tweet this!) So go ahead and create long-form content. But go back later and divide it into bite size chunks (think: bite, snack, meal) that will work on the different channels you swim in with your customers. Or, put the pieces together from the very beginning so shorter pieces create the longer form content. Backwards or forwards, both processes work.
- Support sales: At the end of the day, marketing and sales need to make peace and learn to work together effectively. Sales is your best insight into the questions to which your customers crave answers. So work those relationships and get sales to help you figure out which pieces of content work best at the beginning, middle and end of the funnel. Try questions like: What do customers ask when you first speak to them? What kind of validating content do they seek? How do you answer them after they buy?
- Think about the customer loop: Instead of the funnel, think about the customer loop (below). What types of content would appeal to a customer when you’re building trust? Long form or bites? Depends on the customer, depends on the questions. That’s why steps one and two are so critical for this process.
- How does the content work together?: Modular content only works when bits and pieces can be combined to create an overall magical journey for your customers. Think about a white paper: Can you pull out quotes to use on social media? Can you produce 1-minute videos that speak to the heart of the matter concepts? Can you give an executive summary and tease the full piece?
- You’re not doing surgery; you’re creating a journey: Modular content isn’t about doing surgery on your content and cutting it up into pieces. It’s about envisioning the whole story you want to tell to your customers and figuring out how to tell it. Think about kids: you build on their knowledge as your raise them. A 3 year old knows not to touch things in a store; a 9 year old knows that sometimes you can if you really want to buy it. That’s because maturation creates opportunity for sophisticated concepts. So, too, it is with customers.
Treat your customers as travelers on a journey of knowledge about your products and services. Your modular content will keep them clicking for more.
