An image words a thousand words, and a video may be a million words.
Per sproutsocial.com, 91% of users watch videos on Instagram, Tiktok.com has over 1 billion active users and per statista.com, “YouTube Shorts reached 1.5 billion monthly logged-in users as of June 2022.”
Social media videos are very engaging because they combine movement, sound, and text. Videos can contain information in a smaller package that is easy to consume. Your brain processes visuals more quickly than text, which is great for storytelling. A well-done video can easily capture viewers’ interest in a few seconds.
Let’s talk about the features of YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Tiktok Videos.
YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts are videos with up to sixty seconds duration that you can create using your smartphone and upload it to YouTube via the YouTube app. To create the videos, you can use YouTube’s built-in creation tools; you can edit, add music or animated effects to your videos, and control the speed of the footage. Viewers of your Shorts can engage with your videos by sharing comments, subscribing to your channel, like or disliking your video.
Per Hootsuite.com, YouTube Shorts quickly surpassed 6.5 billion daily views globally. Shorts was finally released in beta mode to 100 countries worldwide on July 12th, 2021.
National Geographic YouTube Shorts Channel
Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels is a feature under this social media platform that allows you to create and share 90 seconds long vertical videos. Unlike Instagram Stories, Reels don’t disappear after 24 hours. but once it is available, you can delete it. Instagram offers a unique editing tool with a library of audio tracks you can use or incorporate into your videos. Also, you can include in your Reels multiple clips, captions, filters, stickers, and more.
National Geographic Reel account
TikTok
TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create, share, and discover up to ten minutes duration videos. Like YouTube Shorts or Reels, TikTok has a built-in application that allows you to edit the video and add effects, filters, and audio tracks. TikTok calls itself “the leading destination for short-form mobile videos” with a mission to “inspire creativity and bring joy.”
National Geographic TikTok account
@natgeo BRB planning our next hike ⛰#TakeAHikeDay #NatGeoTikTok 🎥: Nat Geo Explorer @Laurel Chor ♬ original sound – National Geographic
Even though each of the platforms briefly described accepts different video lengths, many experts agreed that a short video has a maximum duration of two minutes and 30 seconds. Per cisco.com, 82% of Internet traffic in 2022 will come from people consuming videos on their smartphones. These platforms create high engagement among viewers and are very addictive.
Marketers should take these new forms of videos very seriously and establish storytelling strategies in the form of short videos and videos in general in their marketing campaigns.
