How to Use Short-Form Videos to Boost Your Brand
It is estimated that each day, approximately 329 million terabytes of data are created on the internet. A significant portion of this data originates from businesses aiming to establish their online presence and raise awareness about their brand.
Recently, brands have been heavily relying on videos to connect with and captivate their audience. This shift toward video content aligns with the growing preference of individuals for this medium.
More than 85% of businesses utilize videos as a marketing tool, and a striking 84% of consumers make purchase decisions after watching video content.
Nevertheless, the internet has become saturated with videos, necessitating innovative marketing tools like short-form videos to break through the clutter and effectively reach the target audience.
Short-form videos are inherently engaging, but the question arises: how can they be leveraged to enhance your brand? Let’s explore.
7 Tips on Using Short-Form Videos to Boost Your Brand
Short-form videos are insanely popular, garnering billions of views across platforms every day. Wondering how to make your content stand out? Here are 7 tips for creating effective short-form videos.
1. Choose Your Platforms
The trend of short-form videos originated from TikTok, but it has since been embraced by various other social platforms, making short-form videos the most popular marketing tool on the internet.
However, it’s essential to recognize that each platform comes with its unique audience, best practices, and features. For instance, YouTube Shorts is renowned for its valuable and informative content, while TikTok stands out for its entertaining and creative short videos. Therefore, it’s crucial to tailor the content to align with the specific platforms hosting the videos.
When choosing platforms, carefully consider your goals, audience, and the values outlined in the business proposal. This document can also guide you in adopting the appropriate tone and style for your videos.
2. Prioritize Vertical Content
Vertical videos outperform videos of other dimensions, especially on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. According to recent data, vertical content garnered 187% more viewers during the initial half of the video.
This phenomenon can be attributed to the immersive experience that the audience enjoys when the video content occupies the entire phone screen. Moreover, viewers find vertical content to be more engaging on mobile devices.
Given the fact that mobile video consumption is doubling annually, and an estimated 57-75% of all videos are watched on phones, it becomes evident that square or horizontal videos would appear compressed and diminutive on smartphones.
3. Add Variety to Your Content Offerings
There is much debate about the type of content to create for short-form videos. Our experience tells us that there is no significant difference between short and long-form video content in this regard.
You can utilize short-form videos to showcase your products, explain their functioning, demonstrate features, and share product recommendations. Additionally, you can repurpose long-form content by using YouTube video editing tools to create fresh mini-clips for various social media platforms. The only condition is that short-form content must provide value to the audience. Don’t forget to make a YouTube intro for your videos to make them more memorable and engaging!
Pro tip: There are many applications for processing such videos for both computers and phones. But they usually take up a lot of RAM, which can slow down the device. Here is more info on how to avoid it.
In some aspects, short-form content gives you more creative freedom than longer videos. For instance, you can craft teaser clips to promote seminars, live events, and in-depth videos. These teaser videos can be shared on various social media platforms and can also serve as persuasive email content, delivered directly to consumers’ inboxes using Sendinblue or Sendinblue alternatives.
4. Include a Hook and Call to Action
We all know that short videos are attention-grabbing by nature. However, hundreds of short videos are uploaded every minute, which means the audience faces the problem of plenty. What can you do? Include a hook at the start of the video to grab and maintain their attention throughout.
Anything that evokes emotions, captures eyeballs, inspires action, and generates engagement can be used as a hook. Emotional branding works well. Therefore, share an emotional story—albeit a brief one, preferably associated with your brand—mesmerize them with visuals and engage them with valuable information to linger in their memory for a long time.
Short-form content, although engaging, can’t provide all the information the audience needs. A call to action (CTA) guides viewers to a page or video with more details about your brand.
A CTA can also be utilized to collect information about the viewers by directing them to a page with a form. Suppose the short video features a product; add a call to action encouraging viewers to purchase the product. The only condition for a CTA is to make it easy to notice and understand.
5. Follow the Trends and Hashtags
Short-form videos live for only a brief moment in the memories of the audience. One effective way to enhance the impact of short videos is by creating content on trending topics. Audiences like to stay abreast of the latest trends, and they are drawn to the most recent topics. Making videos on trending topics and hashtags can propel your brand directly in front of the audience.
Short videos necessitate that marketers stay ahead of the curve, and it’s also a guaranteed way to keep you on your toes. This is because most trends change daily, with some evolving within just a few hours. Therefore, if you aim to create content on trending topics, you must be quick and creative.
Another benefit of producing videos on trends is a regular stream of content. Engaging the audience with consistent videos will leave a lasting impression on their memory. When the audience encounters your brand multiple times, their interest in your offers will likely grow.
6. Create Original and Authentic Content
People are drawn to short-form videos because they perceive them as authentic and sincere. The audience feels that vertical content recorded with a phone or GoPro is real and honest.
This sentiment isn’t limited to the audience alone. Even content creators state that they can truly be themselves in front of the camera while creating videos for TikTok, which is predominantly short-form content.
By ‘authentic and honest,’ we don’t mean raw and unedited footage. You don’t need to create short-form videos of high production value, but rather, use a video editing tool to add a touch of professionalism.
7. Ally with Customers and Influencers to Create Content
Customers can serve as a reliable source of referrals and content. Their experiences, from unboxing your product for the first time to using its features, along with their opinions and their journey of discovering your product, can be transformed into compelling video content.
Leveraging customer reviews, testimonials, and stories can significantly boost your brand. User-generated content (UGC) not only extends the reach of the brand but also enhances credibility, fostering trust between prospects and the brand.
Another form of UGC involves collaborating with influencers to create content. Influencer marketing is highly effective in reaching a broader audience. According to a study, a significant portion of young consumers reported being influenced by bloggers or social media influencers when making a purchase.
Final Thoughts
Short-form videos are not just a passing phase; they represent a robust strategy for introducing your brand and connecting with the audience.
To succeed with this innovative marketing tool, read, understand, and implement the seven tips outlined in this article. Our suggestions will assist you in crafting a video campaign that resonates effectively with your audience.