Compared long-form articles against short video scripts for 6 months. The writing won by a mile.

I run a small content operation for a regional auto parts chain. Back in February I decided to run a test. Half my team kept writing 1,500 word blog posts about brake maintenance and oil types. The other half made 60 second TikTok and Reel scripts on the same topics. After 6 months the written articles drove 4 times the qualified leads and 10 times the organic traffic. The videos got views but nobody clicked through to buy brake pads. The scripts took less time to produce but the return just wasnt there. Has anyone else found written content outperforms video for direct sales?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_nelson431mo ago

TikTok views are a COMPLETE vanity metric for anything that needs a purchase decision. I ran my plumbing crew's social media for a year and the week we went back to writing real how-to guides on our site instead of chasing video edits, our phone started ringing off the hook. People WATCH a 60 second brake pad video then forget your name. They read a 1,500 word article, bookmark it, and come back to buy when their pads start squealing. Video is for entertainment, writing is for actual sales.

parkerp801mo ago

Huh, I mean that's a solid point about blog content working better for direct sales, but idk if I'd say writing is strictly for sales and video is strictly for entertainment. I think there's a middle ground where video actually builds that initial trust way faster than text ever could. Like @dakota_nelson43, your plumbing crew's how-to guides are great, but someone who's never had a pipe burst before probably isn't bookmarking plumbing articles during their lunch break. They might watch a quick video though, and when their toilet starts leaking six months later, your name pops in their head before they even open Google. It's not a direct sale, but it's planting a seed that text takes way longer to grow. Just my two cents though.

simon7171mo ago

Yo hold up, you're totally right that text content converts better, but here's what nobody's saying - the medium changes the customer. Your blog readers are people who already know they have a problem and are searching for solutions. TikTok viewers are people who didn't even know brake pads could go bad until one pops up on their FYP. So yeah, video views don't convert directl, but that plumber video someone watches while eating lunch? Six months later their pipe bursts and they type "plumber near me" into Google and whaddya know, your name sounds familiar. It's delayed trust building, not direct sales. Different funnel stages, that's all.