Whether you want to drive traffic from Instagram, increase your reach, or boost engagement on social media, there's no denying the benefits of short-form videos in marketing.
A few of the top benefits of investing in short-form video content include the following:
Increased engagement
Most people prefer watching videos because they're more engaging than static images, especially with a short-form platform with an autoplay feature.
Consider what your audience is doing when they're on social media. They might be on their way to work, sitting at their desks during lunch, or lounging at home. They're not very committed to what they're doing and probably don't want to spend more than a few minutes watching a video. Instead, they want highly engaging content that tells them everything they need to know quickly.
Greater reach
A short-form video strategy can increase your reach, but it primarily depends on your strategy. While it's possible for your brand to go viral, you shouldn't plan on it. Instead, you should consistently create great content.
In addition, you can increase your reach and engagement by investing in social media advertising by promoting your video content to attract more potential customers.
Cost-effective
Social media marketing is cost-effective, especially when compared to traditional marketing and many other forms of digital marketing.
While some argue that organic social media is dead, these short-form video platforms prove it's anything but. Instead, you can use short-form videos to attract customers, and the only cost to you is the cost to develop the video.
Of course, you'll have to pay if you want to use paid ads. However, social media advertising remains one of the most affordable options for small businesses. For instance, you can advertise your short-form video on Facebook for as little as a dollar a day.
High ROI
Because short-form videos tend to be more engaging and cost less than more expensive marketing and advertising campaigns, it results in a higher return on investment (ROI) for your business.
In addition, you can apply short-form videos to almost any digital strategy, including social, display ads, and email, making each of them more engaging.
How to create short-form video content
Creating short-form video content might be challenging for some business owners. Not everyone is as skilled with a camera as the younger generations.
But you don't need to hire a professional videographer to create good short-form video content for your social media channels. Instead, just follow these steps:
Identity your target audience
Identifying your target audience is crucial because you'll need to know which social media platforms they use the most and create content tailored to their wants, needs, pain points, and interests.
Doing some market research can help, but you can also review your website analytics and social media insights to learn more about your audience.
Once you've identified your target audience, you can choose the right platform. Research into your audience should tell you their age range and where they're most active on social media.
For instance, if you target millennials, you can choose just about any social media platform to experiment with. However, if your target audience is baby boomers, TikTok is probably not your best option.
Come up with content ideas
What type of video do you want to create? Should it be promotional, educational, or entertaining?
There's no reason to promote your business constantly on social media, and your audience doesn't want to be sold to all the time. Instead, you should create content that engages them based on the products you sell and their interests.
Plan and film your video
After determining the subject matter of your video, you can begin to plan and film. Your audience doesn't want this to be a video; instead, they want a more personal experience with your brand on social media.
There's no need to create a script, but it can be helpful if you're nervous in front of the camera. Then, when you're ready, you can begin filming your video on your smartphone.
Edit and finalize
Short-form video editing can be as simple or complicated as you make it. All the platforms we listed above have some video editing features, but whether they're enough for you depends on your needs.
If you need more robust video editing, you can use another type of software or hire someone to edit your video for you.
Always measure the performance of your short-form video content to ensure your content is working. The main goal should be to attract and engage your audience. If your short-form video content is getting just as much attention as static posts, it might mean your video isn't interesting enough for your audience.
There is no one size fits all type of video content brands create. Instead, it may take some experimentation to find out what short-form video content performs the best among your audience.