Social Media Mastery - Long Form or Short Form Content? - Episode 4
Episode 4. Hopefully, I haven’t lost you yet! :-)
Over the past 7 days, my Social Media Business PintSizedHumour has gone from strength to strength, reaching more and more eyes!
But what type of content do we post?
Long Form or Short Form?
Well, since I was around 10 years old, I have been obsessed with long form video content. This must have been in 2013 when I would watch KSI and Joe Weller on YouTube after school, and that interest has never really left me.
Short form content is a much newer creation. It entered in my life in around 2016 when Vine was at the peak of it’s powers. Musical.ly then followed, but with minimal success, until a company called ByteDance bought the app and changed the name to something you probably know as TikTok.
What is Long Form and Short Form Content?
Long Form Content = Long form content refers to detailed, in-depth content that provides comprehensive information on a particular topic. Typically, it’s longer than standard content pieces and is designed to engage readers by offering valuable insights, analysis, or storytelling. In digital marketing, long form content often includes blogs, articles, eBooks, and especially long videos or podcasts.
Short Form Content = Short form content refers to concise, easily digestible content that delivers key information quickly. It's typically brief and designed to capture attention fast, often under 1,000 words or lasting just a few seconds to a couple of minutes in video format.
Choosing the Correct Length Content
The best for you depends on:
✔Your target audience – Where do they spend time?
✔Your content style – Do you prefer to create snappy, attention-grabbing short form, or more chilled-out long form?
My Advice:
If you’re just starting out with a minimal budget, pick short form content. If you then manage to grow an audience and are looking to monetise that audience, I would recommend shifting to a longer form content. It’s worth mentioning that longer form content pays much much better, due to more scope for advertisers.
An amazing example of a creator who has done exactly that is Italian Bach. He took a major short form audience on TikTok and Instagram and brought them over to his YouTube channel, which I am sure is now his main stream of income.
But the key is - do what works best for you! If you feel like you have more to offer in a podcast form, then do that. However, if you go down this route, I suggest you also snip up your longer form video into short form reels and TikTok’s. In this instance, view short form content as a marketing funnel for your longer form work.
Make sure to subscribe, and remember - "Perfection isn't the goal - putting yourself out there is. Any video, no matter how simple, beats silence every time."
- Jacob
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