Do you want to hear something cool that is going to help you reach a wider audience?
Of course! Today’s latest news involves the trusty channel Facebook.
Yes, Facebook has a new change coming that can really help improve your content outreach; but how? The channel is providing its users with the ability to create long-form content pieces on their new platform, called Facebook’s long-form content platform.
Is this the new face of blogging? What can you expect and how can you use it? Let’s take a look!
Facebook’s Long-Form Content Platform Is Harking Back to the Good Old Days – Remember Notes?
Facebook is constantly trying to make the channel more user-friendly, as well as helping businesses reach out to new audiences. The social media giant is creating a long form blogging platform and it will be using the once popular notes feature.
Do you remember notes?
Those handy things people would share their latest updates on, do silly question and answer surveys, and more.
Well, for a while, notes seemingly disappeared, losing popularity.
However, Facebook is revamping Notes giving people the ability to blog directly on the channel. The site is hoping to become yet another player in the direct long-form blogging platforms, keeping people on Facebook and away from the competition. Now, Notes will become Facebook’s long-form content platform.
The idea of a long-form content platform isn’t anything new – Medium has been doing it for a while now and LinkedIn opened the ability to all users last year. (I’ll be looking at these more in depth later in the blog.)
And now Facebook wants to be added amongst those channels, keeping users on Facebook instead of seeing them leave for another channel.
Facebook Doesn’t Want to Lose the Content Game: So The Long-Form Platform Is Happening
You saw me mentioned Medium and LinkedIn, but just what am I talking about? These two channels provide long-form content platforms for users, giving people immediate access to blogs.
People don’t have to go to a separate web page when reading the content, which is one of the reasons Facebook is going to utilize Instant Articles, as well.
What is Medium? It is a blogging platform that came about a few years ago. While it didn’t seem to catch on quickly then, users are starting to pick up and more people are going to the channel.
It is a simple blogging platform created by Twitter co-founder, Evan Williams. Its sole purpose is to give people the chance to write and read excellent content without the distractions of other social channels.
Along with channels like Medium, LinkedIn started allowing people to create blog content directly on the site – opening it up to all users. This is definitely something that all businesses have been using to great success.
Facebook began to notice this, and the social channel finally decided to take steps to rectify the lack of blogging abilities on the platform.
This is where Notes comes into play with the ability to write long-form content. According to Matt Southern from Search Engine Journal, Facebook is testing out a Medium-like approach to long-form content with this revamped approach.
Will it be successful? There’s no knowing for sure, but since Facebook is such an important and established channel, it is likely it will gain momentum.
7 Incredibly Awesome Ways to Use Facebook’s Long-Form Content Platform
This is going to be great for so many small businesses, and I want to take a look at just how you can use this new platform for your business page.
1. Create Incredible, Easy-to-Access Content. A great way to use this platform is to provide easy-to-access content to your followers. While they might be more than willing to head to your site, this can give busy people the chance to read your content quicker.
You don’t have to focus solely on this platform, and you really shouldn’t, but it is a great way to gain access to more readers and build your audience.
2. Always Utilize Amazing, Eye-Catching Images in Your Posts. One thing you should always remember is that Facebook is still a very visual place. Those images you use in your social postings? You’ll need them on the long-form content platform, too.
Facebook says that those images are really what will help bring in viewers for your Notes. The blog showcases one post that, when using an image, got 14,642 shares. The business page that posted the image only had about 600 fans.
Can you see just how important an image is?
People are more likely to share something that has an image, and when you add something eye-catching or adorable, you will see more interaction.
3. Come Up With Excellent Facebook-Only Content for Your Users. Whoa, wait. Facebook only content? Aren’t you supposed to make content for all platforms you use?
Yes! However, this is a great way to engage with your Facebook followers, as well as reach a newer audience on the channel. You can offer Facebook exclusives meaning that people will get something awesome if they follow and read.
This will help make them all feel special, share your content, and keep coming back.
4. Create Awesome, Engaging Content that Really Speaks to Your Audience. Since you’re writing on Facebook, you definitely need to make sure the post is engaging. People don’t want to waste their time reading a post on Facebook that isn’t interesting.
Creating engaging content isn’t all that hard, especially if you’ve already been writing it.
A few tips to take to heart when writing engaging content are to provide your audience with something of value, use a great flowing format, and be consistent with your tone.
Your Facebook followers will definitely appreciate this with your long-form content.
5. Write On Something Absolutely Trendy. Since you are writing on Facebook for a Facebook audience, this gives you the chance to write on something trendy.
Writing on trending topics gives you the chance to be current with your readers and build a great relationship with them. There are tons of topics you can use any given month, which gives you an endless supply of awesome ideas for Facebook.
Don’t worry; if you’re finding it hard to locate great trending topics, Elisabeth Michaud from Hootsuite lists some great tips.
Locate these topics, and start utilizing Facebook’s new platform to get those pieces out to your audience.
6. Be Yourself, Be Personal, and Write in the First Person. When writing content, you always want to make sure it comes across as genuine. This is vital no matter where you are sharing it.
When it comes to writing for Facebook’s new platform, you need to make sure you reach out to audiences and be as genuine as possible. There are so many ways to do so, helping you establish yourself and build client-business relationships.
A few great ways to be more personal, according to Mark Lerner from Business2Community are to write in the first person, incorporate emotion, and don’t hesitate to state your opinions.
7. This is Long-Form Content – Don’t be Afraid of Writing Longer Pieces. It’s in the name – long-form content. This means you can definitely write longer content pieces.
This is always debated amongst content marketers, but long content is quite successful.
SERPIQ did a study looking into content length to find how many words got the most clicks, reads, and shares. The study shows that pieces that are over 2000 words tend to get the best traction from people.
Take a look at the screenshot below to see what the study found:
Believing that people don’t like longer content is a major content myth that so many people have. As you can see, many people do, in fact, like reading lengthier content.
And remember, it isn’t just about the length of your content, but it is also about the quality. Just because you have a longer piece doesn’t mean people will like it.
Make sure you focus on the quality of what you’re writing and if it provides value.
Don’t worry; if you write shorter content, people will like that too. Just always be sure to include longer pieces, especially when writing on Facebook’s new platform.
Are You Ready for Long-Form Facebook Content?
Facebook long-form content is really going to be an exciting time for businesses and users; are you ready?
If you’re already writing blogs for your business site, then you are just one step away from creating excellent Facebook content.
Simply add content for Facebook’s new platform to your blogging mix, write excellent posts for the channel, and you’ll start to see some awesome engagement.
Looking for great content to share on your blogs or even on Facebook’s new content platform? Express Writers can provide you with the blog content you’re looking for.