Short Form Video Trends in 2022

It should come as no surprise to brands that short form video is the future of content across social media platforms. Not only across TikTok and Instagram Reels, but with YouTube Shorts, Google, LinkedIn and Pinterest all also expanding their short form offerings, making the format a crucial component in any brand’s social marketing strategy. 

Why you should invest in short form video

If your brand is still heavily relying on static content you’ll likely be feeling one step behind competitors because the future of content is in video. The good news is that short form video is the preferred format for users, which means it’s no longer a huge hurdle for your brand to invest in video content.

The beauty of short form video content is that it enables brands to convey their message in fun and interactive ways that endear themselves to audiences, making them more relatable and engaging. Authenticity is at the heart of short form content, and increased empathy from consumer’s helps to build stronger connections and enhance trust with brands. 

According to Hubspot, short form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy, as well as numerous other benefits for your brand, including:

• • Better social engagement
    In comparison to static posts, short form videos tend to attract more social engagement through views, likes, shares comments and reactions. 
  • Makes your brand memorable
    Short form video is more digestible content because of its format, making it easier for audiences to consume and remember. This also allows brands to avoid excessive selling or other messaging that doesn’t add to the purpose of the video, making it more impactful and authentic for audiences – and most importantly, more memorable.

• • Improves SEO results
    Video content helps your SEO efforts by keeping audiences attention on platforms for longer, which can help with rankings on Google. Even if in short form, Google takes into account the time spent on websites and places these higher on search engine results pages.

• • Makes it easier to repurpose content
    Cutting and splicing longer videos into short form content helps to make the information more useful and better absorbed by audiences, it also gives you multiple pieces of content instead of just one video. With many free video making platforms now available, it’s never been easier to modify video content to different sizes and formats to post to various social media networks.

So how can your brand take advantage of short form video? What makes good short form content, anyway? Here are our top trends for short form video content in 2022.

Top short form video trends for 2022

1. User generated content

User generated content is a staple for any brand’s social content as it’s more likely to be trusted than any other form of marketing. This is because user generated content is backed by authenticity and audiences generally love it because they trust user referrals more than ad content. It can also be a highly cost-effective way to produce content because you are collaborating with your audience who have already built the content for you.

2. “Behind the Scenes” video

In keeping with audiences’ thirst for authenticity on social media, behind the scenes style videos can also be an effective method for short form content. Users tend to feel more connected when brands show real people who represent them as it creates a more personal connection. Plus if there’s behind-the-scenes processes that can be shown in content, like packing orders or a day in the life, it also helps promote transparency, further building trust with audiences.

3. Demos or How To videos

Product demos or how-to videos that show audiences how to use your product, the benefits and features can be impactful short form video content. This style of video also puts your brand’s product in a more real-world scenario enabling users to see exactly the way they were to use it themselves. 

4. Educational clips or Explainers

In addition to demos and how-to videos, there are opportunities for brands to go one step further with explainer short form videos that become value-add to your product or service. This can be achieved through addressing common FAQs or pain points of your audiences with helpful content. This can also be an effective way to position your brand as the thought-leader on a particular topic, through digestible, short form videos.

5. Brand Challenges

Brand challenge videos require a little more planning to develop but can be highly effective short form videos that inspire audiences to participate to help amplify your message. By creating a fun and engaging video challenge, it will expand your audience reach and make you short form video content inherently more engaging and shareable. It also enables your content to reach audiences outside of your immediate following, as users can participate whether or not they are followers.

6. Influencers, Influencers, Influencers

Brands should be no stranger to the importance of influencer marketing, but short form video can be a more effective approach to put your brand in front of new audiences. Short form video lends itself well to native advertising, particularly on Instagram Reels and TikTok, and with influencer marketing continuing to produce strong ROI for brands, investing more into short form content that can also be leveraged across advertising can help make an impact for your brand.

Start thinking short form for the long term

With the continuing rise in popularity for short form video content, it’s time for your brand to prioritise it in your social media and content strategy. Short form video content makes it easier than ever for brands to develop engaging content that connects with audiences. But while it can be easier to jump on a hashtag trend or a viral sound, not every trend will align with your brand or content strategy. 

With so many users on platforms like TikTok and Instagram sharing their sense of humour or point of view, it’s important for brands to identify their own unique point of view so they can effectively stand out from the crowd. Finding balance is key, but it can be tricky to figure out where to start.

If you need help with your social content strategy and getting started with short form content, talk to NOUS. Give us a call on 07 3003 0722 or drop us a note at [email protected]