Content marketing is an integral part of modern SEO and digital marketing. Companies offering SEO typically include content marketing services as well. It makes sense. If nothing else, the web is one enormous collection of content. Perhaps that’s why something known as ‘content atomization’ is catching on.
In its most basic form, content atomization is nothing more than repurposing existing content for marketing. But it is repurposing with a twist. You are not just taking the same old content and publishing it again as-is. You’re actually breaking it down into smaller, bite-sized chunks. You might even choose to offer it in different formats.
A Simple Example
Webtek Digital Marketing, a Salt Lake City, UT agency that offers content marketing services along with SEO and digital marketing, offers a simple example that makes content atomization easy to understand. It starts with a comprehensive white paper consisting of several thousand words.
According to Webtek, the white paper is the core content from which new pieces of content will be created. A content specialist will go through the white paper and break it down into smaller units. Some might become social media posts. Others, particularly those with statistical data, could be converted to infographics. Portions of the white paper might even be converted to videos.
5 Key Components
The Webtek example makes content atomization pretty simple to understand in principle. But to pull it off consistently and successfully, companies offering content marketing services need to concentrate on five key components:
- Content Choice – Core content needs to be chosen carefully. Not every piece of existing content atomizes well. This is why long form content is preferred. You can do a lot more with a 2000-word post as compared to a 500-word essay.
- Unit Value – Breaking core content down into individual units involves making sure that each of those units offers value on its own. There needs to be something valuable in every social media post, video, etc.
- Multiple Formats – Content atomization works well when multiple formats are utilized. Using as many formats as possible extends the content’s reach.
- Platform Optimization – Content marketers need to consider platforms as they break down content into smaller units. Each unit should be optimized for the platform on which it will be published.
- Audience Optimization – Likewise, content should be optimized for each platform’s audience. An infographic published on social media might target a different audience compared to a video on YouTube or Rumble.
As content optimization has caught on, content creators have figured out they can start planning for it well ahead of time. And in fact, some content marketing services are putting a great deal of effort into producing long form content they are already planning to atomize at some point in the future.
Why Content Creators Should Do It
If you are a content creator, you might be wondering whether atomization is something you should get into. Webtek recommends you give it some thought. There are very legitimate reasons to atomize content, reasons that could make you more valuable as a content creation specialist. For example, atomized content:
- Increases reach and engagement.
- Utilizes content more efficiently.
- Promotes more consistent messaging.
- Improves SEO performance.
- Extends content lifespan.
From my perspective, any agency offering content marketing services owes it to clients to extract the most value out of every piece of content. A good way to do that on a modern web overwhelmed with clutter is to repurpose existing content through atomization. An older piece of content that did well when first published could get a second shot at life through atomization.
