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.
Connect with PRDA
Website: http://www.prda.asia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRDA.Asia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PRDA_Asia
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prda/
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