Why longform content no longer performs

Brevity is true genius.

This simple and powerful concept was introduced to me by advertising vet Lynette Xanders of Wild Alchemy during a recent webinar.

Inspired to improve my own work, I reached out to Lynette to ask her a bit more about the importance of brevity in marketing communications. Here’s what she had to say:

“I have always held the belief that brevity is genius,” said Xanders. “There is an adage I heard years ago from Mark Twain about a time he wrote to a friend and said, ‘I apologize for such a long letter – I didn’t have time to write a short one.’ This demonstrates that it takes much more effort to be brief—but the payoff is far greater clarity and impact.”

The requirement to be brief is not always easy, but it is imperative. We live in a busy culture where everyone is strapped for time with attention spans for only tweet-sized bites of information.

Here are a few reflections on how brevity can generate better work for communicators:

1. The press release. Press releases are often considered a dying breed. That’s because reporters are strapped for time and need to cover more beats as a result of shrinking newsrooms.