Short Videos vs. Long-Form Videos
You can't beat short-form videos for grabbing attention quickly
Short form, long form - which type of video is better for growing your business?
It used to be that long-form video was pretty much all that was available online. It resided on YouTube, perhaps Vimeo, and showed up on other social media platforms, too, especially on LinkedIn if it was business-centric. These videos were often 5-20 minutes long and shot in landscape (or horizontal) mode. Great for watching on your desktop or large screen, though not so much for mobile devices unless you turned your screen 90 degrees to watch in landscape mode.
Short-form videos were under 60 seconds and shot in portrait or vertical mode. These videos were far more casually produced than their long-form counterparts and showed up on social media as Instagram or TikTok reels or stories on Facebook and Instagram.
Fast forward to today's social media landscape and short videos dominate by a huge margin. Why?
Short-form videos are almost always more successful than long-form content
Today's content consumers don't want to feel "sold to;" they prefer to watch something that seems genuinely shared.
The case for short videos
Short videos proliferated across multiple social media channels because they deliver most what viewers want: information, entertainment, or perspective in bite-size chunks, ready for that spare moment or two of idle scrolling. Not much of a surprise with attention spans counted in seconds, not minutes.
Long-form videos can do well, too, but they don’t have the viewer hold time unless they already have an established audience and reputation. Short videos have a number of advantages because they are ...
more cost-effective to produce
mobile-friendly
easier to consume
more attention-getting
more addictive
Furthermore, short videos have the potential to go viral very quickly and put your brand on the map. They're easy to repurpose in ads, marketing emails, social media, and website blogs and pages.
Best of all for everyday content creators, they're expected to be more casual and "real-life" vs. a high-end production. Today's content consumers don't want to feel "sold to;" they'd rather have something that feels shared with them, and testimonials are typically short, punchy, and personal. Just like short videos.
Advantages of long-form videos
Conversely, long videos offer more depth and detail to more fully entertain or educate their audiences. Because they spend more time explaining a problem and solution or how something works, they may lead to more purchases.
Other advantages include:
more complex storytelling
more time and detail translates to deeper connections with the audience
higher conversion rates
a comfortable format for detailed demonstrations and more extensive narratives, such as marketing strategies and client or employee education
What to choose, what to choose ...
It used to be that long-form video had a strong advantage over its short-form counterpart because it was available for SEO optimization. That's changed; both short and long videos are easily found based on their titles, thumbnails, and keywords. My biggest suggestion here is to host both types on a YouTube channel.
YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google (and it's owned by Google!) and people search more now than ever before for video content to answer questions or just to be entertained. Chances are your videos will be seen by new eyes vs. a subscriber base due to their searchability.
Are you looking to monetize your YouTube channel? Hey, why not! Just keep in mind that it's easier to do with many long-form videos than fewer short-form videos unless your short videos explode in popularity.
According to YouTube, you need:
1,000 subscribers
AND
4,000 hours of watch time across all your videos over the last 12 months
OR
10 million Shorts views over the last 90 days
So you'll have to make up in volume with short videos what you could potentially accomplish with far fewer long-form videos.
Which do you like better?
0%Short-form videos
0%Long-form videos
Mix and match
In the end, the right choice is what best serves your purpose. And there's much to be said for mixing up the two for your audience.
Do you have a lot of content to share? There are two ways to go about it.
Create a long-form video and then break it up into multiple short videos, keeping one simple point per short video. Publish both versions, thereby potentially creating greater reach with both formats working together.
Create multiple short videos only, one topic per video, and present them as a series (Youtube playlist).
Set a consistent day and time for sharing each installment and your audience will grow to expect them. Also, with a audience who comes to know you, tthere's a much higher chance of your entire video being watched. They'll also have more time to absorb and remember each topic, rather than taking in everything all at once.
For either format, get to “the good stuff” in your video right away. Viewers who don’t already know your work won’t stick around if something doesn’t immediately grab their attention. Unless they see immediate value, statistically you have less than four seconds before they click away. Forget about a long introduction; jump right into the material so that viewers get what they’re expecting up front.
My experience
What do I do? I’ve produced both long-form and several short-form video series, including the ultra-short MOMisms series. Very clearly, analytics prove my shorts outperform my long-form series by a wide margin, with MOMisms performing best of all. I think that's because they are so short and watchable, but also because they waste no time getting to the point of the video and use humor to do so.
Not sure what you should do? Start with a few short videos for social media and then, if you have a lot more to say, experiment with a long-form video. If you're having trouble getting started, like figuring out what to say or how to say it - or even how to make a short video quickly, easily, and very inexpensively - give me a call. I can help you strategize and get you up and running with some short videos in no time!
Want to learn more? Let's talk!
I'm Laura Doman, a voice & TV/film actor and video communications coach. As an actor, I create memorable characters that tell my client's stories well, from the friendly CEO to your sassy best gal pal dispensing real-world advice. As a coach, I help you become more comfortable and charismatic on camera in videos, presentations, and online appearances.
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