Michael Epps Utley 
Short-form videos are everywhere these days, and their use goes beyond personal entertainment. From education to promotion, short-form videos offer an effective way to provide loads of value in a concise way.
This guide explains the recent phenomenon of short videos and why so many people and businesses love them.
What Are Short-Form Videos?
Short-form videos are typically less than 60 seconds long. However, some video creators believe they can run up to three minutes. In most cases, videos that are under one minute long are more likely to be watched to completion.
Short-form videos deliver information that is quick and easy to process. Viewers often bookmark their favorite content to view it later, share it with others, and watch it many times over.
Why Are Short-Form Videos Popular Today?
Short videos are gaining popularity primarily because people’s attention spans are shrinking.
Dr. Gloria Mark, a psychologist, recently wrote a book entitled Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity. Her research shows that attention spans have shrunk over the last two decades.
Her findings are the result of a decades-long experiment. Participants were shadowed and their activities timed with stopwatches.
For instance, the stopwatch was started when someone opened a Word document and started working on it. It was stopped, and the time was logged when the participant moved on to another activity. Over time, it was clear that attention spans were shrinking.
In 2004, the research found that the average attention span on any screen was two and a half minutes. By 2012, it had fallen to 75 seconds. The average has been around 47 seconds over the last five years; other studies report similar times.
Our shortening attention spans are impacting how we consume content. Most types of materials (not just online videos) are becoming briefer, with some notable exceptions like long-form podcasts (perhaps a polarized response to this shortening of content). It’s not clear whether shorter content lowered attention spans or reduced attention spans cut into content length. In either case, people are becoming used to shorter bursts of content, significantly impacting the kind of material people consume and the types being created.
Why Businesses Are Turning to Short-Form Videos
In addition to aligning with consumer content preferences, businesses are producing more short-form videos for the following reasons.
1. They’re Easy to Create and Cost-Effective
Video creators must work hard to keep audiences engaged with lengthy videos. Enhancing the content typically involves dynamic shots, quick edits, customized music, and a compelling script.
All of this requires significant time, effort, and money.
Short-form videos are usually much more straightforward to produce and require fewer costly tricks to be engaging and effective. Videos can typically be shot on a smartphone without expensive lighting or sound equipment (although a small investment in these things can improve quality and watchability significantly). Custom music is typically unnecessary, and short video editing is usually quite simple. Video scripting is limited, especially with brief interview videos.
Short videos make producing and distributing video content possible even for the smallest businesses.
2. They Deliver Value Quickly
According to a recent Adobe Survey, two out of five people in the United States use TikTok as a search engine. The same study reports that approximately ten percent of Gen Zers are more likely to use TikTok than Google as a search engine. Common informational searches on TikTok include recipes, fashion advice, and decorating tips. These topics could be great ways for restaurants, boutiques, and decorators to connect with consumers.
With everything going on in people’s lives today, time is precious. Short-form videos allow people to absorb the information they need in under a minute.
3. They’re Convenient and Everywhere
Looking for something to do while in line at the supermarket or waiting for a meeting to begin? Why not scroll through TikTok or pull up some YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels on your smartphone?
Short-form videos are accessible almost anywhere and anytime through our smartphones. This provides countless opportunities for consumers to access short video content and for small businesses to connect with them.
It only makes sense to reach prospective buyers wherever they are whenever they have a moment to interact with your brand.
Short-Form Videos: The Final Reel
Short-form videos are more popular than ever — and with people’s attention spans getting more limited as time goes by, they will continue to gain traction. Leverage the information in this guide to start producing the video content your consumers want that could connect them with your brand in meaningful ways.
