I’ve been talking about the benefits of long-form storytelling for a while. And lately, I’ve noticed a bunch of new examples crop up.
“Gradually, and then suddenly,” as Hemingway once wrote. That’s long-form storytelling and longer content pieces. Right now.
We marketers are always experimenting with new content formats and new vehicles. And lately, the trend is moving toward longer pieces and more fleshed-out, substantive ideas.
I’m resisting using the word “quality” here—it’s so subjective, and ultimately so meaningless without context—but you know me well enough to know that I’m thinking it.
Why is the trend toward long-form storytelling happening now?
There are two key reasons.
But first, here are a few examples I’ve seen just these past few weeks. Many of these projects have been developed in partnership with established publishers, too. (But that’s a story for another day.)
- Paper magazine and cannabis company MedMen are launching Ember, a quarterly print publication to cover the intersection of marijuana and pop culture. (Side note: Why oh why didn’t they call it In the Weeds?)
- Luxury luggage maker Tumi created a short film starring actor Alexander Skarsgard. In it, the actor travels around the world on a single degree of latitude towing a suitcase from the brand’s new line called (you guessed it…) Latitude.
- McDonald’s released a new three-part podcast at WeWantTheSauce.com that gives a Serial-like treatment to the mystery: “How did a shortage of dipping sauce cause customers to riot at McD’s?”
- The mattress company Casper last November shuttered its Van Winkles microsite (I’m resisting writing that it “put it to sleep”). It plans to publish a quarterly print magazine called Woolly with help from the team at the humor site McSweeney’s.
- Jason Miller and the team at LinkedIn Marketing is publishing a global print magazine for business-to-business marketers, Sophisticated Marketer Quarterly.
- Akamai worked with Demand Spring to produce The Most Awesome Game, a 14-minute, behind-the-scenes look at how online games are conceived, developed, and delivered.
- Publishers Bustle, Curbed, GQ, and The Infatuation are treating Instagram stories like episodic TV, programming and releasing stories over “seasons” vs. one-off Instagram videos.
Why the trend?
Two reasons.
1. The days of one-off, standalone, so-called snackable content are over.
One-and-done content ideas are kaput, too.
Today, when something is packaged up in a bite-sized, snackable format, it’s probably marketing a bigger content asset or it’s tied to a bigger story.
And as your tour director in today’s blog post, I promise to not use the word “snackable” again. #takethepledge
Writers who write “big” blog posts are twice as likely to report strong results, according to a recent study from Orbit Media.
“Careful with this data,” Orbit Media’s Andy Crestodina points out. “This doesn’t say that long posts are always better. But it does show that greater investment correlates with higher ROI.”
Andy adds:
“More bloggers are going deep into the subject matter, answering questions from every angle, and making a sincere effort at producing the best page for the topic.”
You know what word I love paired with “marketers”? “Sincere.”
We don’t hear those two words paired enough. We need to.
2. Content done right is hard work.
And we marketers have a lot of noise to contend with.
I’ve been talking a lot recently about the need to approach business and marketing with a mindset of As Slow As Possible (ASAP). I view the trend toward long-form and substantive content as another example of the shift toward slow marketing and slow content marketing.
Slow content marketing is slowly conceived, well-executed, substantive work that tells a memorable story. It sustains both marketers and our audiences long-term. It doesn’t just stuff our bellies with pounds of fluff.
Bottom line: We seek meaning and crave connection. That means marketing needs to slow down and think about substance and context. We also need to focus on the meaning baked into the experience we are giving our audiences.
Short and snackable is out. (Oops. Sorry. I used that word again.)
Good news: Slow and substantive isn’t just in. It’s here to stay.
Side note: At Content Marketing World this September 5-7, I’ll be joining Dorie Clark on a panel led by Mitch Joel in which we talk about the trend toward the marketing’s “long tale.” (Long tale! A riff on “longtail.” Get it? That’s all Mitch. He slays.)
As a content strategist and content writer I fully agree. Readers want to know the story behind the story
That’s right! Thanks for swinging by, Marcia!
A peak behind the curtain satisfies us somehow? We love how IT gets made. The lesson of “Behind The Scenes,” at HBO and David Letterman allowing the camera to travel backstage is that we crave to see the real wizard. Those that were veiled in secrecy that only the Globe and the Star could pretend to expose now have to contend with demands for live feeds of their goldfish. Is it really any wonder that a reality TV star that has walked us through his gold-plated bathroom on camera now occupies the oval office?
All the best Marcia and thank you Ann. 🙂
As a content strategist and content writer I fully agree. Readers want to know the story behind the story
As you quite rightly state Ann: Content done right is hard work.
One of the reasons that publications such as National Geographic and The Economist endure is that behind the content, there is real passion for the subject matter.
While it might seem odd to think of a National Geographic article as marketing content, given the size of the community base reading, watching, and listening, how could the content be anything else?
Great long form content captivates, astonishes, and focuses our attention—a trait that applies equally whether the content is written or not: storytelling is the oldest form of communication there is.
In the summer of 1995 I experienced the power of storytelling first hand when i met and had coffee with David Attenborough. The full tale behind the why can wait for another day, buy man alive, did he know how to hold people’s attention.
Ultimately, that’s what it all boils down to: holding attention. Do that and do it well and you won’t need to do any outright selling.
Thanks for furthering the cause Ann.
I’m right there with you. Every step of the way.
I have nothing to add except this: I could not agree more, Gary! Thanks for swinging by!
These are great insights Ann! Whole-heartedly agree that this is where the value is for consumers and brands alike.
Thanks, Abbey. I appreciate you stopping by!
God bless you. I forever HATE that ‘s’ word. And KISS and all of that crap that is really all about dumbing things down. We should smarten things up. Content should be as long or as short as is needed to accomplish its purpose.
“We should smarten things up.” YES.
Elevate your audiences. Don’t dumb yourself down.
Bravo.
Lazy marketers go for ‘snackable’ not because it’s easy to consume but because it’s easy to produce.
There are enough great examples of stunning long form content (now increased by the ones you cite) to end the debate. Not that that ever actually ends debates…
That’s true (the debate bit). But we gotta try… yeah?
I’m curious if these companies and marketers are actually crafting ‘stories’ or are simply going longer and slower in order to do a better job at connecting with their audience and and go deeper. Agreed, content done right is hard work. Even harder than that is applying storytelling structure — protagonist, antagonist, (or forces of antagonism) conflict, crisis, failure, and so forth, in a business communication setting. A lot businesses may say they want storytelling, but when you show them the real thing — the good, the bad, the ugly, and the really ugly — they have a change of heart.
Good point, Richard. My sense is that many of these companies understand the value of story. So that;’s the first step.
Check them out, though. You might have a different take!
Ann,
I completely agree. I read alot of content online, and the vast amount is so very shallow its hard to take away much if anything. I think the long form is a lost art, yet it is what allows both the writer and the reader to engage in a much more meaningful way. As a long time marketeer, I have always felt story telling is fundamental to what I do. Its hard to tell a good story in a short form.
Bravo.
Bill
Thanks, Bill. Totally agree.
What a terrific collection of case examples. Thanks for the effort to unearth sound evidence. I love it when the content itself demonstrates the lessons therein.
Long tale. Oy vey.
😀
I kinda love it… !
I love this, not just as a writer but as a human being. What a welcome break from our frantic, minuscule-attention-span world. Long stories let us take a breath between sentences, truly absorb an idea before moving on. The good ones are of course not just long, but deep. And full of discovery. We might actually understand something when we’re done and maybe we don’t rush off so fast to wolf down the next bite. Let’s trade FOMO for FOLD (fear of lacking depth and if I’d had my coffee already this acronym would be better, promise)!
I’m nosey if these companies and marketers are actually crafting ‘stories’ or are simply effort mortal and slower in order to do a ameliorate job at conjunctive with their chance and and go deeper.
Does long form content also applies to email marketing?
Sometimes, yes.
An entirely new direction for ASAP! Early in my career one of the take aways I got from Dan Kennedy seminar was “The more you tell, the more you sell”. Great article, great points, always great direction. Makes me think, and that is what I like about all of Ann’s work. Can’t wait for CMW 2018!
Thanks Ann, only you could make the case for 1,500+ word blog posts in 735 words 🙂 I think the key in your observation above is not that the age of short blog posts are over but rather that the term “stand-alone” you use above should be emphasized. That is, this article of your yours is an excellent example of how a short blog post can be part of a bigger conversation in which you eloquently engage over time in different channels including your other blog posts, books and talks as opposed to you just randomly jumping in on a “hot topic” on a one-off basis.
Exactly!
Good Article!
The forms to make marketing are changes and we need to go along.
The story behind the story is the key! Awesome post-Ann 🙂
Thanks, Paul!
Ann, is this long form content on website blogs or on LinkedIn Pulse? We saw a tremendous decreases in engagement on LinkedIn Pulse posts with all of our clients and have abandoned this marketing effort. I will however still push the traffic to a website blog.
I’ve also seen a trend for incredibly long LinkedIn status updates. Can you weigh in?
Hi Susan,
My preference is always to rely most on your owned channels (blog, site, or microsite — as is the case of many long-form efforts). I like using social channels (like LinkedIn Pulse) to both extend bigger brand themes/stories or to use them as a testing grounds, to see how a concept or idea might resonate.
I don’t think I’ve seen incredibly long LinkedIn status updates. Can you point me to an example?
Hey Ann,
Great post and thanks for sharing this.
I like the points mentioned by you. People really need to be concern about why marketers accept & support the long form storytelling. Its true that long post are not always better but it shows that greater investment correlates with higher ROI. Content done right is absolutely a hard-work, But applying a long storytelling structure to a content is more harder. Many companies understands the value of long story & readers also wants to know the story behind a story. Hence slow content marketing is slowly created, well executed and a meaningful work that tells a meaningful story. Therefore long form storytelling are supported by marketers and an audiences. As long long form storytelling entertain marketers as well as
readers & audiences. Hence long form of story telling are supported and accepted by marketers.
Very helpful post & thanks for sharing such an informative post.
Thanks
-Aadarsh
As per Google’s recent algorithm update, long contents work. In long form of content have more space to incorporate lots of relevant and exact match keywords. Especially in B2B business content marketing will be in the top of the funnel, and that drives the customer to conversion funnel.
Thanks for sharing the contentful case studies for our reference.
Long form content has been in trend nowadays. People now prefer to read long form of content instead of short articles or blog. Long form content helps to attract readers towards their blog. Content done in a right manner is an absolutely a hard work. Long form of content entertain marketers as well as readers and audiences.
Great article Ann,
But by writing longer content, you can add LSI keywords in your article. Additionally, your articles start appearing on multiple keywords. Some users prefer to watch a longer video rather than reading longer content.
Long articles are good but too-long articles don’t seem to be good for me as a blogger or reader.
Thanks for the article.