Engage Your Audience With Long-Form Digital Content

Editor's note: This is a guest post from Digital Diplomat Sunny Chawla

If you ask two digital marketers about the long-form of digital content, you will get two different answers from both of them. One will say that the long-form of content is a long shot, in that it challenges the audience's miniscule attention spans and therefore, there are slim chances that it will work. The other might say that producing long articles is a good way to engage with the readers and offer them value for their time. Suffice to say that the long-form content evangelist is right. Now, there is confusion on what is long-form of digital content. Some people consider articles longer than 700 words to be the long-form of digital content, while, others think that content needs to be of more than 1,800 words to be categorized as the long-form of content. Irrespective of what some content marketers might think, many readers yearn for meatier articles and publishers are ever ready to oblige. Kevin Delaney, Quartz's editor-in-chief does not prepare content on his site in the typical news-friendly 500-800 word range. He does this because he feels too many sites adhere religiously to this format.

---

Patagonia

Patagonia used its mission or purpose to drive long-form video content and connected with its audiences on a personal level. It created a special program, which enabled its customers to purchase recycled and reused Patagonia gear. In a video titled 'Worn Wear', the brand shares the stories of its customers and their clothes. The brands message is clear in the whole video. "The most responsible thing you can do is buy used clothing".  This inspirational thought resonated with its audience and collected over 8, 00,000 YouTube views to date and still counting. Thus, this is a classic example of digital content engaging the audience.

---

Chevorlet

This brand evoked emotion in its audience by displaying inspirational people and life stories. The brand created a documentary highlighting Mo'ne Davis' achievements. She was the first female pitcher to have a shutout game in the Little League World Series. This accomplishment made her the first female baseball pitcher to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The documentary created by the brand interviews Davis, her family, friends and makes her share what makes her unique as the daughter of America and as a human being in general.  This film was so emotional that it left the audience inspired to accomplish the impossible.

---

General Electric

This brand showed how the long-form of the video could be a great opportunity to educate one's audience with visual learning tools. It showed in-person interviews, diagrams, demonstrations and more, through its videos.  From its name, GE comes across largely as a power company. However, it has business interests in aviation, transportation, lighting and more. So they educated the masses by creating a video series titled "into the wild', This series follows former Myth buster Adam Savage as he tries to understand the science behind the many products and services of the company.  Through expert interviews, animations and easy to fathom explanations, Adam and his audience spread the message of GE powering the world.

---

Cisco

This brand believes that you should grab your audience's attention through a suspenseful story that leaves the audience gasping for more. The brand created a video that emphasizes how a hacker finishes ransom ware. Although, the video is informative enough, what woos the audience is the suspense created in the film. 
​

By creating a short movie about a hacker implementing a successful ransom ware attack, the audience is left gasping for further information and protection.  This makes it one of Cisco's most watched YouTube videos traffic until date.  This is another example of how long-form digital content can be used to engage audiences.

IBM

The brand humanized the company and showed the expertise of its people by highlighting the personalities that make the brand exciting to work for. Through the exploration of the team that created its first polymer bonds, IBM exemplified how a strong team bond with a diverse background can give rise to innovation. By allowing its people to share their backgrounds, it humanized IBM while establishing their credibility.  This is another good example of how the long-form of digital content can be successfully used to woo customers and audiences alike. It emphasized the importance of its people through its videos. Thus, it humanized the company.

Conclusion

These are great examples of how brands engaged their audiences with the long-form of digital content.

---

About the guest blogger - Sunny Chawla is a Marketing Manager at AIS Technolabs. Web design and Development Company, helping global businesses to grow by Hiring Web Developers. He would love to share thoughts on Digital Marketing India, Game Applications Development etc..  For More: LinkedIn | Twitter