Short form video has exploded in popularity over the past few years and has quickly become a valuable tool for marketers. The engaging and straightforward nature of short form videos has allowed brands to reach wider audiences while simultaneously creating closer connections with them. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of short form video marketing, best practices for creating exciting and high-performing videos, and some common mistakes to avoid during the process.

What Are Short-Form Videos?

As the name suggests, short form videos are videos that are short in length. There is no set definition for exactly how long a short form video should be since their length varies based on the platform they’re posted on.  For example, on Instagram videos range from 2 to 60 seconds in length, while on TikTok anything under 2 minutes and 30 seconds can be considered a short form video. Short form videos are one of the newest and most popular trends in social media, as they offer an easily digestible form of content that provides a solution for online users’ decreasing attention spans. This form of content has been especially effective with younger generations, who favor short content over lengthier versions of media.

Benefits of Short-Form Video Marketing

Short-form video marketing provides various benefits that help companies connect with their audience through efficient, memorable, and personable content:

  • Provides a Solution for Short Attention Spans – If you watch the hit TV Show, Ted Lasso, you are familiar with the phrase “be a goldfish.” This refers to the extremely short attention span of a goldfish, and how we shouldn’t spend too much time dwelling on the past. Well, it turns out that our lovable soccer coach may want to change his favorite slogan to “be a human,” since the average human today has an attention span of only 8.25 seconds; 4.25 seconds less than in 2000, and 1 second shorter than that of a goldfish. Short-form video exists to solve the problem of the human attention span, which continues to decrease over time. It offers a valuable opportunity to convey important information in a quick, effective, and easily digestible manner.
  • High Engagement Rates – Everything revolves around engagement on social media. Any interaction with content—including likes, shares, comments, and amount of time spent viewing the content—is considered engagement and is how social media platform’s algorithms decide which content to favor and place prominently on users’ feeds. When it comes to video, completion rate also plays a big role in their success. Social media algorithms prefer videos that their users are watching in their entirety, which is obviously an easier task with short videos. Additionally, short form videos have become the preferred method of video content by both consumers and the platforms themselves, which results in optimal engagement. 59.9% of consumers say a video being too long would deter from them watching, and social media platforms like Instagram are currently favoring short-form videos in their algorithm to compete with platforms like TikTok.
  • Quicker to Create – While this is an obvious benefit, it’s also a significant and often overlooked advantage of short form video. While short videos are easier to create by their nature, they also require less editing and production. They challenge users and companies to convey important information in an efficient, creative, and unique way.
  • Highest ROI of any Social Media Marketing Strategy – Short-form videos have proven to be an accessible and cost-effective marketing strategy with an ROI of 30%, the highest among all social marketing strategies.

Avoid These Short Form Video Marketing Mistakes

  • Lack of Creativity and Poor Branding - You want your videos to stick out because of their uniqueness and creativity, while also remaining consistent with your brand. While it’s always a good idea to join in on online trends for easy engagement, be sure to always put your brand’s spin on trends and make them your own. Find a way to draw it back to your brand in a fun and creative way.
  • Lengthy Videos  – Short form videos should generally stay under 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Anything longer puts you at risk of your viewers becoming disengaged or skipping your video.
  • Excessive Information – Only including important information keeps your videos short, efficient, and engaging. Try not to include any information that deviates away from the objective of the video.
  • Focusing on The Product Rather Than the Audience – Short form videos are most effective when they successfully create engagement among their audience. This is best accomplished by possessing a thorough understanding of your audience and how to create content that is engaging to them. Find creative ways to weave your product or service seamlessly and naturally into the content of your video.
  • Expecting Immediate Results – Online success does not happen overnight, it takes time. Think of online results like the snowball effect. In the beginning, you only have one small snowball (your first video), but as it rolls down the mountain it quickly increases in size and speed as it picks up more snow (consistently posting good videos). Eventually, it begins to collect more and more snow elsewhere on the mountain as it grows in size (likes, comments, and shares), and before you know it, this snowball is bigger than you ever could have imagined.

This form of content has been especially effective with younger generations, who favor short content over lengthier versions of media. 

Best Practices  

  • Plan Ahead – Scheduling and planning are crucial for successful and efficient online campaigns, especially short form videos. Create a plan that outlines the content of each video. Since they’re short, you can tie together one idea or theme through multiple videos to tell a larger story. Planning ahead also makes the actual video creation process far less time consuming and allows you to focus on fine-tuning your videos to make them as effective and entertaining as possible. 
  • Properly Edit Your Content – Editing is where you can add the extra touch of professionalism and polish to your videos. Add music, sound effects, captions or curtail clips to make them more engaging, funny, and effective. 
  • Tailor Videos for Each Platform – Every social media platform has different restrictions for video length. For example, videos on TikTok are limited to 3 minutes, while Instagram Reels have a 90 second time limit, and YouTube shorts can last up to 60 seconds. These differences can change what users consider short form video on each platform, so make sure you tailor your videos to the length that will be most effective on each different social media platform.  
  • Join Trends at The Right Time – Online trends can come and go in the blink of an eye. If you can come up with a way to create a video that aligns your brand with a current trend, act quickly and release the video before it’s too late. Always try to stay on top of trends so you can produce content that will benefit from bonus engagement simply by relating to what’s trending. 
  • Produce High-Quality Content – Well-produced and edited short form videos consistently perform better with audiences. Polished videos will greatly help your performance on social media algorithms and put your video in front of more people. Take the time to edit and fine-tune your videos to make them as high quality as possible.  
  • Engage your Target Audience – All of your content should ultimately revolve around your target audience and what they will find engaging. As we stated earlier, your product or service should always come second to your audience. Your target audience is who are going to share and interact with your content, so create videos that will be interesting to them and encourage them to comment and interact.
  • Be Genuine – Online audiences are quick to pick up on inauthentic brand messages and influencer partnerships, which could damage brand image. Ensure that your short form videos are personable and genuine to better connect with your audience and form a sense of trust. A great way to accomplish this is by creating behind the scenes short form videos that allow your audience to get to know the people behind the brand.  

Conclusion  

Short form video isn’t going anywhere and is only growing in popularity. It’s ease of creation and high social media engagement rates has made it a top choice of marketing for brands and influencers alike. Taking advantage of short form video can help you expand your reach while creating a closer relationship with your audience and improving your ROI.  

Vonazon can guide you through the process of creating fun and effective short form videos that are unique to your brand. We can also help you create campaigns around your videos that deliver results, grow your brand’s social media presence, and produce more leads. Contact us today to begin your short form video journey.