Long-form is alive and well – and still one of your best brand-boosting bets
Brought to you by the content team behind Wordsmithie. Wordsmithie helps brands kindle awareness and loyalty through top-quality, authentic content and design, crafted by a diverse team of experienced creatives and strategists.
With TikToks, reels, and viral memes ruling the day (and consuming more of our day), it’s easy to assume that short-form content is the only way to get your audience’s attention. But the truth might surprise you: Long-form content is not only alive, it’s thriving. Studies show that in-depth articles and guides can drive up to 3x more organic traffic, increase social shares, and position your brand as a thought leader in your industry.
So, what makes long-form content so powerful? This guide will show you the hidden potential of long-form writing and how you can use it to boost your search engine rankings, enhance reader engagement, and build lasting authority. Let’s dive into the benefits of long-form content and uncover practical strategies to make it work for you.
Curious to see how long-form content can transform your digital strategy? Get in touch for a free consultation!
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Inside our report:
Why long-form content still matters
The myth of shortened attention spans and why it matters
Top 6 benefits of long-form content
Choosing the right type of long-form content for your brand
Best practices for creating effective long-form content
Long-form content: the gift that keeps giving
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| After looking at over 900 million articles, Semrush’s Backlinko discovered that articles with between 1,000 and 2,000 words received the most social shares. | The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) agrees that long-form pieces generate more social shares and engagement thanks to valuable insights that motivate readers to share. | An annual survey by Orbit Media finds that 38% of bloggers who write posts longer than 1,500 words cite strong results, compared to 21% of those who compose shorter pieces. |
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So, size matters. While the exact percentage of shares varies depending on platform, audience, and subject matter, long-form content generally receives more social shares compared to short-form content.
Some might say that the debut of MTV in 1980 ushered in the era of the shortened attention span, with its quick-cut editing style that became the standard for video entertainment and ad content. And around the time MTV came on the scene, the cable TV biz exploded, offering viewers dozens (and eventually hundreds) of channels, not just the three or four that I grew up with – bliss for channel surfers. Then years later, the smartphone revolutionized and accelerated our habits of catch-as-catch-can consumption, becoming our always-on and in-hand companion for entertainment, information, and communication.
But has all this really caused shorter spans than we had a few decades ago? Several studies have grappled with this as digital media’s piece of the pie started overtaking traditional channels. And the answer is more nuanced than you might think.