The whispers of "is long form content dead?" have been circling for some time now with short video dominating the social media space. With the rise of TikTok and huge push of Instagram reels, it's hardly a secret that dopamine addiction is sky high and attention spans are probably at an all time low. Which might have led to you wondering if there's any point creating anything other than a quick piece of content. If that's the case, then get comfy and dive in... (that is if I haven't already lost your attention span with all the words to come).
Long-form content is making a comeback!
I'm not going to lie, I am quite partial to an evening scroll hole. I actually look forward to my evenings half watching something on the TV whilst I binge watch reels of others doing seemingly mundane things. Whilst you won't get me on TikTok (the app that really changed the game on short-form content), I am still a sucker for watching shorter videos in quick succession. That being said, over the past few weeks I've noticed something shifting. Longer reels have started to creep on my timeline and I have been watching them (shocking, I know!). The other day I found myself engrossed in a renovation video that was 5 whole minutes. The next, I watched a full 10 minute long explanation video (and most of the comments were referring to how they too were surprised they sat through the whole thing). Things got even weirder the day after that... Bondi Rescue videos came up on my phone and I binged many, each... wait for it... 15 minutes long! Ok, I know this is already too crazy, but the day after that I actually started watching 15+ minute vlogs on YouTube just like the good old days.
Instantly, I remembered how good this feels for my nervous system. I went to bed far more peaceful each evening, actually able to concentrate on my book and fall asleep relatively quickly after a few chapters. Which leads me to the point: we are aware of what this short-form scroll obsession is doing to us. Yes, there's heaps of research and videos popping up everywhere telling us, but we can also feel it too. The desire to breakup with the dopamine hits is rising. For that reason alone, I don't believe long-form content is going anywhere. If it feels good to consume, then people are going to keep pursuing it, even if they have to break down some barriers to be able to do so... and if you've read this far, you are evidence of that.
What does that mean for creating long-form content for your business?
The quality of consumption for long-form content is greater. I've spoken about this in-depth on my Instagram. Essentially, capturing someone from a short-form reel is great, but it doesn't always lead to higher engagement with what you do. It's like the first date. It's shiny, it's new and it's exciting... but you wouldn't marry someone from it. Often, for people to forge a deeper relationship that would make them likely to invest, they need to get to know you, your expertise, embodiment and style on a much deeper level. Long-form content is a beautiful invitation for that. Yes, short-form content can pique interest, but long-form content is what creates the stable foundation for your business. Which leads me to my next point...
Long-form content can help you attract the right clients into your business.
I once read a sales page that had more words than I have ever seen on a single webpage. Honestly, it could be described as a short novel and included so much information (that as a marketing expert I would never advise to include). I was so confused as to how such a successful business could have a sales page like this. Then, I read a line that made it all make sense:
"if you are unable to read all of the information on this page, this qualification isn't for you. It is heavy on materials and will require a lot of reading. If this information piques your interest enough to read it, then this course will be a great fit for you. If it doesn't, it won't be."
I went from wanting to message the company advising them to rethink their strategy to thinking it was pure genius! I clicked off the page because I really couldn't make it through the content and I left knowing it wasn't for me. My friend who mentioned it to me did the exact opposite and signed up (to a multi-4-figure investment) after reading every single word. I'm a huge believer of finding the clients that are actually aligned for your offerings. I preach about it non-stop in my signature Content That Connects course... which by the way, you can watch the first module of for FREE.
Long-form content is probably your most effective form of marketing as conscious business owner.
I really believe that mirroring the energy of your offering within your marketing is crucial and for myself and so many others, long-form content is the route to doing exactly that. I'm in the business of guiding creators to create content that a) they love, b) actually captures the essence of what they do. If you are someone that helps soothe people's nervous system, then you might use short-form to capture people's attention as mentioned above, but part of your marketing process should be creating the safety for people to be able to consume long-form content. If you are someone that wants to encourage people to slow down, does constantly contributing to the short-form trend actually support that? If you offer something that requires deep concentration and focus, are you attracting the people capable of that with short-form content?
As with anything, what's "trending" isn't always what will serve your business. Of course, you can use what is popular to your advantage to capture attention in a noisy world, but if long-form content aligns for you, then you have to trust that whilst that may not capture as many, it's likely to form deeper connections that actually expand you business! Someone who has read to this far in this post is far more likely to invest in what I do than someone who watched a 30 second video of mine.
And if that's you... take a look around and see if I can serve you!
Comments