Short-form videos make for perfect forms of video marketing.  They can be a great way to deliver information to your potential and existing customers.

What’s a short-form video?

A Short-form video is less than 10 minutes. Videos longer than 10 minutes is considered long-form.

The Social Media Examiner reports the reason short-form videos are so popular on social media is due to a number of factors, including their:

• “Snackable” nature
• Ability to suit everyone’s busy lifestyle
• Brief attention spans.

Short-form videos are what people typically want to watch when they’re scrolling YouTube, Twitter or LinkedIn.  Most short-form video is viewed from mobile phones or tablets.

Plus, nearly all social networks restrict the length of the video. For example, Instagram, unfortunately, only allows videos shorter than 15 seconds.

That’s where short-form videos really come into play.

Go Pro or No Go!

The big mistake business people make with producing Short-Form videos is to use a smartphone..or iPad.  Studies are showing that the buying consumer is looking for quality produced videos.  The over-saturation of poorly produced smartphone videos has taken its toll on viewers.  3 out of 5 smartphone videos are so poorly produced that calling them a joke would be a compliment. 

The main thing…let me repeat…the MAIN THING to remember is quality.  Yes, it is easy to shoot a smartphone video.   However, the best advice is to have your videos shot by a professional.

Here are Seven Examples of Short-Form Videos

1. Showcase What You Do

Be creative showcasing a specialty product or service.  Make the video about ONLY that subject.

For example, SyncLab Media is a video marketing consulting company.  A great video for us would be a short 5-minute video showcasing the number one video marketing strategy every business should be using.

2. Tutorial – How-To – and Explainer Videos

Showing how to use your product or service in a short video is probably the most effective way to jump into short-form video marketing.

Producing How-To-Videos shouldn’t take you too long to do because you don’t need to be super creative.

Explaining how your product works or WHY your product is different than your competitors.

Tutorials – How-To and Explainer videos are the most powerful and most searched for videos on YouTube.

An example would be with SyncLab Media showed how they built their new cyclorama infinity wall studio.

3. FAQ’s

Every business receives frequently asked questions?

Why not answer them using videos?

This is another easy way to leverage short-form video.

List out at least 5-10 FAQ’s you know your customers would like answered, then break each question up into a 30-60 second video answering the question. Bam, you have 10 videos you can use over and over.

4. Promo or Product Launch Teaser

New product reveals make for great videos.  A little short 1-minute video builds anticipation and gets customers excited! 

It is always exciting to be the first to know something.  Fill that interest with a Launch Teaser video.

5. Behind the Scenes

Consumers love to see how things are made and look at things behind the scenes.

If you’ve got something cool behind the curtains, show it off.

Show your customers that your team is human.

Having an office happy hour? Share it with your social media followers.

Having a friendly heated debate with your staff over a business-related topic? Video it.

Be authentic and show off what’s going on in your day-to-day. Your customers want to know there is a real human on the other side of the screen, so show them.

6. Product or Service Repurpose (Hacks) Video

Many times a product or service can be used in different ways.  A “hacking video” is perfect to try on social media.

Team up with your creatives and brainstorm a few ways to “hack” (or repurpose) your product.

Most of the time customers aren’t even aware of all the cool features a product might have, so show them!

For example, video marketing consulting offered at SyncLab Media can sometimes turn into a complete brand mapping session or operations consulting.

7. Employee-Generated Content

Let your staff or your employees have a turn at producing a video that shows your company from their eyes.

You’ll get more enthusiasm for your internal messages if you engage your team to produce the materials themselves.

Let them use their own voices and styles.

Gain some momentum by combining content creation with contests and employee spotlights.

They’ll be more inclined to share these types of videos too, which means a larger audience for you!

Are you ready to take your business to the next level with video marketing?

Ready to learn more?

Just keep in mine…Quality video production produces more than poorly produced videos.  It is your brand’s image you are risking but feeling you want to go the cheap route of producing video content.  The question we always as is…How much is your brand image worth to you?  Match your video production to the value of your brand and consumers will reward you.

Check out SyncLab Media Video Marketing. You can expect more than you bargain.

Let me know how I can help.