How many videos do you watch per day?
Whether you prefer to consume short videos on the go or sit down at the end of the day to tune into something a little longer, the likelihood is you’re spending a good chunk of time watching online video content.
Research shows the average person consumes 100 minutes of video content per day with 14.9% of millennials watching 10-20 hours of video per week. And, as we consume more content everyday, it’s harder to stay focused. For marketers, this means it’s difficult to know how to capture audience attention.
Video marketing is nothing new, but its growth rapidly accelerated during the pandemic. As we were stuck inside, watching video content was a distraction and a way to connect with other people.
Video content is a tried and tested method that can help boost brand awareness and engagement. But the question is should you focus on short or long form video content?
What is a short form video?
Previously, short form video was categorised as any video under 10 minutes. Marketers now agree that short form video should last less than 3 minutes, the ideal length being a swift 30 – 60 seconds.
In recent years, the popularity of short form video has exploded due to the rise of
video sharing platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels. Launched in the midst of the pandemic, September 2020, YouTube Shorts has gone on to garner 1.5 billion monthly active users.
Whether you’re at the gym or heading to work, short form video is perfect for on the go, mobile consumption. And, in the fast paced world of content, short form videos are great at capturing our attention.
For brands, short form video has been a marketing trend to focus on. Short form video can be more cost effective and less challenging to produce. This means that brands can experiment with different platforms, the types of video they produce, trends, and more.
What is long form video?
Despite the rise of short form video, long form video remains a firm favourite. We often see this type of video used for webinars, product videos, tutorials, and on a website. When it comes to sharing long-form video content, YouTube is the most used platform, in fact, 59% of B2B marketers use YouTube for content marketing.
Long form video is a popular tool for those who want to build trust and a deeper connection with their audience. This type of video content offers more time to show personality, provide information, and answer questions. Plus, Google’s algorithm favours high quality long form video so it’s good for your SEO efforts too.
We consume so much content everyday and multiple studies show that this has significantly impacted the human attention span. In 2022, a survey of the UK public revealed that 49% of people felt that their attention span was shorter than it used to be.
We consume more content every day, there’s a lot of information to process, because of this attention spans continue to drop. Keep this in mind when creating long form content.You’ve got to ensure it’s captivating for your audience and will keep them engaged.
What are the benefits of short form content?
An essential part of many marketing strategy, short form video is versatile and comes with an array of benefits including:
- Easier production
- Quicker consumption
- Mobile friendly
- Social media suited
What are the benefits of long form content?
A powerful tool, long form video comes with many advantages including:
- Better optimisation
- Higher conversion rates
- Creates value
- Build stronger connection
Which type of video should you use?
Whether you use short or long form video content will depend on a number of factors including your business type, goals, target audience, purpose of the content, and budget.
Using short form video means you can try new approaches and types of content, it may be best if you wish to target a younger demographic who engage well with this type of content. If the content you wish to produce is more complex, long form content may be best as you can go into depth and potentially form a stronger connection with your audience.
However, both short and long form video content can be incorporated into your marketing strategy. In fact, a combination of short and long form video can maximise the impact of your content and help you build a loyal community.
Keen to hear more about what video content can do for your marketing strategy? Check out The Girls in Marketing Podcast where Olivia sat down with Grace Andrews, Marketing Director for Diary of a CEO & Steven Bartlett, to chat about understanding social media platforms for your brand (including captivating video content).
And, if you’re looking to dive deep into the world of social media and build a social strategy that works for you, look no further. From community marketing to creating killer content, you’ll cover it all in our brand new course Master Your Social Media Strategy. Become a Girls in Marketing Member to access this course and so much more!
