Stop Writing! How a Good Content Strategy Can Help You Write Less and Leverage Content More

When it comes to marketing professional service firms, the most common thing you will hear is that “content is king”. So, naturally, it makes sense that when we meet with firms, they are investing a large amount of time and energy into writing exceptional blogs, articles, and whitepapers. However, the biggest issue we also hear is that this is hard work – it’s hard to get busy professionals to continuously produce engaging, insightful content that fits in with a larger business and marketing strategy.

At this point in the conversation, we often recommend a communications strategy. Why? This is to help these firms stop writing (at least as much and as often as many are attempting to do) and instead leverage that content more effectively.

The Power of a Long-Form and Short-Form Content Strategy

A great content strategy will help your firm leverage both long and short-form content together to create a cohesive editorial schedule that effectively targets your key audiences, using multiple channels and platforms strategically. But before we get into the how – let’s get the basics down:

What is long-form content?

By definition, long-form content is anything that is longer than roughly 1200 words. It often includes blogs, whitepapers, e-books, guides, podcasts, and even longer videos. We like to refer to these as “source” material for all of your other content. They are meaty and give a good basis for other items to stem from.

What is short-form content?

Short-form content is anything that is less than 1200 words. Most commonly, short-form content is exactly as its name indicates – short. It can be engaging, captivating, and often promotional in nature, including everything from social media posts and short videos to email newsletters or text message notifications.

How can short-form and long-form content help us write less?

Time and time again, we see professional service firms sharing blog after blog on their website. They may throw in a promotional social post, but for the most part, their content strategies are entirely focused on creating and distributing long-form content.

There are two key issues with this approach:

1. Long-form content takes a long time to create: A writer has to invest significant time into researching and drafting the blog, and an editor often has to comb through it, as does a marketer and whoever is the ultimate approver of the content. If you are only sharing the blog once, to stay top of mind and keep your accounts up to date, you would need to dedicate an immense amount of time to just writing – which may be possible for large firms, but for small to mid-size firms, this often isn’t the case.
2. The content isn’t reaching your audiences: The whole point of writing long-form content is to share it with your audiences, whether that be clients, industry stakeholders, or the general public. Writing a blog for it to sit in a website module with no additional support is unlikely to get the content seen.

How can short-form content help you write less but be seen more?

Using short-form content derived from long-form content is the easiest way to continuously push out content, increase brand awareness, and drive website traffic without spending countless hours drafting an unnecessary number of blogs per year.

For example, if you have a lawyer write a blog on the five ways a new law will impact Ontarians, ideally, you should be able to engage with your audiences in a number of ways using that blog as source material for short-form posts:

1. Social Media: You could promote the blog initially (with a static image) and then follow it up with a carousel post that leverages some of the top-level insights of the blog. You could also create separate promotional posts, each highlighting how the blog will impact Ontarians.
2. Newsletters & Emails: For more client-direct initiatives, you can summarize the blog and send out a promotional newsletter, directing individuals back to the blog or directing them to contact the professional for more information. You can also utilize LinkedIn’s newsletter function to add engagement and reach.
3. Video: You may also wish to create a short video (or video series) using the blog content and post it on social media and other channels your clients and audiences use.
4. Highlighting the Author: Depending on the depth of the article, you could create a Q&A video, news post, or social post answering any additional questions about the change, highlighting the professional who wrote the blog and their area of expertise.
5. In-Person Networking: One blog and its information may also turn into webinars, lunch and learns, speaking engagements, etc., that you can use to engage with clients (which can also be promoted on your accounts with little effort!).
6. Paid Advertising: You may also want to do a targeted Google search campaign or invest in some social media marketing to expand the blog post’s reach and drive traffic back to your website.
7. Public Relations: Looking outside your organization, you can also share the blog with news organizations, blogging sites, and other platforms to expand its reach and then re-promote it through your own channels, giving it more authority.
8. Other Options: If this topic really resonates, you may also want to create a few other long-form content pieces around it, such as a podcast episode, white paper, research study, or guide. You can then utilize these long-form items again, filling up your calendar and creating assets with less work than creating one new piece of long-form content after another.

Most of these items will require much less time and effort to create and schedule. They can also be easily integrated with your other news items and promotions, which can help fill the firm’s calendar without needing to draft another 1200+-word blog.

Not only that, but many of these items can be derived or created by a marketing professional (instead of taking up more of the professional’s time) or even (if allowed by your professional society) by large language models and AI platforms. This approach can help make the content more focused on the firm’s marketing and business development goals, as most often, a communications or marketing professional understands the key audiences and nuances of communication necessary to achieve the firm's goals.

Why do I need a communications plan?

We know what you are thinking—this sounds easy—so why do you need a plan to tell you how to do this?

The simple answer is that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to communications. Here are a few of the ways a communications plan can help you understand how to utilize short and long-form content effectively:

1. It will identify the audiences, channels, and mediums you need to use: Depending on who you are marketing to, whether you are B2B, B2C, or a mix of both, you will need to use different tactics. For example, if you gain most of your business through referrals, you probably don’t need to focus on ranking high in searches the way a firm that gains traffic online might. This will change the format and choices you make for your content strategy.
2. It will help you decide what topics will appeal to your audiences: If your audiences don’t care about your content or can’t be bothered to read an article, it really defeats the purpose of this approach. A communications plan will help you establish:
   • The types of content (articles, podcasts, studies, etc.) that your audiences want to read/watch.
   • The content topics that will actually bring value to them.
   • How to get that content in front of them.
3. It will help you evaluate success and adjust based on your immediate and future business and marketing goals: A communication plan does not just tell you what to do; it gives you the tools to evaluate whether the plan is working and adjust as needed to achieve your goals.

How can Cubicle Fugitive help?

For over twenty years, Cubicle Fugitive has partnered with professional service providers. Our dedicated team of communications specialists is well-versed in the distinct hurdles and potential for growth that professional service firms face. We excel in developing and assessing content strategies that not only align with your business objectives but also streamline the process. To explore our comprehensive communications services, feel free to get in touch with one of our expert team members.