The Social Article: How to Use Long-Form Content

Take it from us: long-form content is alive and well. But boring, wordy, stilted content lies six feet under, and it won’t crawl out of that grave any time soon.

Enter the social article, one of our many social media solutions. Unlike other types of content — which may be written for search engines — the social article is primarily for engagement which, in social media terms, means likes, comments, reactions, and shares. Since the social article is written for engagement, the social article is the time to speak with your true brand voice. Not sure what to talk about? These are some great topics for social articles:

Featured Services

Do you have an exciting new product or service on the way? Tell everyone with a social article — but hold the sales-speak. Tell us about your product without making it about you. Instead, focus on how your products and services into the lifestyle of your customers. Switch “cutting-edge” for “convenient” and “we” for “you.” Speak to your prospective buyers as customers rather than dollar signs.

Behind the Scenes

You might wonder, “do people really want to know what we’re up to on a day-to-day basis?” Absolutely. A social media page, website, or email are just distant digital fragments of the work and time that you put into your business. In a social article, you can describe your industry and your work — but tell us about your culture too. Maybe you’ve got some pranksters on the team or generous bakers that bring treats. It’s time to put names and faces to the branding you’ve painstakingly cultivated over the years.

Your Best Employees

If you’re client-facing, your regulars recognize your employees and vice versa — so there’s a good chance you’ve been seeing or hearing glowing commentary about some employees.

Now more than ever, consumers are concerned with how brands treat their employees.

Why not feature your friendliest employees in a social article? A short interview, for example, is a great way to showcase the relationship between employer, employee, and customer. As a bonus, your social media followers will be delighted to see a familiar face!

Community Involvement

Local businesses are essential to communities, and not just in the form of goods and services. Many local businesses participate in community activities with sponsorships or volunteering. Now take it online and tell followers about the significance of your involvement. Whether your business played in a role in a minor league game or a charity event.

Relevant Interests

Use the social article to contextualize your products or services. You can have all the branding and exposure in the world, but sometimes it takes a gentle nudge from the business to help customers envision their products at home or in daily life.

For example, let’s say you sell furniture. You can use the social article to discuss different styles of furniture, decorating around certain pieces, or how to arrange furniture. With the right context and encouragement, the midcentury modern sofa turns into their midcentury sofa.

Social articles underscore your know-how and credibility as a brand and business. Once you have your social article, it’s all yours: add it to your website, make an email of it, print it out — anything you want. And just like that, you’ve narrowed the gap between man and marketing.