I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your content is probably too long. Human attention spans are shrinking, as evidenced by recent studies that show the span has declined from 12 to eight seconds in the last two decades. For comparison, the attention span of the common goldfish is nine seconds. So, what do we do about it?

Grab attention

First, you must recognize the power that short form content has on your audience. This is the content that grabs attention. You want to leave the audience wanting more, leading them to subscribe or follow. If you give them too much content at the beginning, you’re going to take up their time and cause them to lose interest … perhaps before they even see your best work. That would certainly be a travesty.

I’m not saying long form content doesn’t have a place. Whether you are a blogger, photographer or video producer, your content marketing strategy should include both short and long form content. Long form content is perfectly fine to give the reader specific in-depth knowledge or insight on a topic. But, that has to come after you’ve captured their interest.

This means that you should start with a 30-second video, a short blog post that can be read in a minute, and just a few key photos. No one needs to see your compilation of 50 winter photos, read your 10-minute article or watch a 5-minute video in their first interaction with your content. You are working to build up a following. Short content appeals to all. You can link to longer content in your shorter content for your followers that want to learn more.

Put your best foot forward with shorter content

Short content also forces you to put your best foot forward. You’ll need to spend some time on proper word choice, consolidating your message, selecting a meaningful topic and choosing your best content to show.

Besides getting people to look at your content, short content is excellent at driving traffic to your website, increasing customer engagement, and creating anticipation for future content. If you sell your work, this is how you’ll successfully work your way through the customer sales journey and get that purchase.

As your New Year’s Resolution, just remember these old sayings to allow your content to make a bigger impact with your audience:

  • Short and sweet
  • Less is more
  • Keep it short and simple