Social media dictates a fast-paced marketing strategy that can keep up with the constant flurry of tweets, Instagrams, and Facebook statuses. However, there is still room in a non-profit’s marketing strategy to successfully incorporate both long and short-form content. Non-profits need to develop thoughtful long-form content that insightfully portrays their mission and relevance while using short-form content to grab the attention of their audience.
In order to successfully incorporate both short and long-form content into a comprehensive marketing strategy, your non-profit must develop a personal, opinionated writing style. Your voice needs to be coherent and consistent across the wide variety of mediums that are necessary for an effective digital marketing campaign.
Attention-Grabbing Short-Form Content
As you undoubtedly know, current social media trends supply endless outlets for short-form content. Between GIFs, snapchats, photos, Tweets, and statuses, non-profits have a plethora of short-form content options. Short-form content is especially crucial if your organization is targeting young people, because often, that target demographic will not take the time to assess long-form content. The power of short-form content has become so great that blogs now seem long.
One of the reasons that short-form content is so potent is that it is easy to access on mobile devices. Since the majority of Americans are making the switch to smartphones, short-form content is available anywhere and everywhere. Another advantage of mobile-optimization is that short-form content is more prone to going viral. What non-profit wouldn’t love to see its name go viral with a piece of outstanding short-form content?
The downside of short-form content is that it never really offers in-depth knowledge. An organization can create interaction with it, but not true engagement with the issues and values that are important to the non-profit. There are no real short cuts to meaty, informative content, which is why non-profits still need excellent long-form content.
Insightful Long-Form Content
Although many non-profits may be tempted to gloss over the need for long-form content in the interest of cutting costs, long-form content is actually the place where you can convince leads to turn into conversions. Long-form requires more time and investment because it is intended to provoke more substantive discussion about the issues behind your cause. It may not seem as enticing or exciting as short-form, but long-form content is the area where your non-profit persuades your audience that your mission is worthwhile and valuable.
Long-form content is more focused on quality and value. In longer posts, your organization can provide commentary and perspective world issues. Readers that might actually donate to your cause should be willing to digest substantive information, so don’t be afraid of long-form content scaring them away!
Effective Integration
Ultimately, both forms have value and should be integral parts of your marketing strategy. A creative mix of both will serve to generate interest through short-form content that drives consumers towards the substance of long-form content. A clever illustration of this concept comes from libraries. The card catalog is short-form content that directs readers towards the long-form content found in the books. Without the other, both elements are useless.
