Short-form Video: What is it & its Benefits

Video content is a powerful, engaging tool that captures the consumer's attention in a way that text and static images simply can't. As a result, video ads account for 82% of all consumer internet traffic. But long-form video isn't the only type of video content you should consider as part of your social media strategy. The rise of short-form videos is a trend to pay attention to, especially if you want to engage your audience quickly, effectively, and creatively on social media. Leveraging any new trend or platform, HubSpot Senior Content Strategist, Amanda Zantal-Wiener says you should constantly consider your audience first. Despite the fact, short-form video is frequently known for its entertainment value, you can find your feet, to align it with your brand’s value proposition.

Today, 84% of people are convinced to buy a product or service grounded on the brands’ video (According to Wyzowl) You must cogitate which channels are your target audiences using and for what. And subsequently, for which channels does it make the greatest sense for your business to create short-form video content. Then, consumers will personally engage with your brand, and you can capture their attention at different levels along their buyer’s journey.

Well, you are in the right place to know the rapid rise of the short-form video to be the future best marketing strategy for businesses worldwide. With 6.6 billion people out of the total population of 7.8 billion using smartphones, according to Statista, short-form video content is the future of content creation. Though 58.4% of the world population use social media on an average of 2 hours 27 minutes (according to Smart Insights), most have no time to view lengthy content. Only videos with an average run of time between 20 seconds to 2 minutes are sure the future of the short-form videos. Statistics confirm that only 53% of the videos are watched in less than ninety seconds until completion. It is in sharp contrast to the completion rate of 10% for videos of over 30 minutes. Hence less is more, and short-form video marketing is the future. Now before getting into why short-form videos are important, let’s know what short-form videos actually are.

What are short-form videos?

Though there is no specific definition for short-form videos (snackable videos or snackable content), they are short in length with attractive content to grab the viewers' attention to watch it until the end. It breaks the traditional media boundaries to reach the people to convey the content quickly and easily. The top video creation company enables businesses in India to use short-form video marketing to develop to unexpected levels. Creating innovative video content for many social media platforms opens flood-gate opportunities for businesses to expand exponentially. Animoto confirms that over 93% of marketers use social media videos to have customers, and 63% confirm the best ROI or return of investment. Hence, using top video content services creating companies will make businesses ready for the rapid rise of the short-form video now and in the future.

Keep reading, if you are a brand, trying to nail down the video content strategy while figuring out what type of video will drive the most revenue.

Comparison Between Short and Long-form Videos

Long form video content is either professionally produced or user generated, it has a content arc with a beginning, middle, and end in its entirety and typically lasts longer than 3 minutes. While forming these videos, you need to make clear your video is worth taking the time to watch in full. You need to lock in your viewers’ attention and hold it which is very difficult in today’s time. Well, there is a science behind choosing the best length of a video. Centered on the goals and intent of your viewers, you can choose between short-form and long-form content. Each format should only be used in explicit situations and for a particular reason. Your clients are seeking solutions to their queries and amusement in a world that is much more connected than it has ever been. As a result, you must think about your reader's requirements, understand them, and create outstanding content that meets their demands. You need to ponder the benefits, purpose, education, and path of your customers.

Isn't that simple? Create stuff that others will enjoy, and the money will come in. Be sure to pick the optimal content length depending on your consumer's demands by understanding the distinctions between long and short-form content. In addition, understand the context of purchasing simultaneously, so you may incorporate numerous factors. long-form videos may be more appropriate to increase brand awareness or educate your target audience about your product or service. However, if you want to drive conversions, improve lead generation or increase engagement on social media platforms, a short-form video is best suited for your needs.

Brands that show emotions in their videos tend to fare far better. Taking on the trends and viral challenges can also help connect you with your audience. In, Social Media Trends survey 2022, Hootsuite, probed businesses what activities they engage in to sell products and services. Their ripostes encompassed influencer promotions, shoppable social posts, user-generated content and more. Short-form videos took the topmost place with 39.4% of respondents saying they habitually invest in them. HubSpot’s marketing Industry Trends report 2022 also disclosed that 29%, marketers would be leveraging short form video for the first time in 2022.

Short-form videos tend to be the leader when it comes to receiving clickthrough goals and video completions. They are superlative way to reach millennials and younger generations who are progressively preferring short-form videos over all other types of media presently available. Hence, if you are thinking of ways to enhance your brand's visibility on social media, short-form videos are a great way to go about it.

Here are some benefits of using short-form videos in your social media marketing campaign.

Top 5 Benefits of Using Short-form Videos in your Marketing Strategy

With the plethora of new content being created every day, people are more likely to watch short-form videos that can provide them with quick information. Below are some benefits of creating short-form videos.

1. Saves Time and Gathers more Engagement

Nobody wants to sit through a lengthy sales pitch or ad, especially on the Internet. According to Hubspot, the average human attention span is now only eight seconds — down from 12 seconds in 2000. With such little time to grab viewers' attention, keeping videos as short as possible makes sense. Shorter videos look more engaging to the viewers, sharing them more frequently and bring more traffic to your website. According to Wistia, the most commonly watched video length is between 2 and 3 minutes. In addition, they are easier for mobile users to watch as most people use their mobile devices for using social media.

Read here: how to create video content strategy

Moreover, short-form videos make it possible to deliver entertaining, educational, or informative content in a way that is more engaging than text alone.

2. Gives the best creative introduction of your product and services

Short-form videos are produced for various purposes, but they are most often used to promote products or services, encourage donations or contributions, or advertise an event. People online lead busy lives, so you need to grab their attention quickly. A short-form video can give the best creative introduction to your product or service in a short space of time. It is also more likely to be watched than long-form content providing information about your product and service in an interesting way and effectively portraying your brand's personality.

Also read: types of video content

A study by Wyzowl found that 72% of customers prefer learning about a product or service through video.

3. Ideal for Creating and Sharing on Social Media Platforms

These days, anyone can be a filmmaker. However, it would be awesome to have a smartphone or an inexpensive camera, free editing software, and a little creativity. Short-form videos are less than one minute long and are considered the ideal length to create and share on social media. Numerous youngsters taunt people by stating that it would never happen if it weren't on any social media platforms. But unfortunately, this notion is completely valid in today's era. Hence we should consider everything as a stage to follow. You can build many relevant connections when you get into the details regarding what is related to your business or ideology. The more value you provide to your connections, the more relationships you will build. Hence, your loyal audience will share your content among their circle, leading to brand awareness and lead generation. In addition, they can be used effectively for various marketing goals, including increasing awareness, driving conversions, and improving audience engagement.

4. Easy to Repurpose

Repurposing is changing the format of content and utilizing it in different ways. But unfortunately, marketers keep forgetting about the latent power of their pre-existing content in the rat race of developing and posting new content. Isn't it true that repurposing your existing video content is considerably more effective than starting from scratch? Then why wouldn't we do it regularly? Repurposing video content for numerous platforms is probably a lot easier than you would ever imagine. However, short-form videos can also be more cost-effective than traditional advertising or commercials. And you can easily repurpose the same content for multiple platforms and channels, saving time and money. Additionally, you can use the same videos on different platforms to get high reach and views.

5. Best Way to Reach out to Your Intended Audience and Boost Conversions

Making a video is a great way to showcase your business. You can promote your product or service, introduce new offerings and engage with customers. But video production can be time-consuming and expensive. So, may you be looking for a shortcut? No! Although content speaks on your behalf, your intended audience wants to know what happens behind the scenes, what happens daily, what works, and what doesn't. Consider everything you do to be a performance. Every action, idea, and goal has a purpose. Every encounter, action, or event should be viewed as a stage to reach out to the audience. In addition, short-form videos are an ultimate solution to avoid long video production and present your brand in short Instagram reels and videos to reach out to your target audience and boost conversions. With the right content strategy in place, they can help engage customers, build trust and drive sales.

Why is Short-Form Video Popular Worldwide?

Lately, most social media platforms have revamped their format or added new types; for example, many have followed the path of TikTok to use short-form videos. Over half the population spends hours on social media on their smartphones to make short-form videos popular worldwide. Since creativity is endless, many innovative content videos go viral on social media for even millions to watch within a short period. Hence, it could even instantly make a product or service famous without spending much on creating its content. Wyzow establishes that 84% of people buy a product or service based on the brands' video. And Animoto confirms that 76% of the small businesses measure a marketed result from their video content. Hence future of the video content/short video content is to increase more than it is now, and not having it will leave you out in the crowd.

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Hence, a short-form video is an effective marketing tool that quickly becomes an essential part of an effective video strategy for businesses. And with so many platforms now supporting short-form video content, it's no surprise that short-form video views are increasing rapidly. Any marketer who intends to scale up the business seems to add these short videos to the marketing plan for getting higher profits through leveraging sales and business.