I have to be honest with you, I thought this short-form content would be child’s play. Imagine all brands dancing to a TikTok challenge? No way. But, of course, it is more than that.

These days, as people’s concentration time keeps getting shorter, short form content is a new way of telling stories - which is quick, interesting, and straight to the point.

Your pen still has its power, but we will talk about that in another article. Today, let’s see how you can focus on creating short form content and leveraging it quickly for your brand.

What is short form content?

In this post, I will mostly focus on the short form video content, since that is what most brands are using nowadays. These are simply any video that is produced up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds in length.

The 4-second Vine videos that transformed into the TikTok bite-sized videos that are 15 and 60 seconds, the Instagram reel videos, or the 2-minute YouTube Shorts you've seen all over social media, are all examples of short form video content.

Why should your brand use short form content?

Short-form videos can be used to send a rapid message or engage your target audience in a matter of seconds.

"Wow, that's interesting," that’s what you’d say when you saw great content on any platform. However, there are situations in marketing when you need to instantly grab your readers' attention and keep them interested. Those are when you need to use short form content.

Particularly in the case of short-form video content.

Short-form videos can help you meet your sales targets by retaining viewers' attention for longer periods of time than other types of content.

According to research, 50% of customers prefer to engage with videos on social media, thus once a video attracts their interest, they stop scrolling. Not to mention how platforms keep rolling out new features for selling with short videos.

You can even buy a product on Tik Tok, do you know that?

How to use short form content for your brand?

Now that you know why you should start making videos, we'll show you how to do it. Here are some valuable tips.

#1. Use user generated content

User-Generated Content (UGC) is a low-cost method of producing video for your website or blog. Using user-generated content in your videos also provides your content a more genuine vibe. Laura Mercier employed user-generated content to sell their goods by introducing the #ReadySetGo challenge, which urged TikTok users to show off their transformations from using Laura Mercier cosmetics.

They started by collaborating with well-known beauty TikTokers, who shot their own takes on the challenge and uploaded it with their followers to help spread the word and get the ball moving. 8.1 billion impressions and 2,500 pieces of user-provided content were generated as a result of the campaign.

#2. Make your first few seconds count

"Content is king," you hear over and over again. Even yet, you might be surprised to learn that social media video material (particularly short-form videos) can be compelling because they tap into the human attention span. To keep viewers engaged, your films must be targeted, brief, and attract their attention within the first few seconds.

Make your videos under a minute long and focus on grabbing the audience's attention in the opening few seconds. In the first three seconds, try to present your value proposition or offer.

If this is too hard, find some templates online. There are countless sources for you to make short form videos in just seconds.

#3. Make your videos look good

To make your videos more visually appealing, use the editing features of video production applications, special effects, and stylish filters.

For example, you can utilize special effects like the Glitch effects on TikTok to give your videos a futuristic feel. Alternatively, add a retro atmosphere by using VHS tapes.

You can add these special effects with programs like InShot, Snow, and 90s. You can also use easy-to-read and pleasing-to-the-eye typefaces.

Another element that you should take into consideration is music, sound effects, and subtitles. These all combined encourage your viewers to finish watching the whole video.

Again, templates work wonders here. You can learn how people design beautiful short form videos while applying them to your brand in seconds.

#4. Optimize the content for your platform

For various types of visual material, each platform has varied ideal dimensions. The demographic makeup of each platform varies as well.

As a result, it makes sense to optimize your video so that it appears great across all platforms. Remember that the higher the quality of your video, the more engagement and conversions you'll obtain.

Plan for numerous channels from the outset when making your videos, and master the sizes and file types for each channel.

#5. Tell your story

Storytelling is an excellent tactic for social commerce. It helps people remember you by increasing engagement and emotional connection. Furthermore, brand storytelling can boost the value of your product and service by more than 20%.

It is not necessary for your stories to be solemn or overly manufactured. Although the content should center on your service or product, we may use it to construct a narrative by showing your brand's human side.

Learn from Netflix and their Instagram reels. By just a few seconds, the reel can compress the whole movie trailer and show the most interesting parts. And you can watch it without rotating your phone!

You can tell many kinds of stories as well, such as sharing behind-the-scenes footages of your brand, or company events and more.

#6. Don’t forget a CTA

A great Call to Action is crucial to smart video marketing since it directs viewers to take the next step (CTA). Your CTA might have a variety of objectives, ranging from collecting contact information to generating a qualified lead.

Ideally, your CTA should be tailored to the stage of the sales funnel you're aiming for.

Consider a CTA that invites viewers to explore even more your content while developing awareness stage videos, for example. Suggestions for further films to watch or blog entries to read are some more ideas.

We advise employing a complete marketing plan to plan out your CTA for the best outcomes. After that, compare this plan to your business plan to ensure that your approach is in line with your overall business and market objectives.

#7. Track metrics

Track metrics to assess how successful your films are and whether they are meeting your objectives.

Views, engagement, social sharing, click-throughs, and conversions are all factors to consider. Take notes on the results and use them to help you make your next video.

Go make your short form content!

If done correctly, a short form content approach can help you expand your brand today. It is an excellent strategy to increase your brand's social media awareness. Embrace the idea, and you’ll take your brand’s marketing to the next level.