As attention spans seem to decrease each day with the rise of short-form content that’s easy to consume on the go, content marketers may question whether to continue investing in long-form content. The short answer: yes, long-form content still plays a key role in sales enablement and for a myriad of general brand development reasons, and you cannot afford to not invest in long-form content. You can, however, channel your resources more effectively.
In this #ContentChat, Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter), a freelance content marketing writer, explains what long-form content is, when it should be gated content, and how to get the most value from your long-form content to best meet the needs of your audience.
Q1: Let’s start with a definition. What is long-form content, and what kind of long-form content are you currently creating?
Most of our community members are creating long-form content, but opinions vary on the definition of longform content.
Q1: Let’s start with a definition. What is long form content, and what kind of longform content are you currently creating? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 13, 2019
Anything at least 1,000 words is a safe bet for being long form, since that allows enough space to dive deep with a topic.
A1: This is one of those terms where definitions can definitely vary! I consider anything over 1,000 words longform. It’s any written content that really gives you room to go in depth and cover a topic in detail. #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 13, 2019
I agree with this definition. For me, long-form content is anything over 1,000 words that is an in-depth look at a topic. #ContentChat https://t.co/JN0USkYhCz
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 13, 2019
Emphasis on the at least above. Many pros (and some research supports) that long form can be well past 1,500 words.
Why do you say 1,000 words? That seems short to me. I would have said twice as much. Not doubting you — just curious. #ContentChat
— David Simanoff (@dsimanoff) May 13, 2019
That’s the minimum, in my opinion. Often, longform is quite a bit longer. But anything under 1,000 is my cutoff. #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 13, 2019
A1: I would say that long form is 2,000+, but that it also depends #contentchat
— Kylee Grace Schmuck (@KyleeSchmuck) May 13, 2019
A1: I would define long term content as longer than 1000-1200 words. For my reference, I think of an update on Linked as short-form (up to 1200-1300 words) & anything longer would be consider more long form. Use long form on my blog or instance where I need to detail #ContentChat
— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) May 13, 2019
A1: I Googled for an “authoritative answer. Is that cheating? #contentchat https://t.co/0CbAYpQW2G
— Jennifer L. Dawson (@JLDContentQueen) May 13, 2019
Long-form content can take many forms. Blogs, e-books, whitepapers, case studies and testimonials are common assets that will be long form.
A1: My long-form content creation is often blog posts, but I do a good amount of ebooks and white papers as well. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 13, 2019
A1 pt. 2: Most of my clients are primarily using longform for blogging, as a way to improve SEO. Although I do sometimes work on downloadables like ebooks as well. #contentchat
— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) May 13, 2019
A1. I’m mainly into writing long-form blog posts that are actionable. Have worked on some eBooks too, though those weren’t client-related work. #ContentChat
— Masooma // Content Writer (@inkandcopy) May 13, 2019
A1: Long form content goes more “in-depth” on a chosen topic. My clients usually ask for long form content when they want to improve their SEO. I have also worked on case studies and eBooks that were meant as freebies. #contentchat
— sam stevens (@samkickboxes) May 13, 2019
A1: long-form content is exactly what it sounds like, longer (in terms of word count, pages, time, etc) and often more in-depth content. Examples include white papers, e-books, case studies & testimonials (both written and on video). We make all of these. #contentchat
— Brafton (@Brafton) May 13, 2019
A1.
For us long form content
is content that is around
1000+ words or longer.We create long form
content at here at #BentleyU.-research
-case studies
-newsroom articles
-Op-eds
-etc. #ContentChat— Bentley University (@bentleyu) May 13, 2019
Long-form content isn’t exclusively digital. Print media is a valid avenue to explore, including printed booklets.
Are we including print? Admittedly, I’m so single-mindedly web focused… #contentchat https://t.co/QExMMI0Znt
— Jen Brass Jenkins (@chrliechaz) May 13, 2019
ALWAYS include #print. Or at least consider it.
Re-purposing a eBook or whitepaper into a printed booklet that gets mailed is probably the best way to get your content noticed.. and read.
#ContentChat— Tod Cordill (@todcordill) May 13, 2019
I’d add repurposing a presentation deck and script into a piece of long-form content is also a solid move. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) May 13, 2019
Love that you’re still thinking direct mail. I’ve had some great results with EDDM that I can’t replicate on digital. #contentchat
— John Cloonan (@johncloonan) May 13, 2019
[Read more…] about May 13, 2019 Content Chat Recap: Making The Most Of Your Long Form Content
