Reasons Longform Content Is Essential For Content marketing

byRobert-A

10.9K followers

Updated 5 years ago

Is Long Form Content Part Of Your Marketing Strategy?

Hi Folks

I read a blog by Rob (boomergp08) where he mentions long form content so I thought I would elaborate on it to give you some idea what you must do to achieve success.

Long form content is not just about writing more words. You must also remember that long form is only as good a marketing strategy as its execution. So, here, and in my own opinion are the steps you need to follow to get it right.

1. Define what you want to achieve

Every endeavour starts with a ‘why.’ Before you start writing content that will provide value for your target audience, your purpose for doing so must be clear. Are you doing it to increase engagement rates? Maybe you’re writing content to inform your readers of a function of a product in your niche.

Whether you’re after a high rank to create a stronger brand awareness, or to be established as a leader in your niche, this purpose will help you determine your plan of action. In addition, you’ll be able to foresee if your content writing plan will succeed or fail.

You need to know exactly:

• Who you’re writing the article for

• Why you’re choosing long-form content

• What success would look like when you achieve it

• How to measure that success when it comes

2. Decide what topic you’re going to write about

When you know why you’re writing the content and what it’s for, finding the right topic shouldn’t be overly tricky. Of course, you need a topic that appeals to your audience, answers their needs, and encourages them to take a certain action by the end.

You can do your research through keywords, or through exploring other types of content on the internet.

Forums

Yahoo Answers and Quora are great places to find topics. These are sites that let users ask questions and other users answer them.

For any of the two, just type your keyword into the site’s search box and trawl through the conversations and lists of questions. You’re sure to find one that’s interesting and worth expanding on.

Social Media Groups

Joining social media groups is very much like joining a Community. You'll find people there who you can get help from, and offer help in return. Questions are asked, and problems are discussed.

In response, you can write an entire article around someone’s concern and provide a solution to their problem.

3. Write and write some more

You could probably get off easy on the research in short content. But there's no such thing in writing detailed posts. Adequate research is needed to pull off a relevant and incredibly useful long-form article.

It doesn’t matter if you're an expert or not, you still need to do your research to make sure you cover all the important bases. Other things to remember include:

• Write a compelling headline: No matter how great the body of the text is, if readers can’t get past the headline, your efforts fall flat. So make your headlines just as good as the rest of your long-form content. Research, experiment, and track the headlines that generate the most traffic. And above all, let your industry knowledge and expertise guide you down the right path to perfect headline creation.

• Storytelling: Telling stories makes the world go round. In every conversation you’re in (online or offline), you’re telling stories and trading it with others. So even if you’re busy presenting cold hard facts, don’t neglect the importance of partnering with a compelling story. Your target audience would be more likely to relate and engage with long-form articles that are creative.

• Use simple words and explanations: If anything can be expressed in one word or a short phrase, then do it that way. One surefire way of getting people to turn away from your work is to include any kind of jargon with your posts. Remember not everyone has the same knowledge as you do. You want to inform, but use plain English.

• Write for SEO: Break up paragraphs into two or three sentences per line. Use subheadings to make it easily skimmable for a lot of people. And use bullet points and numbered lists.

• No self-promotion: Tooting your own horn blatantly in your article is bad taste. If you do, make sure to do it sparingly. There's no harm in including links that lead to your other works for further info though.

4. Promote

How to promote your long-form content

• Via email: Email is nowhere near dead. It’s just as effective as ever. Like your content, you need to make your email messages as attractive as ever to draw people’s attention. Write compelling subject lines and make the body of the message just as irresistible.

• Promote on social media: Your followers need to see your content. And they can’t do that if you don’t give it to them or show them. So, use these free networks.

Whether you’re a struggling newbie or a self taught expert everyone can do well with producing long-form content.

If you aren’t doing it yet, you’re missing out on some incredible benefits. As long as you do your research thoroughly, come up with an article that has a great headline and great visuals, you will see significant benefits from your efforts.

There you have it folks and I hope you will take something away from my opinion.

Have a great day and be successful.

Robert Allan