Did you know that humans have attention spans shorter than that of a goldfish? In fact, the average consumer’s attention span is nine seconds long, down from 12 seconds in the year 2000. That gives us as marketers what seems like an impossibly tight window of time to reach our audience. 

The rise of short-form video content in the form of Instagram Reels and TikTok speaks directly to our narrowing attention span. Short-form video, such as the 15 to 60-second videos we see on TikTok, answers our preference for bite-sized, punchy video content that communicates a message quickly and effectively. 

It’s fair to say that video is a powerful medium, and its value to businesses and brands is only increasing. 

Marketers can’t afford not to use video

Let’s run some numbers:

• 60% of internet traffic currently revolves around video.
• 49% of business videos are less than a minute long. 
• 72% of people prefer video to text when learning about a new product or service.
• 68% of users will happily watch a business video if it’s under a minute long.
• 54% of people want to see brands create video versus any other type of content.

With these figures in mind, suffice it to say that if you haven’t jumped on the short-form video bandwagon yet, you’re missing out. Other forms of content, like static social media posts, just aren’t cutting it anymore, particularly if you’re looking for your online messaging to go viral.

If you’re now thoroughly convinced that video is the best step your brand can take with regards to marketing, here are our top tips for getting it right.

Listen to your audience

The best way to develop a short-form video that grabs attention and has the potential to go viral is to listen to your audience and learn about what they want to see. For example, you could turn to your comments section to get a taste of what your audience is after. Think of your comments section as your very own focus group – a place to find out what users are most engaged with. This should help inform and inspire your next piece of video content.

Suppose you don’t have a lot of comments to work with yet, not to worry. You can still look through comments on other creators’ content similar to the messaging you want to convey. You can also look for ideas through your DMs or even customer emails.

Get trendy

You may not think a viral dance, challenges, or hit songs are the best way to market your brand online. However, staying on top of trends is essential to creating short-form video content that performs well.

Marketers to need to immerse themselves in the video landscape and stay ahead of trends if they want to produce relevant video content. This way, you can identify trends when they first start to emerge so you can utilise them to promote your brand or business (plus, it’s also a great excuse to spend hours on TikTok and call it research!)

Create authentic connections

More than anything else, your audience wants to experience the authentic side of your brand. They want to connect with the people behind your business and what makes you real. So, don’t be afraid to connect with your audience by being face-to-face in your video content.

To effectively build a community of engaged users, you need to be prepared to be front and centre in your videos. You’ll want to create an informal sense of what an average day looks like. Use this as an opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality.

Inform and educate

If you’re short on ideas for your next piece of video, a great place to start is with informative, educational content. For example, you could show people different ways to use your product or provide them with top tips related to your services. By doing this, you’re establishing your brand as a thought leader and expert in your field, which translates to users feeling like they can trust your brand.

Being helpful to audiences in their daily lives can help users flow through your marketing funnel to the point that they’re ready to make a decision and purchase your product. 

Informative content can also take shape as you answer the FAQs you get asked the most. Whether it’s about common questions you receive that are specific to your brand or just general industry questions that people seek answers to, this type of content gives your brand the advantage. If someone is undecided on a product, they’re more likely to choose the brand with a useful explainer video than one who simply has text on their website.

Share what your audience shares

Sharing user-generated content (UGC) on your online platforms is a powerful way to market your brand. Plenty of what is published to short-form video channels is user-generated and it would make sense to give your brand an authentic feel by sharing this type of content.

Capturing video from your followers and fans and then featuring it in your own short videos lets potential customers know that, when it comes to your brand specifically, they have a voice, and their contribution is valued.

Consumers are two and a half times more likely to say that UGC is the most authentic way a brand can position itself compared to any other branded content. This makes it worthwhile to prompt, collect, and publish UGC, as audiences love to see this type of content.

There’s absolutely no doubt about it; short-form video is king. It’s no longer a tactic that marketers can afford to leave out of their strategies.