As we look ahead to the upcoming year, short-form videos will continue to hold significant sway in marketing for various businesses and organisations.
Whether you're leading a charitable cause, a tech start-up, or navigating the realms of e-commerce, leveraging these videos is essential if you aim to educate, grow your social media following, or enhance audience engagement.
So without further ado, let's explore the top 7 short-form video trends crucial for driving success in your 2024 marketing.
Generally speaking, short-form videos are less than 60 seconds long. However, this can vary depending on the platform, which typically has a maximum duration for short videos ranging from 60 seconds to 3 minutes.
Although a lot of the platforms allow you to share longer-form content, we recommend that you keep your videos short, to begin with, so that you can test out the engagement and traction. Once there is evidence that warrants a longer form of that particular content, then you can certainly invest more time on it and venture into sharing a longer form of content.
Short-form videos have a remarkable ability to capture and maintain viewers' attention. Those who've ventured into TikTok and unexpectedly found themselves hours deep into watching “Story Time” or “Cute Animal” videos can attest to the addictive nature of these short clips.
In addition, short-form videos on social media are like crowd-pleasers, raking in more likes, shares, and reactions than static images. Using short-form videos to engage your target audience is a tried and tested marketing tactic that won’t change anytime soon.
Snackable in size, short-form videos offer a concise and easily digestible viewing experience, perfect for on-the-go consumption.
Instead of demanding prolonged attention, they swiftly deliver informative or entertaining content in a fraction of the time taken by long-form videos.
Cutting straight to the point, short-form videos provide immediate essential insights, ensuring viewers quickly access the answers or entertainment they seek. This format proves ideal for brands and organisations aiming to deliver substantial value to their time-constrained audience, regardless of their location.
Short-form videos' appeal also lies in their inherent shareability. Within a click or two, viewers effortlessly share their reactions through these videos, capitalising on the social aspect that drives their popularity.
For brands, this is a potent tool as short-form videos can ignite discussions and propagate awareness faster than other content formats. Encouraging audience interaction with your business via short-form videos—whether through tagging or using a branded hashtag—nurtures engagement and fosters a communal bond around your brand.
Which would you choose, a one, 5-minute video or five, 1-minute videos?
In our opinion, picking the latter is the wise choice to begin with. You’ll have a better chance of drawing more accurate data from 5 different videos than one lengthy video which often has a higher drop-off rate.
Collecting rich data on viewer engagement, initial plays, replays, average watch time, and audience retention across multiple videos will provide you with a more valid data set.
The more accurate data you can collect, the better iterated future content you can create.
Brands will continue to focus on leveraging content created by their users or customers due to its authenticity that appeals to new or potential customers. After all, it’s better for someone else to say you’re great, than to say it yourself.
Enticing your audience with short-form video content becomes effortless when you encourage them to be creators themselves.
UGC will continue as a potent marketing tool, generating buzz and fostering stronger connections with your loyal and new customers. It comes across as more authentic and honest.
Whether it's product reviews or DIY tutorials, UGC holds the potential to reach a broader audience, amplifying the effectiveness of your social media advertising efforts.
Social media isn’t going anywhere and customised short video ads remain essential for enhancing brand visibility and engagement.
These video ads on social media offer users the opportunity to engage with content that's more relevant compared to traditional advertisements.
This increased relevance heightens the value of social ads, ensuring they reach the individuals most pertinent to a product or service. Moreover, these ads simplify the process for users to explore a specific product or learn more about a brand—all within a few clicks.
The trend of optimising videos for soundless consumption is rapidly gaining traction.
This approach not only caters to users who prefer watching videos without sound, and or if you’re in a public environment without your earphones but also makes it accessible for individuals with hearing impairment.
Additionally, numerous social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn default to muted videos unless viewers manually activate the sound. To prevent users from scrolling past your content, integrating written captions within your videos becomes crucial.
By incorporating closed captions, subtitles, and or on-screen information/ instructions, you can effectively ensure that your video resonates with your target audience.
Providing glimpses into the inner workings of a brand or showcasing behind-the-scenes content shows authenticity which appeals to a wide variety of audiences, enhancing brand transparency and relatability.
More and more customers are wanting transparency from brands and organisations. Showing who the team members are, the work environment to how a certain item is created can help build stronger trust with your customers or audiences.
Short-form videos remain as an ideal medium for product teasers, a trend set to persist through 2024.
Brands acknowledge the prowess of these videos in captivating audiences and introducing new products.
There is no double that there’ll be an upsurge in surprise product launches and exclusive previews gracing your Discover pages. These videos provide valuable consumer insights, enabling brands to better understand their audience and tailor strategies for increased sales!
This is even more apparent from the fact that Amazon is pushing deeper into social shopping as it tries to nip TikTok’s e-commerce ambitions in the bud. The retailer announced a partnership with Snap to allow users to purchase products from ads without leaving Snapchat’s app, mere days after unveiling a similar deal with Meta.
Collaborations with influencers will continue, but there might be a shift towards micro-influencers due to their perceived authenticity and stronger connections with niche audiences.
Micro-influencers according to Lionize “are the influencers that have a nice balance between low-to-mid following (10,000–100,000 followers) and high engagement. They can be extremely targeted in terms of audience niche, location, and more, making them a low-cost option with significant targeting abilities”.
Working with influencers is certainly more expensive than UGC, but according to the experts, these influencers are giving brands a better deal at affordable rates and are enjoying huge popularity in return.
In the past year, microlearning emerged as a leading online learning format, and this trend is set to continue in the coming year. Microlearning videos, characterized by their short, focused lessons, remain a go-to resource. These videos break complex topics into bite-sized, engaging sessions, brimming with valuable insights.
Their condensed format ensures efficient retention and recall, making microlearning an immensely popular choice for individuals aiming to swiftly gain new knowledge and skills.
The fact that more and more people are searching for answers via TikTok over Google is a great indicator that this is going to continue to boom.
All the findings show that in 2024, short-form video will continue to maintain its dominance as the ultimate social media trend. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels continue to spearhead the popularity of bite-sized videos, solidifying their lasting presence.
For both organisations and businesses, these videos provide an invaluable opportunity to experiment, gather data, and leverage insights for crafting more compelling content. This not only aids in establishing brand identity but also cultivates deeper engagement with audiences.
The data underscores a significant shift—where younger audiences now rely more on social platforms for information, indicating a growing demand for educational and informative content.
With this in mind, it's time to embrace the potential of short-form videos, allowing your creativity to flourish and captivate your audience on these platforms!
Want to implement more consistent short-form videos for your brand? Get in touch with us today and let's get the conversation started!
