Video contents are divided into two categories based on their length. When creating videos for your school or business, this is one of the things you have to consider. After all, you can’t just keep on filming. You need to have a well-defined video marketing strategy first before you press ‘record’. When you have a clear-cut strategy, it is easier to experiment and get creative in both categories. Each category has its practical purposes that can help push your marketing goals. Before you know it, you are already getting those tiktok views and live streaming fans in no time! In this blog post, we are going to share the different uses and best practices for these two different video categories.
Short Form Vs Long Form
First, we have to define short form and long form video content. Short-form videos are 15 seconds to 2 minutes long while long-form videos are videos that take longer than 10 minutes. Some examples of short-form videos are Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, GIFs, and TikToks. For long-form videos, we have live streaming, webinars, tutorials, interviews, behind-the-scenes, demos, and panel discussions.
Short-Form Videos: Different Uses
GIF
If your brand loves to communicate in a fun way or engage in a playful banter on social media, then Graphics Interchange Format or GIF (pronounced as ‘jif’) is for you. There are ready-made GIFs that you can find on the internet. You can also create your own to have a consistent branded look. You can even integrate it into your blogs, emails, and website. Word of caution – use it in moderation so as not to overwhelm your audience. Ensure that you are also not violating any copyright restrictions.
TIKTOK
Next, we have TikTok. You might think this platform is only used by teens who are very conscious of the number of their tiktok views. But there’s a lot of timeless brands and even B2B companies that are directing their marketing efforts toward this medium. You can create 15-second videos that you can string together to create up to 60-seconds of micro-content. You can also upload longer videos which were not recorded via app. Consider your target audience and the type of content you can share on TikTok before using it as part of your strategy.
INSTAGRAM REELS
TikTok has become a social media giant that Instagram launched Reels in 2020 to be able to compete. Complete with audio, effects, and creative tools, Reels allows users to create entertaining and informative 15-second videos. To maximise exposure of your brand’s public Instagram Account, share your Reel in Explore. It is a dedicated space for a wider Instagram community. Your engagements will also improve once people click or search for the featured song, hashtag, or effect that you use for your Reels.
YOUTUBE SHORTS
Of course, the scene won’t be complete without the video platform giant. YouTube is beta-testing ‘Shorts’ in India which will be rolled-out to the rest of the world soon. Specifically designed with smartphone users in mind, Shorts will empower creators to be able to shoot with just their mobile device. With YouTube Shorts, you can publish high-quality 15-seconds videos anywhere you are in the world.
Types of Long-Form Videos
Now that you got your audience attention with your short-form contents, it is time to sustain the momentum with long-form videos. If one of the first things that people see on your social media channels is a sharable and informative video, it can immensely help their decision-making. Make sure that your videos can answer the 5Ws and 1h as well as tell your brand story in an engaging manner. A long-form video could be your one shot to leave a great impression to your prospects.
Some of the long-form videos that you can create for your brand are the following:
- Tutorials or how-to videos
- Interviews or Q&As
- Company or product updates
- Behind-the-scenes
- Panel discussions
- Product demo
- Virtual events (webinar or online workshop)
You may opt to have these videos pre-recorded or live. But between the two, the latter has great potential for online engagement. According to Forbes.com, live streaming had reached 99% year-over-year growth of hours watched and a 45% growth between March and April 2020. The live streaming industry is getting even bigger.
If your marketing team is not yet tapping this opportunity, your brand might be missing out on a lot of gains. New live streaming technologies and their ease of use make it convenient even for a non-tech savvy marketer. There are free tools and software that you can use, and a smartphone is already enough to produce live videos.
Long-Form Videos: Brand Benefits
Creating long-form videos benefits your brand in more ways than one. The algorithms of major social media sites favour long-form videos, thus, pushing your content more to your audience. Same goes for search engines like Google. This means more engagement and site visits. It is also ideal for your branding as you can share your brand story in an empathic manner. No other content format can make you relatable as easily as brand videos do.
A few more things to remember
Before you film your content, you might want to think first about your LAST.
Lighting, Audio, Stability, and Timing.
LIGHTING – Use natural light as much as possible. If you don’t have access to natural lighting, there are inexpensive portable lighting that you can use.
AUDIO – Test your mic for the directional sound and be aware of your background noise.
STABILITY – A shaky footage can turn off your viewers. They may be forgiving of videos not professionally shot in a studio, but a headache-inducing clips can easily turn them away. Invest in reasonably-priced mobile phone stabilisers to improve your brand films.
TIMING – Nothing sticks more than a relevant content. This does not mean that you have to ride every trend out there. It is about being mindful of what your customers need right now. What do they care most about these days that your brand could possibly help them with?
As you move forward with your video marketing strategy, you will notice more what makes a good video. You will learn more about the uses of short-form and long-form videos for your brand as you go along. The key here is to really just get started. So, start listing your content ideas now and get those tiktok views, IG likes, and webinar attendees!
We hope you got an insight or two from our blog, and as always, happy recording!
