How to Write Long-Form Viral Pieces
Finally! We are here on the third and final main focus of our content strategy. A perfect middle ground between our informative evergreen content and our fun news pieces, long-form viral pieces are great for social media and provide the light/fun content that many users are looking for. Much like news reports, however, long-form viral pieces are another breed entirely to those who are not accustomed to producing this type of content. So, what is long-form viral content supposed to look like?
Step 1. Intriguing Title and Brief Lead-in
Much like with evergreen content, long-form viral content needs to have an intriguing title and lead-in to attract readers and to keep them scrolling through your content, whatever the topic may be. One example could be: “Top 10 Hilarious Dogs That You Need to Follow on Instagram Right Now!”. You would then take a moment and use the introduction to explain what they can expect to see in this article, why the information is worthy of an article, and ease them into the body of your content.
When it comes to your title, do your best to make sure that there are enough points to produce at least 1,000 words or more of content. We don’t want short pieces!
Step 2. Listicle-Style Body
Put simply, a listicle (which is mainly the type of viral content that we are aiming to produce) is a piece of content that lists several interesting pieces of information, which makes up the whole of the content. If we were continuing with the above example, you would list 10 dogs on Instagram that would qualify under your given title.
The Other Important Components of a Listicle Are:
- A Great Story Idea: A great listicle begins with a great pitch. If you don’t have a fully developed story idea that you can fill with content that is exciting to read all the way through, you are going to run out of steam long before you hit your final point. Make sure that your story idea is attractive, broad enough to work with, and will get the attention it deserves!
- A Fun, Informal Tone and Energy: While we don’t want poor writing, listicles are allowed to be far more fun and informal than the average content piece. This gives you the ability to take a load off and truly interact with the reader through each of your listicle ideas. Keep it light, positive, and maybe even a bit silly!
- PLENTY of Images: Listicles are great, but when you have 1000+ words of text and nothing to look at, it will be hard for users to justify going through your whole list. Make sure to include images in each point to break up your content and keep them engaged throughout the piece!
- Share-Worthy Items: There are lists that you want to read and there are lists where you ask yourself, why did someone take the time to make this? We obviously want your content to fall into the former category. Even if your title is compelling, make sure that each of the items contained within your article are equally intriguing as well.
- Appropriate Credit to Other Users: If you find ideas from somewhere else that are unique in nature or that take a look at real people or pets, please link back to them. This gives credit to the ideas and individuals who are in your featured in your article, which is both professional and necessary!
Step 3. Brief Conclusion
Once your content is finished, summarize the main points of the article and end the piece. As you saw in our evergreen content guide, conclusions are simple to produce and serve as the bow that wraps up your article.