Short-form video content has taken the internet by storm in recent years, and we have TikTok to thank for it. The famous app has transformed the social media landscape and has quickly become the preferred platform and search engine for Gen Z consumers, with millennials quickly following suit. Short-form video content is king, and it’s easy to understand why: quick video snippets are engaging, fun, easy to digest, and demand little attention from your audience.
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What is Short-Form Video?
A short-form video, also known as a bite-sized video, is a quick video snippet that is fun and engaging and requires little attention from your audience. It can be 15 to 60 seconds or up to three minutes long.
Content creators can convey their message in a very short amount of time, letting their audience consume content on the go. Short-form videos can also be viewed and shared from any device, which increases their accessibility and engagement. From sending Instagram stories on the subway to watching YouTube shorts in the grocery store checkout line, viewers can retrieve content at any time.
The best part is that short-form videos are typically inexpensive and simple to make, usually requiring very little production effort. All you need is a good idea and a smartphone at arm’s length.
Hook Your Viewers
The nature of short-form video is that viewers move quickly from video to video. This means that, as a content creator, you only have seconds to catch your audience’s attention.
It’s easy for viewers to scroll past your video if it doesn’t instantly draw them in. To prevent this, start your video with a strong hook like an interesting story, dazzling visuals, or appealing on-screen text. You can help draw your viewers in and keep them engaged and watching. You can also use audio that grabs attention.
The best types of short-form videos arouse feelings, grab attention, and encourage engagement. The goal is to create an exciting video that viewers will remember long after they finish watching it.
Leverage Trends
Are there songs or sound bytes that are being used repeatedly? If so, that's likely part of a recent trend. Content creators typically try to follow the latest trends since doing so can improve the odds that their video reaches more viewers. Plus, if someone notices a trend as they come across your video, they’ll probably watch it in full.
Technical Tips
- Use vertical content: Many short-form video platforms are built to view content on mobile devices in a vertical format. Vertical formats let videos take up the complete width of a phone screen, increasing the engaging experience for the viewer.
- Avoid cross-posting video content with watermarks: Many brands cross-post the same video across several social media platforms. While this can save time, recycled content, particularly content with clear watermarks, can ruin your rankings on social media platforms.
- Showcase products with demos: An intelligent way to leverage short-form video content as a brand is to showcase your products in action. Explainer videos help potential consumers visualize how and why they would use the product, creating anticipation if done accurately.
4 Tips to Create Winning Short-Form Video Strategies
But how can you draw inspiration from the “Tiktokification” of online content in your video commerce strategy and, most importantly, why should you? Let’s look at some stats and learn about the four ways in which you can use TikTok-inspired bite-sized videos to reshape your e-commerce strategy.
#1 Jump on the Trend Wagon
According to ‘’The State of Influencer Marketing’’ report released by Bambuser in 2023, 50% of users say that TikTok boosts their mood and makes them feel happy, with 40% of TikTok users saying that “lifting their spirits” is key in motivating them to make a purchase. You can start leveraging these facts in your own video commerce efforts by simply looking at what’s trending on TikTok itself. Are any topics especially popular at the moment? Is there a certain viral trend that you can use on your own videos for easy recognition and instant connection with your audience?
Try tapping into gimmicks and trendy topics in your video commerce live shows to help capture attention from the start as you promote new product launches or upcoming events. But remember, TikTok trends tend to die out quickly, so we suggest you still invest in your evergreen content in parallel.
#2 Use your PDPs to Boost Sales
Viral trends aside, tapping into the power of bite-sized video can go a long way in helping you achieve your sales goals.
With product detail pages (PDPs) becoming more and more important for brands in recent years — with companies often driving traffic to these high-converting pages more than their website’s homepage — they have also become the preferred spot for video content. And if you combine the power of an optimized PDP with bite-sized content, then the sky's the limit.
At Bambuser, we’ve seen brands achieve tremendous success by placing short-form video snippets on their PDPs. In fact, one of our most prominent clients in the fashion space has seen conversion double after adding short-form video to some of their PDPs and reached an impressive 82% uplift in sales.
Worth a try, right?
#3 Make it Easy to Find
According to the same Bambuser research, 40% of Gen Z consumers prefer using TikTok instead of Google for search, as it is more likely to return personalized results.
However, TikTok is notorious for drowning out content due to the sheer volume of videos on the platform, and it can be very difficult to find specific videos again after you’ve viewed them. This is where your opportunity lies: make sure your video commerce content is easy to find on your website. Double down on easy navigation and search functionality and optimize videos and meta data by using your most relevant keywords, so your audience can quickly filter what they need as your content library grows. This also ensures your content stays profitable, even on demand.
#4 Shorten and Repurpose
An impressive 65% of TikTok users state that they always rely on online reviews and creator recommendations to decide what to buy online.
Shortening and repurposing your video commerce content with inspiration from TikTok and publishing it both on your website and across all of your social media channels is a great opportunity to expand your reach and meet your ideal shoppers wherever they are. As Instagram, YouTube and Facebook offer similar experiences within short format video, you can easily publish bite-sized snippets from your video commerce events on all of these platforms.
As an example, If you host a live show styling five different outfits for spring, why not create five separate short-form videos showcasing each outfit? This is an excellent opportunity for cross-platform promotion. You also can make those short-form videos shoppable on your website and social media by taking advantage of social selling, boosting engagement and sales all at once.
By following these steps, you can see your short-form video strategies come to life and take your video commerce strategy to new heights. Contact us If you have questions or need help creating bite-size videos.
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