LONG STORIES: Engage more of your audience with helpful and shareable long-form content
Finding customers and generating sustainable income is a challenge for every business.
One way to start solving that challenge is to become more visible and trusted online.
A surefire way to achieve that is with awesome long-form content. Think formats like e-books, tutorials, definitive guides and white papers.
Don’t just take my word for it.
Google’s algorithms are known to prefer pages that fully answer users’ questions and provide detailed solutions. Which means long and thorough.
Stat attack!
The superpowered benefits of long-form content are backed up by research.
According to SEMRush, long-form articles of 3000+ words get 3x more traffic than articles of an average length (810 words according to SEMRush).
Backlinko found that long-form content gets an average of 77.2% more links than short articles.
Meanwhile, Hubspot uncovered that articles with a word count above 2,500 get shared the most on social media.
That stat on shareability feels like common sense.
We all share information – whether it’s in the pub or on social media – when it’s interesting, useful and valuable. So if you answer every last detail on a topic that’s relevant to your audience, and you do it well, they will share it.
What defines long-form content?
According to the SEMRush stat from before, the average online article length is just over 800 words. It’s hard to define a specific word count for long-form, because it’s more about taking a topic, exploring it in detail and depth, providing useful stats and facts, and serving up something genuinely helpful to your audience.
That could mean as little as 2,000 words. Or it could be two or three times longer.
Specific examples include e-books that educate readers on a topic of interest; case studies that demonstrate how you rode to the rescue and solved a customer’s problem; definitive guides that provide a deep tutorial on a subject; and white papers that showcase your unique insights on a breaking issue in your industry or marketplace. Whatever type you write, focus on being objective and helpful.
How do I choose a juicy topic?
Brainstorm all the topics you think will resonate with your audience and consider which of those matter the most to people who might ultimately buy what you do.
Examples you say?
A digital marketing agency might provide an in-depth guide to grow and improve your website. An outdoor adventure brand might tell white-knuckle stories of its customers’ adventures to provide learning and entertainment. A car firm might bust every myth about electric vehicles to educate customers and overcome buyers’ objections.
Just think about the information that would connect with your audience – and encourage whatever action you’re looking for them to take.
How to find easy inspiration
It’s easy to generate data-driven ideas for content, simply by looking at search queries.
Tools like Google Analytics/Google Search Console and third-party software let you see what keywords, phrases, and questions are getting traction. This is a great starting point, as they’re as close as you can get to understanding what customers are asking about and searching for answers on.
It’s worth taking a close look at how your shorter-form content performs, too. If a particular blog had twice the engagement of others, it’s pretty clear that it’s a topic that makes your customers tick. So maybe it’s time to build on that topic and give readers a deeper, more thorough education.
Is long-form content really worth the effort?
We’ve seen from research that website visitors (in other words, potential customers) appreciate, engage with and share well-researched and well-written long-form content.
If you create something useful, detailed and helpful, you can:
Boost your visibility online
Rank better (according to serpIQ, content found in the top 10 of search queries was typically over 2,000 words)
Encourage more shares
Increase time on your website (if people spend more time reading your content, they’ll feel closer to you and your brand. Plus, they’ll associate you with being helpful, generous and worth connecting with)
Be seen as an authority and educator (which builds trust with your target audience)
Create solid foundations for more traffic, customers and revenue
So giving your knowledge away for free can be a powerful point of difference.
Just imagine: a potential customer is feeling anxious about a particular problem. Then they discover your content, which cost them nothing, and genuinely helps them see the light. How do you think they feel?
Grateful, engaged in your brand, and more likely to come to you should they ever need the product or service you’re selling.
How to create long-form content
Like every piece of strategic content, have a main goal in mind before you start writing. Is it a general brand-building piece, or do you want to achieve something specific, such as conversions to your email list or more leads.
By having a clear goal, your content will be better focused - and you’ll be able to measure its success once it’s published.
With your goals and topic defined, it’s time to write. Remember that your content needs to be genuinely useful, well structured, and written well from top to tail to achieve the benefits outlined above.
If the workload feels daunting, or you don’t have the in-house expertise to execute it well, hire an expert freelancer. While fees can seem high at first, you’ll be amazed at the business value you get.
Even a modest boost in brand awareness can make sales easier, generate more qualified leads, and build stronger relationships that encourage growth.
Don’t just hope for the best – actively promote your content
If you’re an established business, long-form content will probably be part of a broader detailed strategy. If you’re a fledgling business, you’ll need to think about where it sits in your marketing mix and promote it in a cost-effective way that brings maximum ROI.
The good news is that the long-form content you’ve created is a genuinely useful asset to promote. But it means nothing until it reaches more of your potential customers.
Here are a few ideas:
Promote the content within your website (ie, calls to action on blog posts, pop-up banners, etc)
Create a sequence of posts across your social channels, teasing the article’s value and relevance
Send the article to your existing mailing list/network to strengthen relationships and improve your trust and authority – ask them to share it, too
Maximise the reach and impact of your content with paid advertising. This helps you focus in on a very specific demographic and reach the right audience faster
Reach out to influencers in your niche, include them in your content and ask them to share. It’s a surefire way to get more eyes on your brand
Just like everything in life, you’ll get more results from your content the more ambition, research and effort you put in.
If you’re ready to create an awesome asset, but need support, let me know.