Short form video, often under 60 seconds in length, has enjoyed a significant rise in popularity, particularly among younger professionals. While it’s hard to tell a story in just seconds, interest in video content can wane after just ten seconds.
With the rapid increase in use of technology, particularly over the holidays, attention spans are rapidly decreasing. Today, the expectation is to access the desired information at a moment’s notice and in “bite-sized” chunks. Accordingly, competition for attention on digital platforms is at an all-time high.
With shorter attention spans and increasing competition, short form video can cut through the noise and be the differentiator you need.
We can identify two main benefits of short-form video campaigns. First, it is significantly easier to create, and is aligned well with the viewer’s attention span. It is not often that we visit social media platforms with the intention of watching ten minutes videos. We expect to scroll through information, gathering what we need in seconds rather than minutes. Second, it can help boost brand awareness and reach, since the content is easy to view, post, and spread instantly.
Find Your Social Creativity
Facebook and Instagram Stories are important tools to keep your audience informed or share a desired message. Short form videos are also viewed as temporary (though rarely is that the case). However, it is this temporary concept that builds interest and heightens the sense of urgency to act or engage.
Social media is essential for engaging your current audience, but also consider your strategy for attracting a new audience. The best strategies and social media campaigns find a balance between current audience engagement and attracting a new audience.
Find New Opportunities and Revisit Old Ones
To generate new leads in a short time, you can use your existing client list to create similar audiences on Facebook and Instagram. These auto-generated lists find people with interests or demographics that align with current clients, potentially tapping into a new highly-qualified audience.
Additionally, you’ll want to re-target existing or cold leads with ads or email campaigns. Short form video can be utilized here to give a quick update of your offering, such as a new service, without being annoying or pushy. Finally, re-engaging clients is a no-brainer. Short form video is a great way to add awareness for cross selling and up-selling opportunities, as well as increasing referrals through sharing options.
Maintain Engagement and Excitement
To keep momentum going beyond the holidays, refresh your creative content throughout the year, creating custom messaging each month or quarter. For example, you always want to highlight your services and how they can be helpful during a particular time of year. For professional service firms, this can be near tax deadlines or when new revisions to tax regulations occur.
Countdowns can also build anticipation and keep audiences interested, so consider how you can use short-form video to reveal an expansion (physically, geographically, or service line) or increase urgency as a deadline approaches.
Attract a New Generation of Talent
Short form video is useful in many different ways, and recruiting is one that is often overlooked. With the new age of social media, most companies post jobs or links to a careers page, which leads to a long and boring description of the open position. Today, job seekers are attracted to firms with great cultures, enhanced learning opportunities, and a good work/life balance.
Use short form video to showcase your company outings or employee perks such as a catered meals, casual dress on Fridays, or holiday celebrations. Don’t be afraid to get creative and think outside the box.
Plus, short form video puts a face and personality to the brand. One final bonus of short form video . . . any size firm can implement with a smart phone and common editing software.
