Here are four reasons why fashion, beauty and lifestyle businesses should be posting 2000+ word articles or blog posts. And let me warn you, I can be quite convincing.

When content marketing started to really get traction in the marketing world and businesses started to take notice, I interviewed for a Content Manager position. And I will never forget when the interviewer asked me, “Have you ever written 2000+ word content?” And I looked like, “What!?” And my eyes were super huge. I flat out responded, “No, I definitely have not.” I couldn’t even fake it. I knew right then and there, I was not going to be hired for this position nor was it a good fit. They were specifically in the interior products business, and at the time, I just didn’t believe that long-form content was the answer for a brand like their's. I quickly realized how wrong I was.

A lot of SEO specialists and digital marketers were singing long-form content’s praises for generating more leads, but I wasn’t convinced it applied to all businesses. But the more I researched, the more I understood. Of course, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle businesses should be doing this. Think about how many of us type in, “how to style a striped dress” or “hacks to getting a close shave.” And we all know there is written and video content out there to answer these questions, but most of these questions are answered and created by media, not by brands. Why is that?

Brands and businesses (especially online businesses) need to be the first search result to answer the questions of their customers. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re not even talking about the creativity in content. Just simply providing answers that are directly (or indirectly) tied to your business is a great strategy, alone. Salons, doctors’ offices specializing in laser treatments, cosmetic surgery centers, spas, etc. should be producing tons of video and long-form as a part of their marketing strategy. Not just relying on paid ads, Groupon and LivingSocial.

Most fashion and beauty businesses have measly and neglected (and did I mention not pleasing to the eye) blogs that are periodically updated with news, sales, or short blog posts that don’t really bring value to the reader (aka a potential customer). Remember, this is the attraction part of the buyer cycle. But, you want to know what is great about knowing this info? It means you can drastically improve your traffic, your leads, and get more customers. You can actually kill the competition by doing one thing-- posting more long-form content that brings value to potential customers.

First, let’s define long-form content:

According to Wordstream, long-form content is generally defined as blog post content with more than 700 words, with a potential average of around 1200 words.

You don’t have to stick to this word count, but this is a good guide. And as you probably suspected, the longer, the better. More like 1500 - 2000 words. But it can’t just be 2000 words for the sake of being 2000 words. It needs to resonate, be relevant and interesting to your target audience. This is assuming you have customer or buyer personas written out that can help drive the tone and perspective of the content. Quality over quantity, always.