Posting content online can be a shot in the dark for many PR pros, bloggers and social media managers.
Although determining a post’s success can’t be boiled down to a single formula, content length often can mean the difference between five shares and 5,000.
Content marketers from Express Writers compiled data from various analytics organizations to create an infographic guide for social media.
From listicles and lengthy blog posts to tweets and Pinterest board posts, here are five best practices for determining optimum content lengths:
1. Be helpful.
Clarity is crucial to how well your content is received. Readers want a takeaway; make sure your content is well-written and leaves a lasting impression.
Try to limit your character count to 100 to find success on Twitter.
Instead of using too much detail or rigorously adhering to the expression “short and sweet,” Express Writers say it’s most beneficial to strike a balance with the length of your tweets.
[RELATED: Produce content that boosts lead gen, brand awareness and reputation.]
“Medium length tweets (71–100 characters) are retweeted more often than large (101 or longer) or small (41–70) character tweets,” the infographic states. “Twitter is built on brevity. One hundred character tweets are easy for users to consume.”
2. Don’t blab.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Don’t use ‘quarter’ words when ‘nickel’ words will do”?
This rings especially true in content marketing. Express Writers found that writing with superfluous detail “will cost you readers and damage the quality of your content.”
As content lengths on social media vary from platform to platform, data point to the opposite of what most marketers think of an ideal Facebook post.
“[Though] Facebook is often thought of [as] a long-form content platform in comparison to Twitter, it may surprise you to know that the ideal character limit is actually shorter than a tweet,” the infographic states.
Data suggest the ideal length for a successful Facebook post is 40 characters, as those posts earned 86 percent more engagement than longer posts. The second-best length to shoot for is 80 characters. Posts ranging from 40 to 80 characters received roughly 65 percent more engagement than posts exceeding that length.
3. Add visuals.
Catching a reader’s eye is important. Express Writers found that posts with a single visual earned 94 percent more views than text-only posts.
RELATED: Get the scoop on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram developments at Facebook headquarters.
When it comes to highly visual social media platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest, the difference between scrolling past and clicking comes down to the size and scale of your selected image.
On Pinterest, pins with an image height of 800 pixels or greater earn substantially more repins than those with smaller images or none at all. Choose high-resolution graphics such as memes, infographics, GIFs and screenshots to draw readers in.
4. Craft a compelling call to action.
Readers often look to social media posts for guidance. From investigating what to read and watch on TV to what songs to listen to or topics to write about, consumers seek out content that will advise them.
This is when a call to action can help you create a huge shift in your conversions and rankings.
“By telling your readers exactly what you want them to do, you stand a better chance of [their] actually doing it,” the infographic states.
On platforms that are unique to DIY experiences, such as Pinterest, calls to action are especially important. Data show that pins featuring calls to action earn 80 percent more engagement than those that didn’t.
Don’t be afraid to ask your readers for their insight on a topic, to post photos of their work or to share your content to their networks.
5. Be responsive (engage).
Conversations don’t always have to end when you hit “share” on Facebook or “publish” on WordPress. To continue a post after it’s published, share follow-up content, ping your wall with questions, or message followers directly.
Express Writers found that properly using keywords is vital to the success of your responses. Search queries with eight or more words have risen significantly. This means that content targeting longer keywords will perform better.
Even if a piece of content is long, it’s important to hone your topic and promote it. Research found that the ideal reading length of a blog post is seven minutes, or 1,600 words. A post of that length can serve as a signal for search engines and therefore give you a boost in ranking.
If you’ve written a lengthy blog post, use keywords when you link to it on social media.
What content lengths works best for your social media channels, PR Daily readers?
(Image via)from Ragan.com http://ift.tt/1MqpNgz via web video marketing
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1RPYBbd
No comments:
Post a Comment