Micro Content: When and How to Use Short Form Video

Short Form Video… Gen Z loves it and Millennials are catching up. How can you utilize this type of content to grow a faithful following for your business or for yourself as a creator? We’ll break it down for you by social media platform.

TikTok

Strategy

Currently the fastest growing platform, TikTok offers a chance to gain high viewership through micro content. We’ve seen that both high-production and low-production videos can be successful in growing a following on this platform, however these two strategies will require very different workflows.

Content

For low-effort content, you can offer a hot take, industry advice, or a simple capture of you doing the thing you want to promote. This should be a low-stress, natural process simply capturing your unique environment & voice that you can produce in high-volume. For content that takes more effort, people will be drawn to the meticulous care and attention to detail you pore into your videos. Specifically, dynamic color-grading, clean audio, and efficient editing will give you an edge on 90% of creators. These videos will take longer to produce, but could build a more loyal fanbase, especially if you show them how much care goes into your creation process.

Instagram + Facebook

Strategy

Instagram has become the new portfolio. Your professional identity as a creator or business is greatly tied to your presence on Instagram. And this doesn’t mean you have to have a high follower count, but it does mean that your Instagram has to be regularly updated with your current work so that your potential clients/followers know that you are active. It’s the party that they want to know is still going. As far as Facebook goes, we suggest reposting Facebook via Instagram to engage the older generations if that is a part of your target audience.

Content

The same rules from TikTok micro content apply to Instagram. Both high and low production works here. When producing this content, it may be helpful to think of repeatable content formats that make it easy for you to focus on one theme and storyline, and for your audience to identify you with one aspect of your professional skills, knowledge, or personality.

One highly successful content format that we’ve witnessed is video podcasts. Podcast video content strikes a great balance between high-production and high repeatability. You can schedule times to record conversations in the area of your interest on a regular basis and always have valuable content to post. You can read more about starting your own podcast here.

X + Threads

Strategy

It seems as though X is on the downslope and Threads still hasn’t been widely adopted and is still heavily dependent on Instagram for viewership, so we won’t spend much time here and we don’t recommend you spend too much effort here as well. We see these platforms as a way to engage with your existing audience in a more personal way, with comments and reposts, similar to the comment section on YouTube.

Content

Statements both in text and in videos that people can self-identify with do very will for reposts, but won’t lead to growth on other platforms. Many creators use this as an insider forum for early announcements to their fanbase or to add another dimension to their preexisting presence on other platforms.

YouTube

Strategy

The platform with the most longevity, YouTube is your home for any long-form video content. While many have been touting that YouTube Shorts can increase your viewership tenfold, many recent studies have shown that this viewership mostly stays on the one Short that the viewer has seen, and does not transfer viewership to long-form content or increase your subscription rate. In fact, Shorts can actually lower your subscription rate.

That doesn’t mean you can’t utilize Shorts to increase engagement and stay top-of-mind for your current subscribers, as well as spread your brand name farther if your content is branded well. We believe it shouldn’t be your whole social media strategy. We advise creating valuable long-form content on YouTube that makes your audience felt seen and heard, like you’re talking right to them.

Content

Knowing that Shorts do not grow your subscription base, we don’t recommend spending time on producing content purely for short form on YouTube. Instead, try using the “Thanksgiving Meal” method of chopping your long-form videos into bite-sized leftovers for users to easily consume. This could be a great way to let your existing audience know you’ve published a new video.

In Summary

Micro / Short Form Video Content

should be content that you want to create. It may seem like a quick way to grow a following, but only repetition will reap sustainability, both for your platform, and for the engagement of your audience.

We believe that a happy medium for high/low production content is video podcasting! It’s high quality video and audio that is easily repeatable. We actually have our very own Video Podcasting Studio in San Francisco if you are interested in recording with us or getting help to start your podcast wherever you are!