Long-form storytelling is having a moment right now. Brands and media alike are using narrative arcs to capture and engage audiences for extended amounts of time. I’ve written about long-form storytelling recently – from both brands and media – all to lead up to a bigger piece of content that I’m very excited to share with you.

Long-form content (1,200+ words) becomes a story when it follows a narrative arc – meaning it has a premise and a plot (a beginning, middle and end). This type of content has been the gold standard of journalism for ages, but with the prominent rise of content marketing, an increasing number of brands are telling their own stories.

Storytelling is a powerful tool that brands can use to establish themselves as thought leaders. Think about it: brands strive to gain the title of “Thought Leader” for a given topic in order to change and influence perspective. Stories exist for the same reason, and people love a well-told tale.

It’s not just theory either; the data supports this shift toward longer narrative content. According to a 2025 HubSpot report, articles running over 2,000 words are getting dramatically higher engagement rates than their shorter siblings, which feels surprising only if you’re still thinking people online have no attention span. Maybe they don’t for junk, but they’ll stick around for a story well told. And really, isn’t that the only thing that’s ever kept anyone reading?

Storytelling can be applied to thought leadership to create content that introduces new paradigms in palatable, easy-to-understand ways, connect with audiences on a personal level and much more.

Honestly, the bar is just higher now. Readers aren’t looking for a quick fix; they want depth, maybe even a little bit of risk from the writer. If you can nail that—and not bore people senseless—you’re already ahead of 90% of brand content out there. It’s less about adding words for their own sake and more about giving people enough to sink their teeth into. The trick, if there is one, is to make it feel effortless.

So, I wrote an in-depth piece called Without Long-form Storytelling, You Will Never Be A Thought Leader. The piece walks through:

• What long-form content does for thought leadership that short-form content cannot
• How storytelling supercharges long-form content
• A real-life example of successful brand storytelling
• The elements that make a thought leadership story great

Read the full piece.

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