Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Short-Form vs Long-Form Social Media Content


 
 
Interested in boosting your social media performance and beating out your competitors? PRDA, Asia’s leading social media agency, is here to explore the methodology behind “short-form” and “long-form” social media content.
Typically the best way to grab a follower (or potential follower) on most social media platforms is with clear -short- written content, typically with a direct CTA, Call to Action. A CTA is a clear direction of what you want the reader to do next… view the product, read an article, and so on. In comparison, long-form content more frequently refers to what the follower would read AFTER your short-form content has snagged their attention- a 500 word blog or article for example. This social media trend may be changing however, as brands look for a way to stand out from the ecommerce clutter bomboarding today’s consumers. Using long-form content could be a social marketing tactic to take advantage of, allowing you to build brand awareness, expand SEO (Search Engine Optimization) potential, as well as further your company’s social media presence.

Here are some of the Pros and Cons of using Long-Form Content:


Pros of Long-Form Content

Long-form posts allow brands more freedom and variety in which to reach their target audience and expand their online presence. More variety of content can lead to increased brand awareness, which means reaching a wider audience-- attracting new followers and potential consumers. Long-form posts are, by definition, longer- this means more words and content is able to be added, thus it is easier to “design” a unique personality behind your content. Short-form content can fall short of this, as it is more important to be brief and direct rather than emphasize a personality behind the writing.

Cons of Long-Form Content

There are several benefits to long-form content, however there are some concerns and disadvantages as well. Possibly due to the prevalence of social media, today’s consumers tend to have a shorter attention span. This is one reason why short-form content is thought to be superior, it “grabs” the attention of the social media “scroller”. Short-form on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so on, is meant to be the “hook”, the quick “hey look at this!” that leads your follower to click on what you want them to look at. This can be a product page, or a link to long-form content that they are now interested in viewing. In summary, you can try to leverage long-form social media content with your audience… but there is no guarantee it will be read.

Lastly, by posting long-form content directly on social media, you’ll find out quick that you don’t really “own” that content anymore. It’s not being hosted on your website-- it’s being hosted on the social media platform, which means you could lose the content you’ve produced at the whim of the platform moderators-- or if for some reason the platform goes away or has a major update.

In conclusion, we recommend that the majority of businesses should use short-form content that leads your followers to view your uniquely created long-form content, preferably hosted on a website you own.

About us:
PRDA is Asia’s leading social media agency for a reason, our Founder and Business Director Douglas White is a very high-demand Social Media expert with a proven social media methodology and highly knowledgeable on the largest global ecommerce market; Asia. In 2017 alone, his proven social media methodology was introduced to more than 90 companies, including training over 600 professionals in various industries. The social media experts at PRDA are ready to provide your company with the digital transformation it needs! Contact us today to learn more.

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