When Shakespeare said, “brevity is the soul of wit,” he probably had no idea he was prophesizing a marketing strategy that has become increasingly popular in recent years: short-form content. There was a time when bigger was better when it came to SEO and other forms of brand messaging. Now, the marketing industry is seeing a seismic shift toward all-things short, to-the-point, easy-to-digest and fewer than 200 words in length. Fueled by the meteoric rise of apps like Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, marketers are under pressure to produce bite-sized content and say more — with less.
Words
Depending on the topic, optimized short content could be exactly what Google is looking for. Google indexes based on “best answers” to search queries not the length of the response, and a short post can easily rank higher than a long article. After all, who wants to read 1,200 words on how to reboot your iPhone — or make a grilled cheese?
Find a content approach that naturally lends itself to brevity and aligns your content with searcher intent. Especially if your audience is already familiar with your business, or services or products — and if they’re further down the sales funnel — short form may be the best way to get the results you want. However, if you’re launching a new product, or your offering is more complex or technical in nature, then a more in-depth, optimized long-form approach may be what’s called for to grab a higher ranking on the SERPs.
Video
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook are all platforms that can deliver amazing results with short-form video content. You’ll have different options available, depending on the platform — from reels and stories to GIFs and animated infographics. Easy to watch and digest, short-form video can gain traction quickly online. But keep in mind that the average attention span is only eight seconds, and most people will view a video for no more than two minutes, so make every second count.
You don’t need the next viral cat video to garner attention online. Here are a few examples of what you can do with your short-form content to help get (and keep) your audience’s attention:
- Behind the scenes/behind the brand exclusives
- Customer testimonials
- Product FAQs
- Influencer shout-outs
- Explainer videos and tutorials
- Unboxing videos and product demos
- Instructional how-to topics
- Expert quick tips
Audio
Are you one of the many people who just listen to YouTube without watching? Audio content, like podcasts, is on the rise, and short-form audio is gaining traction — enter the audiogram. Audiograms combine waveform videos, audio and text into short snippets (no more than two minutes) and are well-suited for social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook or as a teaser for your long-form podcast. According to New York public radio station WNYC, audiograms get eight times the engagement compared to non-audiogram content — and you don’t need to be a pro to make an engaging audiogram.
But short form should never fall short on delivering value. Quick tips from an industry expert can be an excellent draw for your B2B offering, while announcing a product giveaway can attract customers to your retail business, for example.
Size matters when it comes to content. The marketing experts at Kymera can help you get big results with short-form messaging. Contact us for a free digital marketing consultation.
And that’s the long and the short of it.
Sources:
https://www.thetilt.com/content/short-vs-long-form-content
https://www.lifewire.com/why-long-form-videos-wont-work-for-social-media-anymore-5191843
https://www.thepodcasthost.com/promotion/a-beginners-guide-to-audiograms/
