The Rise Of Short Content On Social Media

The success of strategies such the "instant article" and "micro-moments" is merely the tip of the iceberg. The term "short content" refers to the tendency of publishers of all sizes to produce bite-size news, funny stories, or compelling stories, that can be shared across social media platforms quickly. Because the general view is that the shorter the video, the less effort required, short content is one of the most common types on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Short content is becoming more and more popular as companies want to compete with their competitors. Where short content has proven to be successful, it is often much less costly and much faster to produce. Change is a constant in this world. Short content is here to stay and is a new trend, that makes sense in today's saturated media sphere. If you aren't ready to adapt to short content, you will be left behind.

What Is Short Content?

Most articles or content on a website are usually around 1000 words, and that is completely arbitrary. Some publishers are very strict about this, while others don't pay much mind to word count. Short content typically falls between 250 and 1500 words and all words, not just the ones that make up the content, are used count. This is important to keep in mind when writing. The rule of thumb is "less is more" when it comes to short content.

There are a few reasons why a company might decide to go with short content instead of full-length articles or features. One reason may be the sheer amount of content, that needs to be published. Another reason may be the budget. A third reason may be because the company's audience understands the medium and does not require any additional explanations. Whatever the reason, if you are tasked with the onerous job of creating short content for a company, you need to ask yourself how you can make the most of the opportunity.

How To Create Short Content?

The most important thing to remember when creating content for a platform like Facebook or Instagram is that it should be shareable. If it is not shareable, then it is useless. That means that it should be short, snappy and to the point. If you have a longer piece of content, that no one would share, then it is better to just create a short video. In that case, you should make the video entertaining and something, that would be shared for that reason alone.

You should also look at your competitor's work. While the general rule of thumb is "competition is good" when it comes to a social media platform like Facebook, that is not always the case. Certain types of content perform well on some of the networks, while other types do not. You need to understand what type of content is popular on each network so that you produce content, that will be liked and shared.

One resource that you can use to get an idea of what content performs well on which networks is the "Insights" feature available on most social media management sites.

Strategies To Stay Relevant

While being relevant is never a sure thing, there are a few things that can give you a better chance than others. This section will outline some of the more effective ways to stay relevant, that are commonly employed by successful social media marketers.

Consistency is the hallmark of a good brand. Your customers get to know your style and they expect it from you. You cannot change who you are. You can only change what you do. Consistency in both action and word is the best policy.

• Being Consistent: Consistency is the first step to remaining relevant and it is also one of the most important. Being consistent is about more, than just your product or service; it is about your branding, your presentation and your interactions. Every piece of communication, that you provide to your customers, potential and existing, should be consistent with what they have seen before. If they see you sharing videos of puppies and babies and kitten-fights, they are likely to expect the same from you. If you are not consistent in your messages, your customers will quickly and easily notice the changes and adapt their behavior accordingly.

• Presentation: Presentation is another important part of your branding. How you physically present yourself is just as significant as what you present. The general rule is that you should always appear as though you are enjoying yourself. Your customers tend to believe, that you are as happy as they are when it comes to interacting with them.

• Interaction: Lastly, the way in which you interact with your customers should be consistent as well. You should treat every customer with the same level of respect and courtesy, that you would like them to extend to you. This is especially true if you are interacting with them over the course of a business transaction, but it goes without saying, that you should be polite whenever possible.

Does Short Content Have A Negative Impact?

While there are several benefits to writing content for the short format, there are also a few drawbacks. The biggest drawback is the time it takes to produce content. As previously mentioned, the average word count for short content is around 1500 words. That is not including the time it takes to actually write and edit the content.

Most companies, that produce short content also produce several other pieces of content (e.g. a video, an info graphic, an e-book). The idea is that the company producing the content will also act as a middle man between the content creator and the company distributing it. This means, that the producer will have to spend as much time as possible focusing on the creation of the content.

Another concern is that certain niches may be better suited for short content. For instance, a certain publication may only publish a handful of articles each month. It is not worth it for them to produce a long essay or a full-blown report just for one or two more eyeballs. As such, certain market segments may only be served by shorter, less substantial content.

Finally, there is the issue of competition and whether or not you are producing content, that is better than what your competitors are creating. The short answer to that question is "it depends". There are two competing factors that you must take into consideration. On one hand, you have the time that the company is willing to commit to producing short content. On the other hand, you have the time that the company is not willing to devote to producing short content.

The reason for this is simple. The more time that a company devotes to producing short content, the less time it has available for other endeavors. When you are competing with other companies, however, they have the same constraints on their time as you do. The trick is to find a happy medium, where you can produce content that is both substantial and entertaining.

What We Can Learn From The Rise Of Short Content?

While there are certainly some drawbacks to short content, there are also some things that we can learn from it. Here are a few of those things.

Short content works, because it is efficient. By that, I mean that it is direct and to the point. There is not a lot of wasted words or ideas. That is why short content is an effective way to connect with an audience on any given subject. It is also why it has become a popular way for many companies to stay relevant and capture the attention of an audience, that is increasingly becoming distracted by the never ending barrage of information, that confronts them on a daily basis.

Short content is also the perfect delivery mechanism for jokes and humorous anecdotes. Humor, as they say, is the lowest form of wit, but it is a popular way to get a point across to an audience, that may not believe you otherwise.

Lastly, short content provides a perfect format for sharing and discussing current events, both in the past and present. This allows the originator of the content to play on the sympathies of the readers and gain more exposure.