The Importance of Long-Form Content in Your Business
Does anyone else feel like the word ‘content’ has become a bit of a buzzword lately?
If you’re a business owner or you spend a lot of time on social media, you likely see ‘content creator’ or ‘content ideas’ at least 10 times a day (probably more, let’s be real) and it might make you eye roll. 🙄
Even so, it’s no secret that content is a major aspect of your business or brand and in today's world there’s about a 1,000 different ways you can create it.
TikTok and Reels
Instagram stories
Podcast episodes
YouTube videos
Now YouTube Shorts 😅
Blog posts
Emails
Texting
The list goes on…
Because of that, you might find yourself on the content struggle bus and don’t know where to start.
Most of the time when this happens, people tend to flock to the newest trendy thing to create their content and it's usually one of the popular social media platforms since that seems to be where the majority of content is being consumed right now.
The problem with this is that when you START there - with your short-form content - you’re not creating a place to guide people to, which means after they watch the 15 second trendy video, they’ll be on their way to the next person's feed without giving your content a second thought.
So, how can you make sure that people not only consume your content, but also take some sort of action after that?
It’s pretty simple actually: by starting with your long-form content!
The Difference Between Short-Form and Long-Form Content
To understand the difference between short-form and long-form content, let’s break down the two:
As you may have guessed, short-form content is exactly what it sounds like.
It’s short, easy to digest information that gives the reader or viewer a quick win. It’s to the point and doesn’t require much reading or viewing time. It allows the person to consume the content quickly, receive a bit of value and continue on with their day.
Long-form content on the other hand, is the type of content that dives much deeper into a topic and requires more reading or viewing time. This is where you, as the creator, are able to use more explanation and provide more understanding for the topic at hand.
While this content can still be designed as skimmable and digestible, it’s not meant to be something that is surface level. Instead, it’s the real meat and potatoes of your content and is where your audience will get the MOST value!
Types of Short-Form and Long-Form Content
The most common types of short-form content in today's world include social media posts, like Reels and TikTok videos and emails.
These are pieces of content that can typically be consumed in 2-3 minutes and deliver a quick win or short piece of value for the reader or viewer.
Common types of long-form content include blog posts, podcast episodes, e-books, webinars and other videos that exceed 5 minutes.
What’s important to know is that you need BOTH for your business or brand. The key is that you find a way to marry the two so that they work together cohesively versus viewing them as two separate entities.
How To Use Long-Form Content In Your Business
To help you get a clear picture of how your short-form and long-form content should work together, think about your social media posts as a Costco sample.
I know what you might be thinking - how could those two things possibly relate?! Just stay with me here ⤵️
As you’re doing your Sunday grocery shopping at Costco, you’re almost always met with an employee giving out free samples of one of their products on display.
Now, they aren’t giving you the entire product for free. They’re giving you just a taste, which increases your curiosity and might make you want more.
I mean if they gave you the whole thing, you wouldn’t be very inclined to buy more of it later, right?
Well, your social media posts are no different. When you give your audience just a taste of the value you have to offer and use a call to action to guide them to the full shebang - aka your long-form content - you’re increasing the chance of them taking even further action with you.
That further action could be buying your product or service, opting in to your email list, reading a different blog post, etc.
If you’re giving them everything they need through your social posts, they’ll become constant consumers and are less likely to take further action, which is the complete opposite of what you really want.
It’s for this reason that I believe your long-form content should guide the REST of what you do.
Of course you’re going to post on social media - that’s great and you SHOULD, but where I think people go wrong is using their social media as a starting point and a place where they give away allllll of their juice.
Instead, create your long-form content FIRST - whether that be through blog posts, podcast episodes or long-form videos - and then use that content to guide what you post on social media.
By pulling small snippets from your long-form content to use on social media, you save time, deliver value to your audience WITHOUT giving everything away in one sitting and ultimately guide them to a place where:
You OWN the content (meaning you can refer to it for years to come)
You’ll be seen as an expert in your industry (which will increase the trust they have for you)
You increase the chance of them taking the next action that you want them to take (thus moving them further along in the customer journey)
Benefits of Long Form Content In Your Business
And in case you still aren't convinced that you need long-form content in your business, here’s a quick fire list of benefits so you can see how this can directly impact you.
Long-form content:
➡️ improves the search engine rankings for your website (hello, SEO 👋🏼)
➡️ positions you as an authority figure for your audience
➡️ allows you to go beyond the surface level of your content and dive deep into the education of your topics
➡️ boosts conversions by creating a space for more direct call to actions
➡️ allows you to easily create and repurpose short-form content for social media
➡️ attracts highly engaged potential customers
➡️ provides the deepest level of education for your audience
➡️ nurtures new followers and those that are on the fence for buying from you
➡️ continues to add value to those who have already purchased from you and can boost repeat customers
Overall, your social media and other short-form content are only one piece of the pie. Long-form content is where the real magic can happen and it's up to you as the business owner to implement this strategically!
As mentioned, long-form content can come in the form of blog posts, podcast episodes or long videos. While audio options have definitely increased in recent years and many people prefer this option as it can be more convenient and less time consuming, studies have shown that humans retain more of the information by reading versus listening.
This could be due to the fact that most of the time when people listen to a podcast or an audiobook, they are doing something else along with it, like getting ready, driving, doing the dishes, exercising, etc.
So, if you do opt for an audio version for your long-form content, for your audience to get the most out of it, providing a written version along with it is wise!
If the thought of writing something longer than the 2,200 characters allowed in an Instagram caption makes you want to scream, allow me to introduce myself. 👋
I’m Natty, a Blog Writer and Strategist for creative business owners and service providers who want their content to actually work for them.
Before I adopted the “blogs first, socials second” approach, I was constantly overwhelmed by content.
I felt pressure to show up on Instagram all the time, even though I knew my posts would disappear within hours.
When I started creating long-form blog content first and letting everything else flow from there, content creation became more fun, freeing, and sustainable.
And I can help YOU experience the same — here’s how:
⭐️ The Manuscript | Custom Blog Strategy — a good piece of writing is only as strong as its manuscript. This custom blog strategy service is designed for business owners who want to start blogging - or finally make it a consistent, strategic part of their marketing strategy.
Includes:
Kickoff call to discuss your blog goals, ideal audience, & desired publishing schedule for the long term
Custom blog strategy creation WITH defined blog content pillars, a quarter’s worth (up to 12) blog topics tialored to your goals and audience, PLUS ideas for how to repurpose your blogs on other platforms
Strategy delivered via Loom
30 days of Slack support so you feel confident putting your strategy into action WITH the option to submit one piece of writing for review per week
⭐️ Press Week | Blogging Sprint – every good author knows that a good press week is the secret to getting your audience’s attention. This Press Week is your fast-track to a ready-to-launch blog, giving your website readers irresistible content to binge on day one.
In just five days, you'll get six strategy-driven blog posts so you can hit the ground running and finally start putting blogs first, socials second.
The Schedule:
Monday – We’ll kick things off with a strategy call to talk strategy and map out topics.
Tuesday & Wednesday – I’ll dive into writing while you focus on running your business.
Thursday – Your six blog posts arrive in a Google Doc, ready for your review.
Friday – I’ll make any final edits and tweaks based on your feedback, so you can press publish as soon as you’re ready!
⭐️ Hot Off The Press | A-la-carte Blogs – Hot Off the Press is perfect for business owners who need high-quality blog content on a flexible, as-needed basis.
Whether you want a Natty Writes trial run before committing to ongoing blogging, need a few extra posts to support a launch, or just want some fresh content without a long-term commitment, this service delivers polished, strategic blog posts right when you need them.
You bring the topics and ideas, and I'll bring them to life with content that’s hot off the press and ready to publish!
New to my world? Nice to virtually meet ya. 👋 I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Natty (you can too) – blog and email writer for creative business owners and service providers.
If you like what you read and want more, there’s a few ways we can stay connected:
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If you’re in need of some blog content in your business, or are simply curious about what that would look like, check my services here.
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