YouTube Shorts let you offer viewers a “free sample” of your content.

You can show them what makes you different, and quickly get them interested in learning more.

YouTube Shorts’ incorporation into the broader YouTube platform gives it a major advantage over its competitors - convenience.

Interested viewers can easily move over to your channel and find more content - with a greater potential for variety, to boot. 

Keep reading to learn how to mix YouTube Shorts into your business’s content strategy and get more people interested in your brand ⬇️ 

Background

YouTube released its Shorts feature in 2021. The TikTok-like function allows users to watch and upload vertical video content up to a minute in length.

Unlike TikTok — where content is all short-form and vertical — YouTube offers a variety of video lengths and formats. This versatility makes it a compelling option for marketers.

While any content strategy should be multi-platform, there is no denying the strength of YouTube on its own.

YouTube Funnel Example

The path a viewer takes from discovering your brand in a YouTube Short to becoming a customer might look like this:

• A viewer sees your YouTube Short
• Their interest leads them to your YouTube channel
• You answer more questions and continue to intrigue them, and this viewer decides to check out  your website
• From there, they can become a customer right away, or complete another step (like signing up for a newsletter) that continues the relationship

YouTube Shorts: Features for Creators

• Up to 60 seconds of vertical video
• Record and edit in-app, or upload videos directly 
• Comments section offers ability for creators to “pin” messages so they’re seen first when users open them
• YouTube makes it easy to get a lot of mileage out of a single piece of content with its versatility of video formats (vertical and horizontal, short-form and long-form)
  • We recommend uploading one piece of long form content and also splitting it into clips of varying lengths

Offer a Free Sample

Short-form video content allows viewers to sample new content in a low-stakes environment. 

Videos are short and easy to skip; there is no drawn-out process of selecting from a grid of thumbnails. The algorithm serves users a video, and they can choose whether to watch it, or to swipe up and immediately see another.

All On Youtube

With shorts, leading viewers to another video all happens on the same platform.

Compare this to a platform like TikTok: If you wanted to lead users to a longer form video here, it would mean moving them to another platform (like to YouTube or your website). 

This can be a bigger ask than one might think. A viewer usually comes to an app like TikTok for entertainment, and they want to stick to that plan. 

If you’re already on YouTube, being asked to watch another YouTube video is less of a hassle. 

Once you have people watching your videos, you can continue to build up your audience of subscribers, continue to deliver videos directly to their YouTube inbox, and keep converting them into customers over time. 

Shorts Play Automatically 

Thumbnails are less important with a YouTube Short than they are with a YouTube video.

Shorts play automatically as viewers swipe through. This means you have a greater chance to capture your viewers’ interest and attention (since they’ll already be watching your video - they didn’t have to find you or select your video specifically).

This also means that the first few seconds of video are crucial; don’t delay with the point. Grab the user's attention, entertain them. And, don’t forget a call to action in your description, like “Learn More,” “Watch More,” “Check out our channel,” etc. 

Pinned Comments

Pinned comments are a great way to lead users to a full length video or to your channel. 

You can also try adding a link to a longer video in your pinned comment to direct viewers towards it. 

Users Are Looking for Entertainment

Viewers don’t go into a video hoping to skip it; they want to see something interesting, funny, entertaining – In other words, something that brings value, even if it's something that simply makes them feel good for a moment. 

So, give your viewers content that helps and brightens their days, and they will reward you in turn.

Conclusion: Value of YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts offer an advantage over their competitors by virtue of being a piece of the entire YouTube platform.

It has many of the same features as other short-form video content platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, while also allowing you to more easily lead users to a wider variety of video content. 

This versatility and convenience for viewers will allow you to introduce your brand and then more seamlessly convert them into customers and brand advocates. 

Thank you for reading and we hope that this has been a helpful overview of the value of YouTube Shorts for your marketing efforts. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how to improve your digital marketing efforts, feel free to reach out to us through our contact page.