How Long-Form Content Connects with Audiences

I write long email newsletters. Like, really long. Long enough that occasionally someone complains about how long it is. And I'm okay with that. "But content marketing best practices say to make snackable content!" "No one has the attention span for a five page email!" Some people don't. Some people want the tiny, snackable, nugget-sized emails, and I am not the right fit for them. I am not the best choice. I will not serve their needs well. But here's the thing about long-form content: it requires thoughtfulness on the part of the reader. It requires setting aside time and maybe a beverage to consume. It requires focus. That also happens to describe our ideal customer. I'm not a politician. My company doesn't sell knee-jerk reactions. And customers who are purely Kahnemann System 1 thinkers tend to be bad customers for us. They're the ones who demand instant gratification, try to nickel and dime us to death, hate hearing "bad news" (aka data that doesn't tell the story they want to hear), and fundamentally don't understand the value of what we do. They aren't strategic thinkers who can think long term, who can see many sides of an issue, who understand that once you get beyond the basics, nuance and "it depends" are the most frequent answers you'll get from actual experts, frustrating though that may be. So in some ways, the super long email newsletter (as long as the content is good) is a filtering mechanism. It screens out those folks who want shortcuts and easy answers instead of developing their own proficiency, skill, and slow-cooked expertise. There's nothing wrong with short-form content, snackable content, etc. McDonalds is a global billion dollar franchise for a reason. If that's what your audience demands of you, and your audience is valuable to you, give it to them. It's not right for a good chunk of my audience, and not right for the people I would like to have as customers. Ask yourself this question: are you creating the content types you make now because that's the way you've always done it, or because that's what your best customers really want?

In 2018, I started a LinkedIn newsletter. It now has 50,265 subscribers. Here's what I learned from growing it... First and foremost, understand that long-form content isn't dead. 😯 Somewhere in the year 2015, an alarming statistic caught fire online… The average human attention span is only 8.25! Less than a goldfish! The problem?  The original publisher of this “fact” was a website chiefly built for SEO optimization, and the “research” the site purported to derive this number from was 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. Still, it makes sense why 8.25 seconds was so widely accepted as the new benchmark of focus. Look no further than social media platforms like TikTok to see that high-performing content often power-packs entertainment or knowledge in the most bite-sized pieces. But if you’re aiming to be an industry thought leader, you need to have some type of long-form content (i.e., articles, podcasts, YouTube videos). This is because YOU are the product at the end of the day, and long-form content allows you to dive deep into subjects, showcasing your knowledge and expertise. Depth is crucial for establishing yourself or your brand as an authority in your field. Sure, Adam Grant can write pithy statuses across social media, but his books and insightful, lengthier lectures underpin his credibility. Long-form content will also propel content consistency. Every big creator utilizes long-form content to fuel their content frequency. Gary Vaynerchuk is a fan of the "Content Pyramid," and Justin Welsh follows a "hub and spoke model." No matter which model you use, the idea is that you publish an in-depth piece (article, video, podcast) and repurpose it as smaller pieces. Are you using long-form content in your personal brand? How is it working for you? #personalbrand #personalbranding #socialmedia #creatoreconomy

Okay, this is going to press some buttons. But I’m not afraid to put my stake in the ground after two decades of business in the Influencer space. So here it is: You can’t build a sustainable business on short-form content alone, even though it’s hard as H3ll to produce, and it feels like you should be able to. Your success is actually found in long-form content, and it actually makes sense when we break it down. I tell everyone this “all the money is in long form content”. (Yea, yea, yea, OK — your TikTok buddy is earning $100K doing only short-form content? Well, guess what? He / she would be earning $1 MILLION then if they produced long-form content.) The viewing habit of this generation of social consumers is actually in direct contradiction to connection habits of us as humans. You know how it goes… - You watch a short clip and move on.  - Ten or 20 minutes or even 3 hours are gone in a flash. - You probably can’t name a single Creator you’ve watched. - You can’t recall the specifics of a video you watched from your feed either. Now, take that same time but put it into long-form content. You are investing 8-12 minutes on a single video or storyline. You are investing in the Creator and CAN recall specifics. The result? You feel more connected to the content AND to the Creator. This, my friends, is why the rates per brand integration are higher for long form vs short term. The YouTube / Google money machine pays a higher rate, but TikTok’s success is ruining the Creator financial model. Bad news for Creators hoping to monetize their audience from short-form content alone. Why? You haven’t built an audience connection. People buy from people they trust, but if they are only seeing your face or content for 10 to 20-seconds at a time, good luck. Like your mom said about snacks, snackable content fools you into thinking you’ve been fed. But the reality is you need BOTH. → Short-form content is basically your sales and marketing arm. It brings in a new audience. → Long-form keeps your audience engaged and converts them into brand-repping, product-purchasing subscribers and fans. Short-term content has its place, but it’ll never replace the monetization ability of long-form. Think of it as the advertising arm of your long content business. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. → Who is your favorite long-form Creator? Why? #creatoreconomy #tiktok #youtube #linkedin —- + I’m Mike. I’m the co-founder of @Semaphore Family of Companies, the leading Creator and Brand Influencer Agency. We work with many of the world’s most notable influencers and some of the world’s biggest brands (brand deals, negotiations, influencer marketing, merchandising, licensing, tax, accounting and more). DM me for a convo.

You aren't a goldfish and Long-form content isn't dead The longest video I ever made was 45 minutes long It also has 1.8 million views on it In B2B we've been trained to think that short-form is for authenticity and long-form for stuffy webinars and podcasts. I was recently reminded that this is so far from the truth: "Our average watch time on Salesforce+ during Dreamforce was 154 minutes." - Colin Fleming That stat should serve as inspiration for every B2B marketer reading this. It's proof that when you have intentionality behind the content you're creating and execute well, people will stick around! The example cited is a 45 minute video on angle grinder safety. "People don't even take the time to look at the instructions that come in the box, they're certainly not going to watch a 45 minute video on safety best practices..." Well, it turns out when you create the content with intention, they do. We knew some things about a particular segment of our audience (welding instructors at trade schools): 1. There was a gap in content about this topic that they needed. 2. The content that was available didn't touch on everything that instructors needed to cover. 3. This is content that every instructor was required to teach 4. The only available content on that topic was stuffy and didn't resonate with students. So we created a video that accomplished those things. - It required everything that was required by instructors so they could hit play on a video during day 1 of class - We did demonstrations of the destruction that ensues with improper safety measures to keep students interested - We sourced real-world (graphic) images of grinder injuries from our audience that instructors could point to (SEE!) and that made students cringe. Be intentional about the content you create and long-form becomes an asset. --- The talk Colin did at Goldenhour brought up so many good ideas that I'm going to be implementing in our own content strategy at AudiencePlus. You can watch the full thing by clicking the link at the top of this post (by my profile pic)

Long boring whitepapers are cool. Every day I read advice on how the best marketing is simple and concise. But what if we're wrong, and the best marketing is thorough and complete? What if long-form content is the true driver of conversions? Can shallow, bite-sized content hinder marketing efforts? Let's look at some numbers: 1️⃣ According to Semrush, long-form content of 3000+ words gets 3x more traffic than articles of average length (901-1200 words). 2️⃣ BuzzSumo found that content between 3,000-10,000 words got the most average social shares. While it may seem like quick reads are the ones that get passed along, the data shows otherwise. 3️⃣ According to a survey by Neil Patel, people stayed on long-form content pages 40% longer than the average page. They also looked at 25% more pages than the average visitor. 4️⃣ A study by Backlinko found that long-form content (3,000+ words) gets an average of 77.2% more referring domain links than short articles. Short-form content is great for the hook, but when it comes to really exploring an idea, educating your audience, or showcasing expertise, long-form is king. Of course, every marketing strategy should include a mix of short-form and long-form content. But with all the talk of reducing attention spans in our fast-paced world, it's nice to see that long-form content is still a boon for lead generation.

Why are brands returning to long-form content? Short-form content has dominated for years, but now brands are shifting back toward slower, more intentional storytelling. Why? Because trust isn't built in 15 seconds. Miu Miu, Saint Laurent, and On are creating cinematic short films. Brands like Bilt, Alexis Bittar, and GANT are producing episodic series. Rare Beauty, TORY BURCH, and Saie are connecting through thoughtful Substack essays. CHANEL and Gucci are Investing in podcasts. Short-form content still matters for discovery and reach. But it lacks depth—and depth is crucial for genuine connection and trust. Long-form content provides room to build a meaningful story, express a clear point of view, and create immersive worlds that audiences want to revisit. And now, with AI flooding feeds with easily-produced short-form videos, standing out requires something deeper. Long-form is harder to fake, takes greater effort, and ultimately builds credibility and lasting brand affinity. The best strategies balance both: use short-form to spark interest, and long-form to cultivate trust. That’s how your brand moves from simply being seen to truly being remembered. #digitalmarketing #socialmedia #strategy