The Short-Form Video Era
By Joel Nekooie
Yes it’s true, recent studies show that humans, on average, have a shorter attention span than a goldfish.
The world we live in now is undoubtedly ruled by technology, with social media having its own particular pull. It seems that humans have experienced an evolution under the surface where, as attention spans shrink, expectations become higher for the online platforms we rely on for enjoyment.
What does this really mean for social media? We’ll provide some insight below into the emerging short-form video trend and its impact on the digital realm.
The Rise
The rise of short-form video is not a topic to be ignored in the field of marketing; in fact, it’s something that brands should be taking advantage of as much as possible. If we take a close look at all of the biggest social media platforms, each have released their own edition of short-form videos over the past few years, following in the footsteps of the hit app: TikTok.
Since TikTok spearheaded the popular trend of creating 15-second to 3-minute long videos, possibly inspired by the even older innovator, Vine, this success triggered a domino effect across all of the biggest competing platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and now Twitter. Over time, this led to short-form video becoming the preferred way for audiences to consume information and seek entertainment. If you’re wondering why exactly this is the case, it’s simply because the medium offers a much more creative and exciting format for users to quickly absorb content, from major interests to general topics. By breaking the boundaries of traditional media, short-form videos are grasping audience attention with ease; different automatically equals better in content offerings these days, not to mention a very limited time to display it. Speaking of differences, short-form videos appear in a vertical, full screen format, without the need to tilt the screen; this presents the content in such a simple way that users feel more encouraged to engage. Moreover, this type of ‘on-the-go’ content has grown favourable for users who have busier schedules.
The Influence
What kind of influence do short-form videos have on the industry? For some background, videos are shared twice as much as any other form of digital content. Now, with new audience behaviours and the race to win over the younger generation in particular, every type of business is getting involved one way or another.
Brands are becoming keen to invest in short-form videos, as a key ingredient towards their overall strategy. Further, marketers are encouraging clients to tackle different platforms with this format, as a method of gaining an even deeper understanding of their audience.
In comparison to long-form videos, short-form is watched far more and topics are more impactful through that outlet, making it one of today's most powerful marketing tools. Persuading people can be a tough time when using solely long-running videos.
Since the heavy influence is clear, we can discuss some of the popular trends on short-form video spaces (a trend within a trend, if you will):
Behind-the-scenes content, where studies show that the majority of consumers feel more connected to brands that actively engage with them on social media.
Sneak peeks and product teasers are effective as they can build anticipation around a product or business.
User-generated content aids authenticity and can form communities.
Credit: YouTube
The Stats
Circling back to attention span, Microsoft reported that the average human attention span is just 8 seconds (as we said before, we’re lagging behind a goldfish). Therefore, if something doesn’t catch a user’s eye immediately then they will, indeed, scroll straight past.
From a purely business perspective, one survey for marketing trends conducted by HubSpot indicated that 51% of marketers planned to increase their investment into short-form video in 2022. Short-form video also now has the highest ROI of any social content strategy; that fact alone will have companies lining up to participate.
According to this statistical report, about 68% of users watch videos the full way through, if they’re under 60 seconds.
Lastly, this study suggested that about 93% of marketers have landed new customers thanks to short-form videos on social media.
The Conclusion
Short-form video is widely accessible, versatile, and easy to digest. It’s no surprise that it’s helping social media platforms near their ceilings with the growing number of users. The question is: is it worth integrating short-form videos into your digital strategy?
An expanded range of content opens up the door for plenty of potential clients and leads, even those few seconds can be refreshing and make a difference to your page. As we touched on previously, the ‘big bosses’ of social media such as Instagram with Reels, YouTube with Shorts, and obviously TikTok, are raking it in. And yet, they’re still continuing to develop their features to further enhance user experience, so having said that…
Now would be a perfect time to utilise short-form video platforms to strengthen your content strategy, widening your audience and heightening engagement as a result. No matter which platform you choose, it would be incredibly beneficial to explore these trends — don’t be afraid to test the waters.
We can actually confirm its effectiveness with our first-hand experience, using a ‘short form first’ strategy for a number of our sports clients to deliver real-time event updates in a dynamic way. We’ve been consistently producing short-form videos across several platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, to hit the maximum potential reach for our partners; it works like a charm and we owe a lot of our success to this popular output.
So, this is what seems to be the present — and future — of modern marketing. Perhaps a reel or its carbon copy is the true fuel you need to master your social media strategy, and you only have 8 seconds to make it count!
If you need help optimising your online strategy, don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@uni4mbrand.com