When used strategically micro-content can make a macro impact.

Social media has single-handedly made micro-content a necessary part of any digital marketing strategy. Before we go anywhere, let’s just start by defining what micro-content is.

micro-content – 1. small groups of words that can be skimmed by a person to get a clear idea of the content of a Web page.

2. small information chunks that can stand alone or be used in a variety of contexts, including instant messages, blog posts, RSS feeds, and abstracts.

Let’s simplify things a bit and agree that micro-content is any piece of short, bite-sized content. Micro-content is typically how we view the content or posts shared on social media (such as tweets, Google+ posts, Facebook updates, photos, gifs, memes, infographics, etc.).

A Good Micro-Content Strategy

A good content marketing strategy incorporates regular micro-content distributed throughout social media that will keep your audience engaged.

Typically you’ll scour the internet for relevant content that resonates with your audience and you’ll post it intermittently throughout the week, mixing it in with your own blog posts or updates.

This is a good way of staying top-of-mind for your audience.

A Great Micro-Content Strategy

A next-level content marketing strategy is a bit more strategic. Take a 30,000 ft look at the long-term goal of your content strategy. Then create coordinated pieces of micro-content that will tell an overarching story over a period of time.

One example is how I create blog series. Rather than covering a topic in one blog post, I will break up that subject into several blog posts and name it a series. This allows me to do two things:

• Go deeper on the subject.
• Keep people coming back to get the bigger picture.

Another great example is how my friends Tripp & Tyler turned their micro-content into a published book!

That’s right, they created an entire book out of hilarious anecdotes and grouped them into different real-life scenarios. Brilliant!

Take a look at this interview I did with them recently about their brand new book, Stuff You Should Know About Stuff.

You can find out more about Tripp & Tyler on their website or get a copy of their new book Stuff You Should Know About Stuff.

Some Ideas for You

Not sure where to start with a long-term micro-content strategy? Try this:

• Pick a theme for the next 30 days.
• Map out or bullet-point all the possible subjects you could talk or write about that subject within that theme.
• Decide which of those subjects is the most important and begin drafting a blog post about those subjects.
• Identify which of those subjects are simple enough to put into a single piece of micro-content such as a tweet, image, graphic, or step-by-step tutorial.
• Do a quick Google search for anyone who may have already written about similar subjects or themes and add those articles to your calendar for social sharing throughout the 30 days.
• Start creating and sharing only content that relates to that particular theme for the next 30 days.

What will happen is your authority on that theme or subject matter will begin to skyrocket in the minds of your audience. Your name will become engrained into their brains as the go-to resource for that subject.

And if you execute it well enough, you will have loads of content to repurpose, re-share, and reiterate on for years to come.

Even better, if you’ve done a great job at continuity, you can repurpose all the micro-content you’ve created into one epic piece of content like an e-book, online course, or turn it into a full on product or program!

Next month, you can start on another theme and strategically grow your influence in another subject or theme.

You don’t have to limit your strategy to 30 days, nor do you have to limit yourself to only covering one them at a time. You can layer multiple subjects into your content strategy at once if you like.

I only recommend one at a time if you are new to long-term content strategy or if you want to grow authority in a specific subject very quickly.

A Little Strategy Goes A Long Way

A haphazard, by-the-seat-of-your-pants strategy may work for a while. Disposable content will keep your audience engaged for the day.

But if you take the time to put together long-term goals and create coordinated micro-content that tells an overarching story, you will multiply your return on investment.

Will you be incorporating a long-term micro-content strategy for your business, brand or blog? Let me know in the comments below!

P.S. In case you didn’t watch the video, the first commenter will get a free copy of Tripp & Tyler’s book!

P.S.S. Because Tripp & Tyler are such generous guys, the 51st commenter will also get a free copy of the book! Why? Because why not?!