Unlock the Power of Short-Form Video Content: Best Practices

We’ve talked about it before, and we’ll say it again: Short-form video content is a huge trend that drives significant reach and engagement.

We are living in the era of short-form video content, as platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts increasingly dominate the digital landscape. And this trend isn’t just about entertainment – according to HubSpot, short-form video ranks as the best content format for lead generation.

If you’ve been weighing whether short-form video can help your organization, we have a message for you – go for it! Here’s what the metrics tell us:

• ​According to Sprout Social, 66% of users consider short-form video content to be more engaging than any other format.
• HubSpot reports that short-form video content has a higher ROI than long form video.
• Sprout Social finds that users spend 20% of their time on Instagram watching short-form Reels.

Ready to create your own short-form video content? In this blog, we’ll take a look at some best practices and explore the ways Sarah Best Strategy can help you get started!

Short-Form Video Logistics

Q: What do I need to start recording short-form video content?​

A: You don’t need much equipment to start recording short-form videos! Here’s what we recommend you gather before recording:
​

1. A phone camera,
2. A steady surface (a tripod is best, but any stable support will do),
3. Good lighting (natural light and lamps can be surprisingly effective), and
4. A quiet sound environment (record in a quiet room, or buy a cheap lapel mic that plugs into your phone).

That’s all. The accessibility of short-form video has been key to its growth, and research shows that consumers value authenticity and passion over highly polished content.

Q: If I need to edit my video, what should I use?

A: There are a LOT of video editing tools out there to choose from, and some of the options on the market are complicated and expensive. Thankfully, for most short-form video content, you can easily meet your needs with one of these options:

• Social media platform's built-in video editors – platforms like TikTok offer most of the basic editing features you’ll need to put together your video.
• Canva – A free, easy-to-use option that lets you split, trim, and combine clips into a single video file. Canva also offers tons of video templates, tailored to each social media platform.
• iMovie and Clipchamp – Simple video editing platforms that are available for free with Apple and Windows 11 devices, respectively.​

Short-Form Video Best Practices

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by YETI (@yeti)

1. Start in the middle of the action.

According to the experts, capturing viewers’ attention within the first three seconds of your video is crucial to prevent them from scrolling past. Give your audience a reason to stay – for instance, preview what your video is about right away, like YETI did in this Instagram Reel to the left.

2. Keep up the pace.

Viewers are looking for content that will hold their attention span from beginning to end. You don’t need to rush, but it’s important to make sure there aren’t any long pauses or gaps in your video.

3. Consider breaking videos into sections.

A great way to keep your target audience engaged is by breaking your video into bite-sized chunks. Try structuring your video script as a list, like in this Instagram Reel from partner Let's Roll Video below.

4. Close with a call to action (also called a CTA).

Make sure your audience knows what to do once your video is over. Depending on your goals, you could ask them to follow you, visit your website, sign up for an event, etc. You can say your CTA, or include it as text on your video – just make sure it is clear to the viewers.

If you’re struggling to pick a CTA, consider this: If there were no obstacles, what would your audience do as a result of watching your video? The answer to this question should guide you to the right call to action.

​The added benefit of a strong call to action? If you’re clear on what you want people to do, it’s easier to identify what metrics you should monitor to prove the success of your video.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brian Rolling (@brianrolling)

5. Take a moment to edit.

It can seem like a hassle, but taking a moment to edit your video before posting it could make a huge difference. You don’t need to do anything fancy – just make sure to cut out any awkward pauses, confirm your clips are in the right order, and watch the video once in its entirety before publishing.

How Sarah Best Strategy Can Help You Succeed With Short-Form Video

We help companies and organizations shine in the digital space in two ways:

• We help in-house marketing teams develop confidence and stronger digital marketing strategies and skills through our affordable and accessible coaching offerings; and
  
• We take work off the plates of bandwidth-constrained teams so that you can focus on the work that matters most.
  

​Keep reading to learn how we can apply these two methods to short-form video.

​Video Coaching and Strategy

We know your first video can be the hardest one to make. There’s so much to consider: what to include, how to record it, where to post it, and on and on.

If you’d like to feel more confident and comfortable with creating short-form video content, sign up for our “Best Practices for Creating Social Media Videos” coaching session. This hour-long training covers:

• Why short-form video content is an important component of a social media plan;
  
• Strategic factors that should guide your video planning process;
  
• Logistics of video creation – equipment, software, music, etc; and
  
• Where and how often social media videos should be posted (examples of short-form video platforms include YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Stories, TikTok, etc.).
  

​Our coaching sessions can also be recorded so that you can build a training library over time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR COACHING SESSIONS

We’ve also worked with clients to conceptualize and plan specific social media video campaigns.

Our work with Triathlon Over Cancer, a nonprofit that provides free triathlon training to cancer survivors, offers a good example. TOC reached out to us with the goal of leveraging video to build their social media presence and simplify the triathlon process for their target audience.

​We coached TOC on the basics of creating short-form content, and helped plan a video series that paired our best practices with TOC’s goals. The result:​

​Video Creation

Don’t feel like your team has the bandwidth to take on video creation? We can take work off of your busy team’s plate, so that you can focus on activities that matter!

For instance, we added video content creation services to our social media management work with the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program (EDCAP), a program of the Community Service Society of New York.

EDCAP’s mission is to help steer New Yorkers through the student loan system with free webinars, counseling, and one-on-one assistance. As they began to expand their services statewide, EDCAP contacted us about using video to grow their following and drive awareness.

We’ve worked with EDCAP to develop short videos that cover topics ranging from learning your rights as a loan co-borrower to deciphering your student loan type. A few examples:

LEARN ABOUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT PACKAGES

Any Questions?

Regardless of where your team is at in adding short-form video to your marketing strategy, we’d love to give you some support! Contact us today.

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Daniel Prohuska

Daniel Prohuska (Strategist) began as Sarah Best Strategy's persistent, perpetual intern while he worked on his B.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After graduating with degrees in Strategic Communications and History, he jumped at the chance to join the SBS team full time. While he enjoys all sorts of communications tasks, Daniel is most driven by his passion for helping untold stories find their intended audience.