With the success of TikTok and the soar in people taking advantage of Instagram’s ‘Reels” feature, YouTube has decided to have a stab at the integration of a short video feature with YouTube Shorts. Launched in September of 2020, this feature was made available to more than 100 countries around the world. Since then, it has impressively surpassed over 15 billion average views per day.
Due to the rapid growth of this feature, many businesses around the world are now making use of YouTube Shorts for marketing purposes. In this guide, we’ll go over a range of tips on how to use YouTube Shorts for marketing.
What Exactly Are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube shorts are very similar to the likes of Instagram Reels and TikTok videos. Getting started with creating content for YouTube shorts is very easy. Simply tap the ‘create’ button and add or film a new video. You can incorporate different styling elements to the videos including sounds/songs, filters, and text overlays. You can also adjust the speed of the video.
Similar to the other platforms mentioned, YouTube Shorts are also in vertical form. You can comment, share, and like the videos with these appropriate icons located along the right-hand side of the screen.
Quick Action Steps for Marketing with YouTube Shorts
If you believe YouTube Shorts may be a benefit to your marketing strategy, there are several simple things you can do to implement them into your marketing plan right away. Below is a list of recommendations for quick steps you can take with YouTube shorts.
- Revisit your old short videos – If you have some content that you have used previously that is 60 seconds or less, you can reuse this content for YouTube Shorts. If the original video is horizontal, you can use a converter software to turn your video around and make it vertical easily. When you upload the content, use the hashtag #Shorts to the description so that YouTube recommends it on the Shorts section of the homepage when someone searches for them.
- Repurpose your previous content – If you have some old content that can be cut up easily and converted into shorter 60-second clips, you can use these for future content. Consider collecting a few clips from longer videos and incorporating these into a content calendar for future use.
- Gather user-generated content – This is a very easy way to become visible on the YouTube Shorts scene. Plus, it can also do wonders for improving your brand image and brand awareness. It helps by showing prospective customers and clients that you have a loyal audience, and it also solidifies the loyalty of your existing customer base. Using this type of content helps to boost your brand image as it proves that you’re a brand that values what your customers are saying.
- Make use of influencer content – This is one of the easiest ways in which you can become visible in the YouTube Shorts section. In addition to brand exposure, influencer content allows you to benefit from the creativity and network of the creators that you choose to partner with. Some influencer content pieces have the potential to go completely viral like some of the other short video pieces produced by these content creators. The only requirement with this is that you need to choose wisely as there are so many creators out there. Choose influencers based on their relevance, audience, and quality of content.
Tips For Creating Great YouTube Shorts
The strategies listed above can help you break out into the YouTube Shorts scene. However, it takes more to fully succeed and establish your business in this area.
Follow the tips below when creating your videos to ensure your content remains relevant and engaging.
Make The Videos Short and Sweet
YouTube Shorts must be 60 seconds or less so keep this in mind when planning content. Snappy, entertaining and informative videos are the best way to go. Avoid fluff and always get straight to the point. If you are narrating a story, you want to get the most intriguing part of the content in the first five seconds to help keep people engaged. Visual content should not be cluttered and you should avoid using too many images or texts that may distract the audience from your main message.
Create Custom Thumbnails
When YouTube shots appear in the Channel pages, Homepage, and in the search results, the thumbnail is the first thing people will see. This is why it’s important to take the time to create engaging and attention-grabbing thumbnails that will make people want to click on your video.
Remember The Technical Details
When it comes to YouTube Shorts, the technical details are as follows:
- Resolution – 1920 pixels x 1080 pixels
- Aspect ratio – 9:16
You can make use of the features on the platform to help improve your videos. Some of the features that you can implement include the following:
- Speed controls – You can slow down or speed up the video content depending on your goals.
- Text overlays – You can add text overlays to your videos to help people better understand the content. Choose from various sizes and fonts.
- Music tracks – Choose from a range of music tracks in the catalog. Take note of songs that are appearing on current video trends and take advantage of this by adding these songs to your short videos where effective.
- Color correction – Edit your video visuals to improve their appearance and to make the videos more appealing to your prospective audience.
Keep on top of what’s new on the platform and make use of any new effects to keep the attention of your audience.
Write An Effective Title
To get the best out of your titles be sure to conduct some social media keyword research so that you know what’s relevant to your audience and industry. Make use of hashtags but avoid overdoing it on the hashtags. You should also be aware that your titles need to be between 50-70 characters. Anything longer will be cut off of the main display.
Final Thoughts
Although it’s not the newest type of content platform, YouTube Shorts is still a very relevant place for marketing your business. With unique features that you won’t find anywhere else and a very large audience to captivate, it’s definitely something to consider implementing into your marketing campaign.