“Long-form content” is the cornerstone of content marketing. Brands like yours can use long-form content to engage your audience with detailed explorations into topics that matter to them.
But hold on… there is already SO MUCH content out there. How can you stand out? How can you share insights and information without copying your competitors? How do you find fresh ideas for your long-form content without repeating yourself?
Let’s go over some strategies for topic ideation, so your well never runs dry!
Examples of Long-form Content
The beauty of long-form content is that you can execute it in the way(s) that make the most sense for your audience to consume. Examples include:
- Blogs: In-depth articles posted on your website or third-party platforms.
- Books/e-books: I don’t think I need to define this one for you 😉
- Case Studies: Detailed analysis of a specific project or client’s success.
- Feature articles: Often found in magazines, these can include expert insights, extensive research, and detailed analysis.
- Newsletters: Long-form emails providing updates and valuable content directly to subscribers.
- Podcasts: Audio content (scripted or unscripted) that can feature expert interviews.
- Videos: Visual content that can include tutorials and lessons.
- Webinars: Live or recorded presentations offering expert opinions.
- White Papers: Authoritative reports or research papers that inform readers about complex issues and suggest solutions.
I will let you in on a not-so-secret marketing secret: Savvy brands allow these tactics to overlap!
I recently helped a client compile her top blog articles into a book. Every month, I rewrite another client’s best-performing podcast episode of the month into a blog article. You can also create a video summarizing your white paper content, share webinar highlights in your newsletters, and more. A great piece of content can live on in multiple formats.
The Importance of Long-form Content
Besides the fact that long-form content can be presented in multiple formats, it has other benefits for your content marketing strategy, including:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Comprehensive content tends to perform well in search results since search engines like Google prioritize content that provides in-depth, high-quality information on topics that people want to explore.
- Audience Engagement: Longer content keeps readers on your website longer, which can improve site metrics and lead to higher engagement rates.
- Authority and Expertise: By thoroughly covering topics, you demonstrate industry authority and depth of knowledge, which builds trust with your audience and establishes you as a thought leader.
- Lead Generation: Long-form content often provides enough value to warrant gated access, such as e-books or white papers, helping you collect leads.
- Social Shares: In-depth articles or videos provide value that readers are more likely to share with their networks, increasing your content’s reach and influence. This content also provides great fodder for your own social media posts.
How to Find Great Ideas for Your Long-form Content
Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that long-form content is worth the effort! But it can be daunting to choose topics. I invite you to grab a pen and start jotting down some ideas as you read through this next section.
1. Compile a List of Your Audience’s Pain Points
Why do people hire you for your services or buy your products? What problem(s) do you help them solve? What are their top questions/concerns when they come to you?
For example, let’s say you are a natural foods store. Your audience is probably concerned about eating healthy, avoiding certain ingredients in food, and living a clean lifestyle. Those are three pain points that can be expanded into a ton of content topics, such as a white paper about food ingredients that are potentially harmful and a multi-blog series about clean living!
2. Conduct a Brief Competitor Analysis
Visit the websites and social media channels of your competitors and make notes about the long-form content they’re creating. Think about how you can approach the content in a fresh way or perhaps deliver it in a more engaging way.
For example, does a competitor publish informative videos on its YouTube channel? What topics are covered? Can you offer expertise on similar or adjacent topics? Make a list! In this example, you could also consider launching a podcast, which might be a more engaging way to present the information, especially if you invite experts to be interviewed.
3. Dive into Keyword Analysis
It’s important to understand the types of searches your target audience conducts on Google, so you can tailor your long-form content to show up in those results. Valuable, high-quality content that satisfies your audience’s queries is great for customer acquisition and improves your Google rankings.
Neil Patel is a leading SEO and keyword expert, so to get a breakdown of how to conduct keyword analysis, check out his “Fundamentals of Keyword Research” article. As you go through each step of his article, you’ll start coming up with more content ideas to add to your list.
4. Keep Up with Current Events and Trends
What’s happening in your industry? What news or current event affects what you do? You can address current trends and developments in your long-form content.
For example, let’s say you provide financial planning services. If the federal government releases new guidelines around retirement contributions or a new law comes out that affects pension plans – your audience cares about those topics. Write long-form vlogs or record videos explaining the governmental jargon in layperson’s terms, focusing on the actual impact on your clients and giving them actionable next steps.
5. Glean Ideas from Unrelated Content
We all have interests that don’t necessarily align with our businesses! Stay curious about the world around you, and get inspired by content you encounter in other places.
For example, let’s say you run a veterinary clinic but enjoy stock trading in your free time. If you run across an engaging webinar that explains an aspect of stock trading in a cool and compelling way, how can you emulate that style in your next long-form video for your vet clinic?
This can also be as simple as paying attention to what makes YOU click something. As you scroll social media, what video “hooks” draw you in? What ad headlines make you pause? When you’re driving to school drop-off, which billboards always catch your eye? Think about how you can adapt those headlines and hooks into content topics for your brand.
6. Make Generative AI Your Best Friend
We got all the way to number six without mentioning AI! Can you believe it?
ChatGPT is your secret weapon for long-form content ideation. Here’s my step-by-step advice for using an AI tool (my preference is Magai – click here for a free trial [affiliate link]) to come up with content ideas!
First, feed ChatGPT your website homepage content and ask it to summarize what you do, your audience demographics, and your tone of voice.
Depending on what it generates, you might need to edit and refine that summary so that ChatGPT clearly understands what you do. In your next prompt, give ChatGPT that finalized summary and instruct it to help you come up with long-form content ideas for your brand.
I recommend being specific with this direction; otherwise, you could get some pretty off-base answers. Here are five specific, two-part prompts you can try!
Important: For each of these prompt examples, you’ll see the phrase “long-form content” used. Instead of using this phrase, make sure you specify the exact type of content you’re going to create – podcast, video, blog, book, etc. This will help ChatGPT give you more useful output.
- Prompt 1A: “Give me a bulleted list of 10 pain points my audience has.”
- Prompt 1B: “Turn each of those ten pain points into five long-form content ideas. For each idea, I want a title and a two-sentence summary.”
- Prompt 2A: “Here is a bulleted list of long-form content topics I’ve already covered” (or) “Here is a bulleted list of long-form content topics my competitor has created” [paste list]. “Generate ten fresh ideas that are similar but not identical.”
- Prompt 2B: “I really like these ideas you gave me.” [paste only the ideas that you liked] “Give me ten more ideas that are similar to these. For each idea, I want a title and a two-sentence summary.”
- Prompt 3A: “Based on this summary of my audience’s pain points, [paste summary], generate a list of ten industry trends that directly impact these interests. I need detailed insights for each trend.”
- Prompt 3B: “These are the industry trends that make the most sense” [past list]. “Now create long-form content ideas that address how these trends change how my audience interacts with products/services like mine. For each content idea, I want a title and a two-sentence summary.”
- Prompt 4A: “Here is a list of my audience’s most frequently asked questions [paste list]. Give me ten long-form content ideas that answer these questions thoroughly. For each content idea, I want a title and a two-sentence summary.”
- Prompt 4B: “Using these article ideas [paste the ones that you liked], I need related subtopics for each. These will be follow-up topics or part of a series. For each content idea, I want a title and a two-sentence summary.”
- Prompt 5A: “Analyze the following customer testimonials [paste testimonials]. What are the underlying themes or commonalities you see?”
- Prompt 5B: “Now I want you to suggest ten long-form content ideas that align with these themes. For each content idea, I want a title and a two-sentence summary.”
Start Creating Compelling Long-form Content!
Long-form content is not just about filling space or feeding the SEO beast; it’s about providing comprehensive and engaging resources that build your brand reputation.
Now that you have a nice long list of ideas, it’s time to start creating your content! But if you’re more of an idea-generator than a content creator, reach out to me. I’d love to help you bring your long-form content dreams to life.