Evolution of Short Form Content
Whether it’s to inform, entertain, persuade, or tell a story, short form video content is so much more prominent in our lives now than ever before. We have more power in our hands than one might realize. Since the marvelous invention of the smartphone, the human attention span has decreased. YouTube used to be a “dangerous” place in the early days, but now it’s how we find that one really old cat video, or comedian skit we couldn’t stop laughing at. There is still plenty of long from YouTube content that gets made to this day, but how has it evolved? Short form content has evolved from Vine and Facebook to so many platforms now just because of how easy it is to find something amusing to our interests. Facebook and Instagram have “Reels”, YouTube has “Shorts”, and of course, there is TikTok. Each one of these platforms have their own algorithm, which is used to show you more relevant content that you stop and watch, or even like.
Why do we find ourselves of Reels, Shorts or TikTok?
It’s all about the short form content. From keeping up with social media influencers/celebrities to watching people prank each other and even to healthier foods and routines, everyone has their own niche of videos that peaks their interest. The list does not stop there, but it’s because of this mass increase in short form video that our minds’ attention span has greatly decreased. If you use any of these platforms, what do you do if something does not interest you within the first 3-5 seconds? Swipe… on to the next video. I believe short form content is the future of grasping the attention of our minds, and the businesses and corporations know it! The biggest example that I can give is YouTube or YouTube TV. There are so many ads now on YouTube videos depending on how long they are. (Depending on the length of the video, there will be 1-2 ads at the beginning, and even some in the middle.)
We won’t get into how YouTube and Google know which ads to serve you, but let’s be honest, you may not think about it, but we give out clues when we search the web. (That is the short, and sweet answer.) All that aside, have you noticed how short some ads may be? Even if it’s 1-2 sentences of a funny scenario or something silly, a 5-15 second ad is all a company needs to make you remember a branded catchphrase/slogan, a sale, or a new product. Now, maybe not all businesses utilize short form video. They may not see a reason, or they may not think that they need to help them promote a service/solution they have, and they may be right… but could it hurt? Absolutely not. Short form video can still be used in testimonials/reviews, a service video, a recruitment video, or literally anything you can think of. It gets your company’s name, products, services, values out there and could help you attract other customers and build a little more recognition to any company or brand. Why not give it a shot?
Why do we find ourselves of Reels, Shorts or TikTok?
Remember when I said “We have more power in our hands than one might realize.” Think about the answer to that question when you ask yourself how you can make short form content… Your phone’s camera and microphone can be utilized so easily to make a simple video. I know at Captivated Content we are promoting more behind-the-scenes of our projects that we do as well as our services. While we are not using a phone all the time, there are plenty of times where we get our phones out now during the day to record a simple video. Why not use it to promote our business? No editing is required, and it doesn’t have to be anything special.
Approximately 90% of people own a smartphone nowadays. All of this may be a little scary when you think about it from a larger perspective, but short form video is how so much information nowadays is perceived, consumed and shared. I would try and take advantage of it because I do not think it is going anywhere… at least not for a while.
We’re always open to chat about anything marketing, video production, or digital strategy! We’d love to talk!
