When I do training for Facebook ads and branding, I show people some ads and posts of mine and they ask me why it’s so long. They always ask if long posts work. Yes, they do. But there’s a strategy to get people to read. It’s the same reason why the same people who get distracted from 10-minute speeches & homilies can attentively listen to a 20-minute TED Talks.
The key is in laying the foundation.
In some speeches and in homilies, we’re usually asked to listen then we’ll get something out of it. So we wait. And when we don’t, our mind thinks of other things. But in TED Talks, the video hasn’t started yet, you already know what you’re going to get.
“The secret to learning new skills”
“The key to happiness”
“The power of vulnerability”
From the start, you know what you will get. That’s why all my Facebook posts have titles in all caps. Because I want you to know that even if my post is long, you’ll get something out of it. And if you want what i have to share, you will read my post despite its length.
If you do not have this in your post and you’re just sharing content, if at any point, readers find it irrelevant, they can just scroll past your point. At least in a homily if you are distracted, you’re still there.
Not on Facebook.
If you do not give people a reason to stick around by not being relevant, at any point during reading, they can leave. I’m not a brain expert but I think this is what happens in our brains when faced with long posts. If you have a long post that does not have a clear thesis statement (for lack of a better term), at every point of your post, people will constantly be making the decision whether they should continue reading or not.
And that’s exhausting.
However, if you have a clear thesis statement from the start, people can decide then and there if they will read or not. If not, they will scroll. Pero if they decide to read because it is relevant, then the decision has been made, they will just go ahead and read. Like for you, maybe if you’re reading up to this point, before clicking on the “See More” button, you’ve decided that you’ll read this and that’s why you’re here now.
