Tech News

Is 'Microblogging' Taking Over Long-form Media?

The general consensus is that long, more comprehensive blog posts deliver more value and get more social shares than their shorter counterparts.

By
Shan Hanif
·
July 13, 2020
·
2 min

Long-form blog posts have been the holy grail of content marketing for a long time. In fact, many studies have proven that, among other factors, the length of a post is responsible for its popularity.

The general consensus seems to be that long, more comprehensive posts deliver more value and get more social shares than their shorter counterparts. A word count of 2250-2500 is the sweet spot that gets maximum organic traffic and posts with 3000-10000 words get the highest number of shares.

But this perception is changing. Click-happy net users with dwindling attention spans have no patience to go through long-form content. A Contently survey indicates that 75% of people actually prefer reading posts under 1000 words; only 5% invest time into reading 2000-word plus posts.

To cater to these evolving content-consumption patterns, bite-sized microblogs are becoming popular. Microblogging sites like Twitter and Tumblr are dishing out short-form content that can be consumed on the move, anytime, anywhere.

What Are Microblogs?

Microblogs are concise blog posts (under 300 words) that can have images, GIFs, links, infographics, videos, and audio clips. Although the term “microblogging” is relatively new, the practice isn’t. Many of us are already microblogging without being aware of it.

The Benefits of Microblogging

The marketing community has started paying more attention to microblogging. The payoff is hard to resist - create and share concise posts and receive instant results. But before we dive into the technical side, let’s take a closer look at why you should start microblogging to increase engagement for your brand.

Reduced Effort

You can create numerous microblog posts in the same amount of time as it would take you to create one long-form content piece. Creating long-form posts multiple times in a day is not viable, creatively or practically. Microblog posts, on the other hand, take minutes to write up and post.

Microblogging delivers value for money which is a powerful incentive for small businesses and brands. They can cut back on content creation expenditure and maximise their returns.

Always-On Strategy

Consistency is the key to effective content marketing. Brands that post frequently get better engagement. Consumers rely on such brands as their go-to resources for instant gratification.

For brands, microblogs are a way to keep in touch with their audience 24X7. For instance, a simple tweet can broadcast news more efficiently than a lengthy post or press release.

Mobile Friendliness

Today, consumers are obsessed with their devices. They check their mobile phones every 12 minutes, 40% within five minutes of waking up.

Microblogging sites like Pinterest and Twitter are getting traction because they’re available as nifty mobile apps that modern consumers love to use. By microblogging on these sites, brands can access a wide audience base and gain visibility.

Top Microblogging Sites

Microblogging sites are popular because they’re serving content in formats that today’s users find palatable.

While there are many microblogging sites out there, we’ve identified Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook as the frontrunners. Reddit and LinkedIn are also catching up fast! This is primarily due to their remarkable traffic numbers and page-view data.

With a minimal investment of time and funds, microblogs can help your brand grab the limelight. You can leverage this information to create or enhance your microblogs which will drive traffic and sales towards your brands website.

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