YouTube Shorts are a short-form video typically between 15 and 60 seconds that is YouTube’s way of competing with Tiktok, Snapchat, and Instagram Reels. Now you may be wondering why this form of video is important for content creators as well as businesses? Luckily for you, I will tell you all you need to know.
Content Creators
Let’s with some basics.
Content creators. A content creator or simply “creator” is a new term that has been associated with people who make material used for public entertainment. YouTube used to be the main platform that people could make videos such as skits, vlogs, informational videos, etc. Now, however, creators can make content on a plethora of different platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitch. Being called a content creator is more of a general term that is associated with making content for our enjoyment. Content creation is now being recognized as a full-time respected job when in the past, it was seen as a mere hobby that you couldn’t make a living off of.
How are Creators Utilizing YouTube Shorts?
The answer is fairly simple. Engagement. The main point of YouTube Shorts is to drive up viewership for a video. Creators can use shorts to highlight a funny/exciting moment in their most recent upload, highlight a clip of them performing something cool in a game, highlight their music, or even simply highlight an old video that the creator wants people to see. With TikTok becoming one of the most popular apps in recent years, companies are trying to figure out ways to compete with the ever-growing app.
More than 152,000 accounts have uploaded 1.1 million Shorts to YouTube. Generating 46.3 billion views and 2 billion engagements.
Do Brands use Shorts?
The correct answer is yes. Companies have been dabbling in the social media realm for the purpose of drawing more interest to their brand and/or product. Companies have also started to realize that the social media realm is growing rapidly, so it is best to hop on board now before they fall behind in the future.
It was reported in 2020, that roughly 3.6 billion people use social media WORLDWIDE. ESPN for instance has been using YouTube Shorts to highlight clips of fans at a game as well as posting highlights. Typically, brands would create commercials that cost boat loads of money to create, just to air a 30 second tv commercial that most people probably won’t even pay attention to. With Shorts, a 15-30 second video highlighting important features takes little time and effort. On top of this, it is super easy to film. Rather than getting a high-tech camera, marketers can simply film on their phones, edit it through an editing software, and then upload it straight to YouTube.
Marketers are always seeking new and innovative ways to reach a larger audience. So, what better way than to utilize a fairly new software that is on the biggest platform for content creation? They can also utilize popular creators on YouTube for brand deals. This a great way for companies to get more notoriety for their product. Viewers will see that their favorite creators are using a certain product, so they will want to as well.
What Other Ways can Creators Utilize Shorts?
Creators can highlight gaming content, sports, music, announcement trailers, and more. More and more creators are starting to see the potential that YouTube Shorts has that they are even making another channel strictly for posting Shorts.
One of YouTube’s most popular categories, gaming, has great potential for content. They can show highlights that they may have hit in a game, a funny moment, or just simply them advertising a brand new game that their viewers should give a try.
The great thing about YouTube is that it has videos for everything. Beauty content and technology content are two of the biggest categories on YouTube. Creators can highlight new products that have just came out and why these products are great to be used. With Shorts there is room for any kind of content.
Similarly to TikTok, when a popular Short is published, other creators can put their own spin on it and occasionally make it even better than the original. Now there are people who think this is stealing content, which is true in some cases as it is a constant occurrence on TikTok. Other times, it can be used to continue to grow the platform and content.
Teaching Social Media 