Have you heard of YouTube Shorts? Wondering how to use shorts on YouTube for business? You’re at the right place.
‘Shorts’ are the next significant innovation in YouTube’s evolution. Many of our clients have been asking us whether they should start making Shorts for their channels or it’s nothing special.
It is still in the testing phase; there’s no definitive answer in the innovation stage. First, we want to share that some channels are seeing incredible results, even though it’s early days. The format is worth experimenting with as it may reap significant benefits for you.
Part of the appeal of short-form video, particularly with younger audiences, is that it’s immediately satisfying to the viewer, and they can go right into the following video to get another satisfying moment quickly. It has a stickiness factor.
In this article, you’ll discover what YouTube shorts are and how marketers can take advantage of this new content type on YouTube, also, how to create your first ever shorts video.
Four reasons you should try them
#1 Rapid Audience growth
Growing on YouTube channels is extremely hard, But shorts have already started to change that notion. If you have been using YouTube for a long time and are aware of the new format, you might have noticed that some channels have already gained millions of subscribers through shorts.
However, this may seem like a contradiction. We usually advise our partners to make 10 minute YouTube videos rather than short ones because short video content doesn’t attract many views and cannot engage the viewers. But with shorts coming into the mainstream less than one minute long, they have gained popularity sooner than we thought.
#2 Brilliant For Mobile
If most of your audience uses mobile devices to watch your videos, shorts are worth a go. The vertical video format fits our mobile phone very well, like video content on TikTok, Instagram Reels, etc.
You might be surprised to know that 95% of the audience of one of our clients watch their channel on mobile, that’s why we started encouraging them to publish Shorts. And guess what, they have already seen some strong results.
#3 Strategic Potential
Like TikTok, YouTube Shorts have a raw, natural feel. They’re the mini videos you capture on your phone instead of setting up the more polished content you usually find on YouTube. This can add a different appeal to your channel.
Shorts is currently a level playing field for eyeballs, although more prominent creators will have the advantage of more insight into what an audience will respond to. To find success, you’ll need to publish consistently, so you’ll need a programming or content strategy.
#4 Single platform
The popularity of those short-form vertical videos has erupted in the last several months due to different brands trying it. If you’re already using TikTok or Instagram Reels as part of your business strategy, you might want to consider YouTube Shorts as a way to consolidate all your content on a single platform. Also, you can recycle your videos to reach more audiences and gain trust.
YouTube Shorts vs. YouTube Stories
YouTube story words are both a kind of short phone video. They work and are treated differently on the YouTube platform. With a YouTube story, you are tapping to get to the end of the story, and then you are still in the ecosystem of that specific creator; however, you can go onto another creator’s account. They are shorter video formats up to 15 seconds, and there is a progression to them. They are short-lived, as they disappear after seven days unless you save them.
On the other hand, Shorts are also short-form videos, but there is no progression to be completed, and they stay on your channel forever like your YouTube video until you delete them. So as with your regular video, YouTube channels might start showing up to more people and could potentially reach higher viewership over time.
How to Create a YouTube Short
Anyone can post a short video on their Youtube channel, even if you are new to it. You can do it on both Android and iOS. Before uploading the video, you must note that the video needs to be under a minute and vertically oriented, and you upload it as you would any other video.
There is no editing option available yet for shorts, But there is one currently in beta version. If you want, you can edit your video through an external editor and upload the finished video to your YouTube channel. As with any video, you will want access to the YouTube music library, but the selection isn’t as extensive as you find on any other platform.
As of now, there is no way to designate a video as a short when you post. YouTube is just looking for those videos that meet the criteria of a short-form video. Thus, to increase the probability that your video is visible on the short shelves, make sure to use the #Shorts in the title and description of the video.
If your video gets picked up in the Shorts vertical, you will see a distinct icon than just a Play button in YouTube Analytics. YouTube shorts can be up to 1 minute long; however, the ideal length depends on the audience you target. You can make it with anything less than one minute. If it’s one minute, you better justify that minute.
If your short video is 30 seconds or longer, you have An option to add an end screen element. You will have the same chance that you would get with any YouTube video. When the viewers click on the end screen element, it takes them out of the short shelf and transfers them into the YouTube ecosystem.
Things you need to know about Shorts
Shorts are still very much in the experimental phase. As a result, some issues are still being worked out. To make sure your experiments succeed, there are some considerations you need to be aware of.
1. Big channel, small content
We’ve noticed an odd effect. When we put out Shorts for a channel that already has a massive audience, the videos don’t do as well as the same kind of content put out by unofficial, brand-new channels. This doesn’t make a lot of sense. Presumably, it’s all part of the development process, so we’re testing as we go since it’s such early days. That’s part of how YouTube operates. They want everyone to try different things, and then they read the data and figure out what to do next.
2. No Monetization – yet
There’s no way to make money from Shorts. The exception is the YouTube Shorts creator fund, which is $100,000,000 set aside to reward high-performing content. We’re not sure how this will work, but we guess that YouTube will reward individual creators over sports rights-holders.
3. New channels have an advantage
This links to point one above. Imagine you have a channel you’ve built up over ten years. Now add a thirty-second video. Your subscribers will probably look at that and think, ‘just thirty seconds, and I’m probably going to have to sit through an ad before I watch it.’ So they don’t bother clicking. The YouTube algorithm then reads that as a piece of underperforming content, and it won’t be promoted.
If you set up a brand-new channel just for Shorts, it won’t have existing subscribers with those expectations. For this reason, it may be worth experimenting with a new channel just for Shorts for the time being.
Conclusion
YouTube Shorts are an excellent opportunity to test out new types of content.
Over the coming months, YouTube will continue to add more creation tools and make it easier for audiences to enjoy the Shorts format, the same way they might enjoy short-form videos on other platforms. Shorts are likely here to stay, so our recommendation is to play around with them and, as always – test, test, test.
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