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Don’t Cut Yourself Short – Go Long Form

December 13, 2017

In a world where 140-character tweets, Facebook posts, and USA Today style graphics are the range, it’s easy to assume that brevity is the key to great content creation. Add to that the reality that more and more of us are accessing our online news, social networks and other content via our smartphones and it would be easy to make the leap that people don’t want to read long form stories anymore.

That’s the danger in marketing. We observe and assume. There’s a place for that in the mix but we need to check those assumptions against something a bit more objective and with a broader lens than our own experience.

That’s why I was so fascinated by a study out of the Pew Research Center that found that long-form news articles are actually more effective than shorter pieces for audiences viewing the content on their smartphones.

According to Pew, the total engaged time (which they defined as time spent scrolling, clicking or tapping) with news stories that were 1,000 words or longer averaged about twice the amount of time spent with stories of under 1,000 words. The longer articles earned 123 seconds versus the shorter articles being consumed in 57 seconds on average.

Another conclusion we might jump to is that well sure, the longer articles were longer, so of course, people spent more time reading them. But other bits of evidence suggest it was more than that.

Some people dismiss writing longer articles because they think if a browser lands on something that long, they’ll abandon the story without reading it. But the study showed that the long-form stories attracted visitors at nearly the same rate as short-form stories.

Not only did people not shy away from these longer pieces but the truth is, they really dug in.

36 percent of interactions with long-form news lasted more than two minutes, compared with 10 percent for short-form news.
66 percent of complete interactions with short-form stories were one minute or shorter, compared with 42 percent for long-form news.

How the reader got to the article mattered as well. If the long form reader was served up the piece via an internal link, they spent an average of 148 seconds with the piece. If they got to the piece directly or via a link in an email, their time investment dropped to 132 seconds. Social media links got the shortest time span – 111 seconds.

While social links might have delivered the shortest attention span, it was responsible for the most traffic overall, with over 40% of both the short and long form stories coming from one of the social networks.

Here are some other noteworthy observations from the study:

Facebook drove the largest volume of social network sourced readers (80%) but those readers are not as engaged, on average, as Twitter users. If someone clicked on a link from Facebook, they spent an average of 107 seconds in longer-form stories, but the amount of time rose to 133 seconds when they came from Twitter.
Late night and morning are the times of the day with the highest engagement.
Only a very small percentage of readers (long form – 4%, short form – 3%) return to those stories via their smartphones, but when they did, they really invested some time. Return visitors to long-form articles spend an average of 277 seconds, compared with 123 seconds for overall visitors, and those figures for short-form stories are 110 seconds and 57 seconds, respectively.

There are several takeaways from this study but I think the biggest one is that we need to be very careful about assuming that short form copy is the only option in this smartphone driven world.

How does your business shape your pricing?

November 15, 2017

As we head towards the end of the year, we’re going to kick off a series of conversations about money. One of the most overlooked aspects of marketing is your pricing strategy. Over the next couple weeks, we’re going to talk about how you price and sell your services and what that says to your audiences.

Let’s first think about how you determine your pricing and what that says about your value proposition. You have lots of options, and while we might assume it’s always smarter to be more expensive, that actually may not be the best decision for your business.

When thinking about your pricing strategy, you need to consider:

Positioning: How are you positioned in the marketplace, relative to your competitors? Does one of them own the discount or premium position so strongly that it would be difficult to unseat them?

Differentiation: This is related to positioning. The more you can demonstrate a unique value proposition to your potential customers, the more valuable you are and the more of a premium price you can charge.

Your costs: Obviously your prices have to take into account what it costs you to deliver what you sell. Depending on the work you do, the kinds of people you employ, and the materials you need – some pricing strategies may not be an option.

Demand: The more people need/want what you sell, the more they’re willing to pay for it. But demand is also finite. Is this something they will always need/want or is it fleeting like Cabbage Patch dolls or a particular style of clothes.

Time/effort to deliver: Some companies make a widget that they can mass produce and sell at a relatively low cost because there is no customization or manual labor involved. On the flip side, a guy who designs and builds custom furniture by hand has a huge time investment and the value is in the individuality of what he delivers. That’s a very different reality.

Harsh reality: Sometimes you have no choice. Economic conditions, market saturation, inventory issues or some other element of your business may force you to modify your prices, either temporarily or in rare cases, permanently. There is no such thing as forever when it comes to business strategy. We must all evolve or die, and pricing is certainly one aspect of your business that may change over time.

Revenue goals: We often assume that there’s only one reason to be in business, which is to make money. But there are many shades of grey within that. Are you trying to make the most money possible in the short term? Or would you rather make less money every day but have the sale live on for longer? Are you trying to maximize profits or are you reinvesting in something else – be it your company or your community or some population of people that you serve?

Static or elastic: For some organizations, it makes sense that once you set your pricing, it remains the same for an extended period, until inflation, demand or some other combination of influences triggers a one-time price shift. On the flip side, you may sell a product or service that has a lot of elasticity in its pricing. You might run sales or promotions on a regular basis to drive traffic to your location or site. You may have a seasonality factor. If you sell Christmas trees, they’re at a premium price the day after Thanksgiving and at a deep discount price on December 24th.

These elements are the business realities that have to be factored in as you think about your pricing model. Next week we’ll dig into how to think about pricing through your marketing lens.

Turn any web page into a PDF

August 1, 2010

I don't know about you, but printing off a web page can be a royal pain the rear! But not any more. With the CREATE PDF handy tool, you can cut and paste any URL and voila — you have a PDF.

I've already used it a half dozen times since I heard about it. Check it out!

And a hat tip to Karen Hochman from The NIbble for sharing the tool via the MENG network.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

Four new blogs you need to check out

July 28, 2010

I'm ashamed to admit it, but my blogroll has some cobwebs on it. Some of the blogs listed there are dormant and boy do I have a bunch to add. And before Labor Day (my self imposed deadline) I'm going to get in there and clean house.

But there are a handful of blogs that I want to call to your attention and I don't want to wait another month.

Mary Kramer: Mary Kramer is a mom, grandma, and wife…and in her spare time, she was the president of the Iowa Senate, an Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean and one of the most interesting women I have ever met. You cannot help but be captivated by her. And completely charmed.

She's launched a very thought provoking blog called Madame Ambassador about civil discourse, politics and real citizenship. I promise you will learn, laugh and hopefully look at politics and your role in them a bit differently.

Lisa Petrilli: You know how you meet someone and you immediately are drawn to them? You just know they're someone you need to stay connected with. That's how i felt when I first met Lisa. Boy was that instinct right on the money! She's one of the most insightful writers I've read in a long time.

She just launched a blog about C-level strategies and a ha moments. Smart writing with plenty to sink your teeth into. Check out C-level Strategies and Awakenings.

Mary Stier: Have you ever walked into a meeting expecting to a little intimidated and instead found yourself completely intrigued and in awe of someone? A few years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the very powerful Mary Stier, publisher of the Des Moines Register and one of Gannett's biggest players.

She could have been imposing but instead she was fascinating, smart and completely welcoming. Mary has since left Gannett and is knee-deep in consulting projects. Her blog, Mary Stier Connects, is about leadership and sometimes, specifically women's leadership. But, boy or girl…you need to check it out!

MENG: In case you were wondering if I read any blogs written by men…MENG (the Marketing Executives Networking Group) has just launched their brand new blog — MENG Blend and it's got a dandy line up of male bloggers (and some smart women too!) covering topics like marketing, online and social media and career issues like networking.

Looks like you'll get 3-4 new posts a week, so you'll want to subscribe now. And yes…I am one of their bloggers.

That should give your RSS feed reader some new morsels to enjoy! I'd love to hear what you thought of these new efforts and please leave them a comment — it will make their day!

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

P.S. In the spirit of full disclosure, McLellan Marketing Group is fortunate to work with both Mary and Mary. We'll take credit for building their blogs but the smarts are all theirs!

Why every business needs a Google account

October 25, 2009

I am pretty sure that Google will someday rule the world. And while my "less governance is better governance" belief runs through every vein…I do have to say, "hail to the king!"

Here's why your business needs to have a Google account:

Google Local Business Center (www.google.com/lbc): The LBC is a free tool that enables business owners to control the content of their business listings as they appear in Google Search and Google Maps. All you have to do is claim your listing in the LBC and go through a quick verification process to get access to the following kinds of data:

Impressions: The number of times the business listing appeared as a result on a Google.com search or Google Maps search in a given period.
Actions: The number of times people interacted with the listing; for example, the number of times they clicked through to the business' website or requested driving directions to the business.
Top search queries: Which queries led customers to the business listing; for example, are they finding the listing for a cafe by searching for "tea" or "coffee"?
Zip codes where driving directions come from: Which zip codes customers are coming from when they request directions to your location.

Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics/): Google Analytics is a web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness.

Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.

Google Docs (docs.google.com): is a free, Web-based word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and form application offered by Google. You can import your existing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, or create new ones from scratch. You can invite people to your documents and make changes together, at the same time.

Google Calendar (calendar.google.com):

Share your schedule- web based
Get your calendar on the go
Never forget another event again with built in reminders via email or text
Send invitations and track RSVPs
Sync with your desktop applications(Outlook, iCal and Sunbird)
Work offline

Google Mail or GMail (mail.google.com): Gmail is the Google approach to email and chat. Practically unlimited free online storage allows you to collect all your messages, and Gmail's simple but very smart interface lets you find them precisely and see them in context without effort. POP and powerful IMAP access bring Gmail to any email program or device.

And I'm not even going to get into Google Wave, AdWords, or AdSense. If you want to read more about ALL of Google's tools, check out their Google Business Solutions page.

Bottom line — no business but especially no small or local business can afford not to take advantage of Google's free tools. Don't miss out.

Resources you need to know about

June 9, 2009

Here's a quick list of some resources that I think you're going to want to know about. It's a mixed bag of e-books, blog posts, essays and other tools that I promise you…you're going to love.

Build Your Own Opportunity Network/Getting Started in Social Networking by Steve Woodruff (click here)

This e-book is only 15 pages but it is packed with insights. Steve spends a little time on the what and why but he really delves into the HOW. Which, after all…is what matters. Download your free copy by clicking on the link above.

42+ Social Media Marketing Tools by Joe Pulizzi (click here)

Joe runs the Junta42 and has written the book (literally) on content marketing. Joe has put together a fantastic list of social media tools — and what makes it even better is that he is vetting suggestions from the comments section and keeps updating the list, so it's even better. Check it out by clicking on the link above.

Google Wave Preview by Google, of course (click here)

You are not going to believe what Google has planned next. When I saw this, I was blown away. Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. And by now you know…check it out by clicking on the link above. Thanks to Mike Colwell for sharing the info with me.

Think like an Iconoclast: The Principles of Walt Disney's Success

Barry Linetsky and I share something in common. We're both admirers of Walt Disney's tenacity and vision. Barry recently had an article about Walt's success published in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Management Studies magazine. I promise you — you'll find a very valuable takeaway or two. Guess what you need to do…exactly. Click the link.

Some very worthy additions to my blogroll

May 17, 2009

I have been incredibly remiss in updating my blogroll. There are so many good blogs out there…and I haven't been doing as good a job as I should in introducing you to some of them.

So you may look down this list and say, "Geez, Drew…I have been reading this blog for months." I know, I know. So sue me. ;-}

Anyway….without further ado, these are all blogs that I think you will find intriguing in one way or another. I'd love to get your thoughts and feedback on any of them…as I am sure would the authors.

The Business Insider: This is a team blog that covers a wide range of topics, mostly marketing but some other business thoughts/ideas as well.

The Harte of Marketing: Beth Harte is a marketing and social media consultant who brings common sense and great storytelling to her blog.

Altitude Branding: Amber Naslund is infectious. She writes about social media and branding as she serves as Radian6's Director of Community.

Jeff Garrison: Jeff writes about extraordinary sales habitudes and teaches all of us how to build better relationships which lead to better sales.

All you need is a good idea: Jay Heyman is a smart agency guy who speaks in plain language about things every business should know. He's also written a book you should read.

Increasing Employee & Client Engagement: Chad Rothschild is new to the blogging scene but brings a great deal of marketing savvy to his new venture. You'll enjoy the read.

Enjoy!

How to start or run your business for free

December 26, 2008

In the January issue of Entrepreneur Magazine (see the cover to the left) available at your local news stand or online you will find my thoughts on how social media tools can help a start up or existing business and often times…for free.

There's quite an impressive list of resources whether you're trying to manage file storage, host content or boost your web presence.

If you've been a reader here for a while, you'll recognize some of the tools like ooVoo, Jott and Google Alerts. But I promise you…there are plenty of new discoveries to be made.

I'd love you to take a peek at the article (page 42-45) and then come back here to let me know what you think.

In the meantime…what web 2.0 tool has been the most effective for your business?

The I List

December 30, 2007

A year or so ago, there was the Z list. Next, the W list. Then, came the O list. Now, I think it is high time that we share with the world the power of blogging in Iowa.

Meet the I list.

If you’re an Iowa blogger, grab this list….add any Iowa blogs that might be missing and then post it on your blog. Let’s see how many we can get. If you’re not an Iowa blogger — grab the list and challenge your state’s bloggers to match or beat it!

Either way — what a great way to launch the new year — some link love and even more important — some long overdue props to the state that is not only setting the political course with our caucuses, but also charts the waters for bloggers everywhere.

The I list:

Adam Carroll
Andy Drish
Art Dinkin, CFP, CLU, ChFC
Association of Business & Industry
Babich, Goldman, Cashatt & Renzo
Barry Pace
BeatCanvas
Blue Frog Arts
Brett Trout
Bridges Financial
Broom Wizards
C Wenger Group
Carpe Factum
Claire Celsi
Cloud Nine Diamonds
Compass Financial Services
Conference Calls Unlimited
Dave Dreeszen
Des Moines Families
Dickson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen
DMWebLife
Do You Q?
Dr U Fantasy Football
DSM Buzz
Dwebware
Employer Ease
Eric Peterson
Focal Point Multimedia
Gift Idea Help
Home Know-it-All
Insight Advertising & Marketing
Iowa Bed & Breakfast Association
Iowa Biz
J. Erik Potter
Jann Freed
Josh More
Kyle’s Cove
Maiers Educational Services
McKee, Vorhees & Sease
McLellan Marketing Group
NCMIC Insurance
Purple Wren
Radio Iowa
REL Productions
Rental Metrics
Rita Perea Consulting
Roth & Company
RSM McGladrey
Ruby’s Pub
Runners’ Lounge
Rush Nigut
Ryan Rossinick
Simplifive
Snap! Creative Works
Studio 24 Design
Swing Station
The Members Group
The Mitchell Group
The Simple Dollar
Transition Capital Management
US Rodeo Supply
Victoria Herring
Wade Den Hartog
Wealth With Mortgage
When Words Matter
White Rabbit Group

Hat tip to Mike Sansone for compiling this list.

12/31 Update (more great Iowa Bloggers…)

24-Hour Dorman
Bleeding Heartland
Blog for Iowa
Century of the Common Iowan
Chase Martyn On Display
Cyclone Conservatives
FromDC2Iowa
Iowa Geek
Iowa Guy’s Blog
Iowa Progress
Joe Says So
John Deeth
NewsConference
OnTheStreet
Political Fallout
Political Forecast
Popular Progressive
Price of Politics
State 29< br /> The Radloff’s Random Midnight Thoughts
Thoughts From the Oasis Amidst the Corn

01/02/08 Update:

LavaRow

Know any more I should add?

Tell us why you’re coming to Blogger Social ’08!

November 10, 2007

There are lots of reasons to be at Bloggers Social. What's yours?

Not sure if you want to come? I'll let Gavin Heaton and that Aussie accent win you over.

Come on over the the Blogger Social '08 Kaltura and add your own voice to the discussion.

Blogger Social. It's the place to be!

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