Harnessing the power of short videos for your business

Businesses need to use videos for brand awareness, as well as promote their products or services. But what is the ideal play-time for videos to become an effective delivery tool? Should it be a long or a short one?

They say the longer, the better, right? Well, that is not exactly the case nowadays when it comes to online videos.

The phenomenal rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and short videos on Facebook has seen a lot of content creators scrambling to follow the trend to dominate the online video sphere.

But can businesses benefit from it? The answer is yes, and it may even be your next ingredient for growth and success.

What is it with short videos?

Also known as short-from videos, not because it is the product of a cheap video editing service but rather, it is more attuned to the concept that short videos appeal to and are highly relevant in addressing the emerging online behavior of a much shorter attention span among online users.

Also known as short-form videos, they are gaining a lot of popularity currently and have given rise to a more revolutionary way of doing video marketing for businesses.

According to the latest HubSpot marketing trends study of 310 marketers, around 51% or more than half of marketers will be increasing their budget for short-form videos within the year, while 38% will retain their investment budget for the year. 

High ROI

Simply because among the most lucrative social media marketing strategies, it was found that short-from videos have generated the highest return on investment. 

Also, 30% of social media marketers are pushing through with increasing their investment in short-form videos compared to any other video trend before the end of the year.

Most of the marketers in the study claimed that short-form videos are those with a play-time of not more than 60 seconds, and anything between 31 seconds up to one minute is considered optimal.

Market and consumer adaption

The evidence regarding the power of short-form videos does not end with marketers alone. 

A consumer survey by video marketing company Wyzowl in 2020, revealed that 96% of people watch explainer videos to research and learn more about a product and service, while 76% of them were convinced to purchase a product after watching an explainer video.

Getting more popular

When consumer respondents for the survey were asked how they would like the products and services presented, 66% preferred to watch a short video.

Wow! That’s more than half compared to other means or delivery processes such as;

• text-based articles or advertisements were preferred by only 18%,
• those who preferred having an infographic at 4%, 
• 3% voted to learn through a manual or e-book, and 
• 2% preferred to have a sales demo or a call from a sales agent.

Crosses demographic boundaries

Young audiences unanimously prefer short videos that are trendy, funny and reflective of a brand’s values, while the baby boomer generation prefers educational and interactive content such as live videos, podcasts, interviews and expert/niche discussions.

How can I fit short videos into my content strategy?

Consider this, people are twice more likely to share videos than any other form of content and no less than 84% were convinced to purchase after seeing a brand video.

So, if content creators would integrate videos into their marketing strategies, then short-from videos are the way to go, mainly because it is the most popular trend today and thanks to social media, the consumer attention span has gotten shorter over time.

What this means is that businesses and marketers can gain a better advantage using short-form videos versus competitors who don’t plan to take that strategy route.

Study for content strategy

It’s important to consider studying market trends to find out which types of short video content are gaining good ground today. 

Not sure where to get started? Check out our article on how you can plan your content strategy.

READ: 8 Practical and Easy Steps To Develop Your Content Strategy 

Influencer collaborations

It’s not surprising for many brands to take advantage of the power of influencers and have used them a lot for marketing, after all, it has been a known practice that’s been used for several years now.

However, more brands are using influencers to promote using short-from videos.

In fact, around 66% of marketing agencies collaborate with TikTok influencers who rank fifth when it comes to overall return on investment.

Brand challenges

Viral short-form video content started gaining popularity through songs, dances and sound-focused content. And today, brands have taken that practice to create their own filters, sounds and, yes, challenges, to go viral.

The same Hubspot social media trends report, determined that more than 20% of marketers in the survey have used branded challenges as part of their marketing strategies and 42% reported that their efforts paid off and performed beyond expectations.

User-generated content (UGC)

Consumers have been found to establish a good deal of affinity with user-generated content and 40% of marketers swear by its capability of generating a good return on investment, especially among the Gen Z consumer population on TikTok.

The secret to this is that UGC uses minimal resources so brands are more capable of publishing videos that evoke human and consumer-led emotion.

UGC has also been known to strongly influence consumer purchase decisions.

Product intros or teasers

Have you noticed that traditional commercial advertisements usually play between six to 60 seconds, which means that it falls under the prescribed category of a short-form video, right?

If brands have seen it as a great way to promote their video content, shouldn’t your brand also be taking advantage of it?

An upside to short-form videos is that they can be created with less budget compared to full-length long videos and has a great potential of going viral, as well as building anticipation towards new products or services about to go out on the market.

Educational or explainer videos

Educational and explainer videos have the amazing capability of adding value to viewers, which is why it is by far a very effective content delivery vehicle. As mentioned before, the majority of consumers who watched explainer videos based their decisions to purchase after watching such videos.

Behind-the-brand videos

People just love hearing stories and brand stories have a way of resonating with the audience as it is a powerful method of promoting authenticity and transparency in brands.

Consumers nowadays want to associate themselves with the brand they want to use and establish their loyalties to.

These videos are also very popular and gain a lot of following as short-form video content all over TikTok.

Do you want your TikTok videos to stand out? Check out our blog on how to apply SEO to your TikTok videos by checking the link below.

READ: How To Effectively Apply SEO To Your TikTok Video Content  

How to have great quality short-form videos

If you need to create compelling and superb quality short videos, you may need a video editing service that can provide the most value for your money. 

Remember that while short videos are great, content creators have a short window to deliver their brand message through each video so it is critical to have the best material out there.

Check out fractional editing services, specifically those provided by Vidpros, which guarantees your video projects get more quality time and focus from video editors.

First impressions are lasting, so you might as well get everything right for all of your video content.

Are you ready to create your short-form videos? Call us today for a free consultation and avail of a 40% discount on your first month subscription!