If you’ve been living under a rock over the past few years, short-form video is no longer just a social media craze – it’s a revolution. The world has become a very visual place where people are using video to share and connect like never before.

As the landscape of visual content keeps expanding and gets more complex, the shelf life of effective videos is significantly decreasing, and so is our attention span in watching these videos.

The time we spend on most of the website or app pages alone can signify how much attention we give to it. In other words, how quickly we scroll down a page and move on to another one. 

It is commonly agreed that an average human beings’ attention span is 8 seconds, which is a lot less than goldfish (at 9 seconds) and parrots’ (10-15 seconds). 

Today, short-form video is becoming more and more popular with YouTubers, Instagrammers and vloggers who are making their mark with this new form of media. Businesses are also scrambling to incorporate short-form videos into their marketing strategy due to the popularity of video content in digital marketing.

In fact, short-form videos are a current trend to which the general public is so drawn into.

9 Reasons Why Short-Form Video Content Is Gaining Popularity

Video is a growing medium for brands to reach a wide and diverse audience. But more and more people are leaning to short-form videos and here’s why.

1. Increased smartphone use.

Since the rise of cell phones, short-form video has taken off. The content is easy to consume and supports portability and convenience when viewed on a mobile phone screen.

While long-form entertainment and education (like TV programs and educational courses) are still valuable, their reign is slowly being usurped by short-form. Since we spend so much time on our phones nowadays, it makes perfect sense that video should be optimized for it.

2. Dip in TV viewership.

The numbers show that long-form television’s “golden age” is over. It is not surprising that viewers prefer to stream shorter videos on YouTube rather than sitting down and watching an entire thirty minutes or one hour show in this day and age because there are so many different options for our attention, including computer games, smartphones, tablets, and the like.

We have grown accustomed as consumers to being able to access any information we require at any time, so if that means reducing an episode of Game of Thrones to a five-minute clip, then so be it. Short form video isn’t here to stay forever, but it’s here to stay for a while.

3. Quick streaming on mobile devices.

Everyone is on mobile devices nowadays which means no matter what platform you’re offering your content on, it needs to be available in a short-form format. There’s no point in creating an eight minute video if the majority of your audience is going to watch less than a minute of it.

There’s a reason why platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram both have time limits built into their feeds. People simply don’t have time to sit and watch longer videos. So if you’re serious about making a video, make sure you’re providing people with the option to watch it on their own terms, too.

4. Short-form video is easy to create, consume and share.

Short-form video is a tiny revolution in on-the-go media consumption and with mobile platforms leading the way, it makes sense that short-form video becomes even more accessible.

Today, you can shoot and post a useful video clip on your smartphone without being an expert in cinematography. Short in length and fast-paced, short-form video is a way to rapidly disseminate information to the masses.

5. Social media algorithms are making short-form videos more popular.

The rise of short-form video content is a phenomenon that’s gaining momentum thanks to our shortening attention spans and the shift towards social media. It’s not hard to understand why this trend is gaining popularity. After all, short-form videos tend to be more engaging than those at 10 or 20 minutes.

And since people are spending more and more time on social media each day, it’s no surprise that social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are shifting heavily towards videos like these.

6. Brands are embracing short-form video, and consumers follow.

This proliferation of video on Facebook and Instagram goes to show that short-form video is getting more traction as a marketing tool than ever before in recent memory, and brands are jumping on board, and for good reason.

Short-form video is poised to have a major impact on brands and businesses. It offers brands the ability to create valuable, entertaining content for their audiences, boost engagement and increase sales. Plus, as more consumers are consuming this kind of video through social channels, it’s becoming a more integral part of companies’ marketing efforts.

7. They tell stories in fun and engaging ways.

The rise of short-form video is changing the way that stories are shared. That’s a big deal, because stories are at the heart of what makes all of us human. Short-form videos can help marketers tell stories about their product or service with an ethical, compelling, and fun twist.

Spreading the word about a business on social media can be a challenging task, and short-form video provides a great way to spread the word quickly and creatively.

8. They don’t require a serious time commitment in your marketing effort.

Short-form content is something to consider if you’re a business looking to create more video content for social media and are always on the lookout for new, fun ways to engage your audience and keep them entertained.

The brevity of short-form videos may be just what you need in a creative outlet, amid the long and often cumbersome process of making longer format videos. You can create listicles and similar small video formats to illustrate large trends, or tell a connected series of events broken up into separate videos.

You can also create small videos as infographics with motion graphics, incorporating text and even still images from other sources to supplement an idea.

9. Short-form video apps are not just a fun place to hang out. They are social networks that incorporate entertainment and education in their content.

The best short-form video app for you depends on your preferences. There are many apps with unique features and differences, so it’s worth looking at all of them to see what fits your needs and interests.

Whether you’re looking to make witty and informative videos, discover trending new content, follow celebrities, or create an engaging story in just one post, the world of short-form video is ready and waiting to welcome you.

The world we live in today is a barrage of information, messages, advertisements and all sorts of media and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. We were eventually affected by this disturbance in terms of our ability to focus and our concentration span, and a lot has been said about how short-form videos have helped individuals maintain better focus than others.

Another reason why short form videos are so popular is because short-form videos are prolific among brands. Still pictures, while static and beautiful, are no match for videos when it comes to engagement. Businesses are also realizing how important it is to be on video and thereby trying to reach out to the audience that has moved beyond reading text.

Ultimately, if your brand is thinking about implementing a program with this type of video material, now is the time to get started.

Are you ready to get strategic with short-form videos and increase your social media engagement? We’re ready to help you create the best video marketing strategy. Schedule your FREE audit now.