Content Marketing is so much more than social media. A well-performing content marketing strategy includes long-form content, too. Long-form content can be a blog or an email, which is equally as important as a social media post. But, when you’re looking to stand out above the crowd, long-form content is a powerful tool to educate your audience and make you the expert in your niche. So, what exactly is long-form content? In this post, we will discuss how to use long-form content to attract more leads to your business and how to use long-form content to your advantage.
What is long-form content:
Long-form content typically means a piece of content that is more than 700 words. A few examples of long-form content could be a blog post, an email newsletter, a LinkedIn article, interviews, case studies, ebooks, the list can go on and on. Anything longer than a social post, in my opinion, is a piece of long-form content.
When you invest in long-form content, you nurture the relationship you have with your audience and build an active online community by educating them and making you their go-to authority in your niche. Did you know…Those who post long-form content rank 10x higher on Google than those who don’t?!
That’s because having a blog, for example, shows up in Google rankings and increases your chance of your website being seen in Google searches.
How to use long-form content to attract more leads to your business:
Repurpose:
Long-form content can uplevel your content marketing strategy in ways you never thought possible. Think about it…you create a blog post, you can easily repurpose that into an email newsletter, 3-5 social posts, and even a script for a video! That saves you a lot of time when it comes to prepping content for all of your different platforms.
SEO:
Unlike social media posts, your long-form content can include SEO keywords. Keywords are a great way for people conducting a Google search to find your articles and website. Google Keyword Planner or Semrush are great tools that can tap into the specific words and phrases your target audience frequently searches for, offering valuable insights (and content ideas). Your keywords should be bold throughout your article and used 3-5 times for best results.
Focus on depth and quality over quantity:
Sure, a long-form blog post may be 700 words, but don’t get too hung up on that number. That number is just there as a guide, you should be focusing more on depth and value rather than the quantity of words. If it’s under 700, so be it. Just make it longer than a social post (and make sure it provides value!).
Pitch your services/products:
Long-form content makes a great way to pitch your services or products. In your content, you’re already sharing valuable insight to your audience, so its easy to squeeze in some space to call the reader’s attention to the benefits you can offer to them. Plus, you get to do all this without coming off too sales-y.
Now, get out there and use it!:
The great thing about investing your time and resources into producing high-quality, original, helpful long-form content is that it has the potential for impressive returns. Not only will you be able to direct traffic to your website if you write long-form blog posts, but you’re also educating your audience with valuable, insightful and unique articles that will have them coming to you for more. Don’t be afraid to give long-form articles a try. You may even see better results than social media alone.
Want to take your content marketing a step further? Let’s chat. A content marketing strategist like myself can help you brainstorm the ideas you need for your long-form content and even create it as a ghost writer and publish it, no questions asked so you’ll always have consistent content reaching your audience. Working with me is exactly what you need so you can focus on other things in your business to move the needle forward.
Book your free consultation: www.calendly.com/crystalstatskey
