People are constantly inundated by media every day which is why marketers must pay attention to video trends, such as short form video content. In order to stand out, especially on social media, your message needs to be packaged nicely, easy to understand, and as fast as possible to consume. If you spent any amount of time on social media you most likely noticed that larger brands are releasing ads as short as two seconds. It will become clear that short form video content is becoming more popular. When looking at the videos that rank well on social media it is all about bite-sized, very clear short form video content. Unfortunately, people do not have time to sit around and consume long videos.
There are two main reasons why short form video content is impactful, shorter attention spans and more repetitive engagement from viewers. Both of these reasons make short form videos a key formula for success, specifically on social media.
Attention Spans
People simply do not have the time to consume every piece of content that is put in front of them on a day-to-day basis. Because of these users have no problem quickly scrolling by a video if it does not immediately catch their eye. According to a study done by Microsoft, the average human’s attention span is less than 8 seconds. Short form video content is more important than ever to ensure you capture people’s attention before they move on.
Repetitive Views
Short form video content is important because of repetitive views. If a video is only 8 seconds long it is very easy for someone to watch it more than once. However, if a video is 5 minutes long the chance of someone taking the time to watch it more than once is very low. For most brands repeat viewers are key in allowing the message to be ingrained into the viewer’s mind.
Does this mean long-form videos are out?
Short-form videos are becoming more popular among consumers, which begs the question, will long-form videos die out? While it's highly recommended for any business to create videos as short as possible, the answer isn't clear cut.
While short-form videos will drive traffic from new users, long-form videos are better for brand loyalty. Shorter videos will get more engagement and show up on new users' feeds. But longer videos will be the backbone of your business.
This is all relative to what services you are offering of course. For instance, e-commerce companies will want to direct their attention towards short-form videos and ads, while long-form videos are better suited for when you want to go in-depth about product and service details.
Companies that offer webinars will benefit from longer videos. And so will companies that post interviews. However, promos and how-to videos should remain under a minute or two, depending on how long the tutorial needs to be.
