Everything You Should Know about YouTube Shorts
In the last decade, video has become the most preferred content format on the web.
According to the recent report on video marketing statistics, 91% of people want to see more videos from brands and YouTube remains the world's top platform for video content.
Yes, Youtube is easily part of the new television dynamic. Many people nowadays pick up their smartphones more often than a tv remote.
Since an average social media user has a shortened attention span of 8 seconds, marketers (and creators) have to get people to see your content in a quick way. When it comes to YouTube, shorts are growing in popularity.
Youtube shorts is a feature that was added to address people's need for short and quick content. This is to keep up with similar social media apps like TikTok's short 15-second videos, Instagram reels, and more. Let's learn more about this feature.
About YouTube Shorts in Brief
Youtube has been the most popular video-sharing app since its launch in 2005. Many creators over the years have created content resulting in hundreds of millions of videos on it.
In 2020, they launched the Shorts feature that allows creators to upload vertical videos up to 60 seconds in length. It provides quick glances at your content and helps to generate more views and watch time.
As mentioned earlier, Youtube shorts were the App's solution to other apps like TikTok and Instagrams Reels. It has been a success since its launch in 2020 and has allowed the platform Youtube to grow. The shorts feature has led to the observed growth of new creators joining the platform for the first time.
In most cases, YouTube shorts are vertical videos, but users can also upload square content to fit this thread. And here are the dimensions for YouTube shorts:
What's Behind the Popularity of YouTube Shorts?
Over the decades, people's attention spans have significantly reduced thanks to information overload. Today's fast-paced world, both online and offline, means that getting a person's attention requires efficient communication in the shortest time possible and creativity.
People nowadays consume so much content remembering half of what they have consumed is hard. This means you must be eye-catching or memorable enough.
Youtube shorts gained popularity because it caters to people's short attention span. Since the videos are so short, entertaining, and numerous in a carousel lineup, it keeps the audience engaged and hooked to the app. In fact, YouTube Shorts get an average of 3.5 billion views daily!
Just like the feeling of buying something new, the novelty of this feature created a lot of interest in it. This new type of content gave creators and consumers a new way to present and consume their creations. The new addition to the platform has been a great success, and if you're a content creator, you should take advantage of this feature.
If you have been trying YouTube SEO to gain better market value and precise targeting, Shorts allow for a great audience reach. Also, content creators have noted that TikTok does not have a great payoff in terms of monetary gain. Youtube's platform has a better positioning in terms of how it distributes revenue to its creators, where they make better gains than a tik tok creator.
How to Create YouTube Shorts
If you have been creating videos for YouTube, making a short will be easy work.
It's still simple enough for beginners and those people who repurpose other content creators' videos. There are two ways to create a short, either by mobile phone or desktop.
Creating youtube shorts with your mobile device is easy:
And here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it on your phone:
Step one: Open the youtube app on your mobile phone or device and tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
Step two: Select 'Create a short.' You must 'Allow access' to your phone camera for it to work.
Step three: Tap the red record button to start recording anywhere between 15-60 second videos. Tap the record button again if you want to pause the filming. You will find several recording and editing tools for you to use, such as flip, speed, effects, retouch, filters, lighting options, and so on.
Step four: Once you are satisfied with your video, select the white tick mark on the bottom right corner of the screen. You can preview your video at this point and add sound effects, music, or text overlays. Proceed by tapping 'Next' on the screen.
Step five: This is the last stage, and all you need is a caption, select your audience, and visibility. Select 'Upload short,' and you are done.
Creating youtube shorts on your desktop is very direct.
Step one: On Youtube, open Youtube studio.
Step two: Select the 'create' icon on the top right corner.
Step three: Upload the short.
Step four: Fill in visibility, audience, and caption. Upload.
Now that you know the main principles behind this content type, let's take a look at five best practices of using YouTube Shorts.
1. Allow Yourself to Upload Less Polished Content
In the age of social media, where perfection through thorough editing and filters makes it seem perfect, imperfection is refreshing.
Try and post the scene or bloopers of your production. Or just take a video as you would, as if showing a friend a live feed of where you are or what you are doing. It makes you more relatable to the audience.
What is more, people crave authenticity and uploading less-polished content is easy and fast.
2. Make Every YouTube Shorts Video Valuable
In this context, valuable means both to you and the audience.
Things that can make a short valuable are its relatability, comedic relief, and informational or interesting facts. Having eye-catching YouTube videos is another way to have value.
Also, the content should be shareable and allow people to comment and like, as this helps with engagement.
For example, French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products Sephora uses YouTube Shorts to upload makeup tutorials and feature its products.
3. Tease Subscribers with YouTube Shorts
These shorts are a great way to provide previews of your content that are minutes long, just like a movie preview shows you just enough to get interested but not the whole plot so as not to spoil the story. Use the same concept when creating your shorts for the content of longer videos.
Let's take a look at Starbucks. In the following video, the creator tells the audience about the kid version of Strawberry Frappuccino. And for the company, it's a good idea to roll out a new drink.
4. Leverage the Power of Storytelling
When it comes to social media videos, viewers love storytelling as it keeps them engaged from the start to the end.
As any other video on YouTube, Shorts should have elements of storytelling to increase user engagement.
A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, with a conflict introduced and resolved by the end. This means when posting videos, have this theory in mind to have a captivating video.
Here's an example of leveraging the power of storytelling in YouTube Shorts:
5. Try YouTube Shorts as a New Ad Placement
Having a YouTube channel is a great way to market to your target online audience. But paying for advertisements has never really been cheap.
However, with a feature like Youtube Shorts, you can create videos in an advert type of format to promote and push your channel.
It comes at no cost, and the probability of how many eyes see your content is as high as 30 billion! We are barely 8 billion on earth. Those numbers cannot be compared to any other media format.
Check out how ads on YouTube Shorts look like. They are native!
Conclusion
Youtube shorts are a great and quick way to consume content on the platform. Half of all of youtube's watch time comes from mobile devices. This means content such as shorts which is best consumed on mobile phones-devices, has a better probability of views.
Today, the average views on Youtube shorts clock 30 billion daily views on average. Use short attention spans to your advantage with this feature. This creates an excellent means for content creators, brands, and companies to get noticed and find new subscribers.