Short-Form vs. Long-Form Video: Which One Is Best for Your Brand?

The rise of video content plays a vital role in today’s digital marketing strategies. Video posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, & Instagram dominate online consumption. If you use video correctly on these platforms, you can drive exponential growth in your business.

But here’s the big question: short-form vs. long-form videos, which ones are best for your brand?

Both are powerful marketing tools and have their specific place in a successful video marketing strategy. Marketers have to pick the right video length for the right context. The best answer in this scenario is that both should be created when addressing, “are short videos better than long videos?” Video content creators are seeing longer overall watch time and subscriber growth while viewers are discovering their brand.

Both perform best in specific circumstances and have perks over each other. However, choosing between a long-form vs. short-form video can be challenging.

To understand what suits your brand, you need to know what video content (short- or long-form) suits what specific purpose in your marketing strategy.

This guide covers the following:

The real difference between short-form and long-form video content
The advantages of a short and a long video, as well as when to use each in your marketing strategy
Video best practices for short-form and long-form content

What Does Short-Form Video Mean?

What are short-form videos? The rule of thumb is less than a minute. However, where you post the video determines if it’s short-form content. For example, short-form videos on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok can be under a minute. On platforms like YouTube, a 10-minutes video is considered short-form.

Short-form videos are typically easy to understand and aren’t detailed. Common formats include:

User-generated content
Behind-the-scenes ads
Social media ads
Google ads
Product teasers

A short-form video is simple and communicates a single idea quickly while engaging the target audience. It’s quick to produce and less resource-intensive than a long-form video.

What Is a Long-Form Video?

Again, it depends on where you want to post. Platforms like TikTok consider up to 10 minutes as long-form, while others like YouTube consider over 10 minutes. Long-form videos dive deeper into the message than short-form content and are commonly created as:

Brand campaigns
Explainer videos
Webinars
Video Podcasts

Unlike short-form videos, which are easy to digest, long-form videos educate prospects seeking answers to particular topics about your brand. While it does a great job informing your viewers, you need more time and resources to produce a long-form video.

What Are the Advantages of Short-Form Videos?

Short-form videos are just that—short. As a result, marketers use short videos to communicate quickly with prospects. Businesses can grab their audiences’ attention and compel them to share the content with friends without spending much time and money on video production.

Here are the biggest reasons why short-form videos are a go-to marketing strategy for most marketers.

Communicate easy-to-digest information quickly: The attention span of internet users is shrinking year after year. According to statistics on Forbes, people’s attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds.

Today, internet users have become highly impatient, with an attention span of around eight seconds. Short-form videos convey information that people can digest in seconds to increase engagement.

Highly effective in engaging your audience: Short videos are the lifeblood of platforms like TikTok. Statistics say that user figures on this short video platform are soaring and increasing considerably.

That means people are consuming these videos more and more. Depending on what you want to communicate, short-form videos can help you engage and target your audience.

What Are the Benefits of Long-Form Videos?

Long-form video content is not dead. While people’s attention span has reduced dramatically, long-form videos can help you take your business to the next level. Long videos can be your best way to engage your audience, educate prospects, and inspire them to take action.

Create a long-lasting impression on viewers: Unlike short-form videos that only share surface information, long-form dive deeper. You can share detailed information if you can grab attention from the beginning and retain it to the end. As a result, you inform your audience more about your business and establish your brand as an authority in the industry.
Enough time to create a compelling story: A long-form video gives you enough time to develop a powerful story that moves your audience emotionally and helps you strengthen your relationships with them. Storytelling almost always wins in marketing.

However, your audience probably encounters dozens of videos or ads like yours daily. You must learn to break through the noise instead of drowning in it. The rule of thumb is that the story shouldn’t be about your brand but always about your audience.

Are Short Videos Better than Long Videos?

None is better than the other. However, each has specific benefits and is suitable for a particular circumstance. Your ideal video length depends on what you want to share, the platform you’ll use, and, most importantly—your audience.

You can communicate your message in seconds or over ten minutes, and people will watch and listen as long as the story is compelling and resonates with their needs. If you master what captivates them, both short- and long-form videos will work for you.

Short and Long-Form Content: Video Best Practices and Trends

Here are the best video trends and practices.

Tailor your videos to the needs of each platform. Each platform has optimum dimensions, length, and video specs. Check social media video specs and advertising video sizes for the best results.
Keep the video simple and draw attention instantly (short-form): Short video length is typically seconds. You don’t have time to waste. Every second should convey helpful or engaging information to your audience. Try to grab attention within the first two seconds.
Nearly 60% of Gen Zers use short-form video platforms to identify long-form videos to watch. (Google) If this is your primary target audience, create small clips of your long-form content and share them with the audience to drive traffic to the long video.
Share your video content on platforms your audience exists. You need to understand your ideal customer and where they congregate the most on the internet. The wrong platform = wasting your time + throwing away your money. Be careful.
Leverage automated tools to simplify video creation. Some tools like YouTube Studio have built-in filters and video effects to create a video your audience will love.

Conclusion

Using the right video to communicate information that resonates on the right platform is the key to improving your reach and expanding your audience. Depending on your audience, the message, and the platform, identify whether short- or long-form videos suit you best.

Contact us today to schedule a video marketing consultation or request a quote – our team is excited to help you create unique brand videos that reflects your unique business and drives conversions. Thank you for reading!

If staying up-to-date with the latest video trends is important to you, partner with us to take the next steps toward implementing a winning video marketing strategy in 2023.

SCHEDULE A BUSINESS CONSULTATION

Let’s talk today and we’ll get started!

Short-Form vs. Long-Form Video: Which One Is Best for Your Brand?