Short form or long form video – which works best for my business?
You’ve made the decision to make a video to market your business – and from
where we stand, it’s an excellent one! It’ll hopefully boost your market share hugely
and be an evolving part of your growth strategy, but it’s not something you can rush
into. Careful planning from the outset will pay dividends in the long run and ensure
you don’t waste your budget on a video which misses the target.
It won’t be long before you’re immersed in the technicalities, but one of the first – and
most important – things you need to consider is whether your message is best served
by a short form or a long form video. Let’s take a look at this in more detail.
The advantages of short form video
It’s a fact of life that human attention spans have plummeted – we’re on a par with
goldfish when it comes to staying focused. This makes short form an attractive
option. As long as your content is sufficiently ‘thumb-stopping’, short videos have a
higher potential for engagement and are much more likely to be watched all the way
through. Business content usually aims to be between two and three minutes, but
definitely no longer.
Short videos are ideal for spearheading a social media campaign. Socials are a
quickfire medium – most people will watch on their mobiles and are more likely to
share your content. Platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts are
specifically designed to showcase your video.
A short video should deliver a single message – buy our ice cream, join our golf club,
sign up for our emails – but you have to make it entertaining. Vibrant content and
electric visuals should cement the transaction, because that’s what it is. You watch,
we’ll deliver.
On a pragmatic note, if you use short form, there’s also the bonus that they’re less
expensive to produce and the planning won’t take up so much of your time. If your
budget is limited, this could be the better option.
The disadvantages of short form video
While short form can be great for producing an attention-grabbing buzz, it’s not
always the best route to take. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, it can be
harder to establish a long-term presence as opposed to creating brief enthusiasm.
In addition, the product or service you’re trying to sell may be too complex to put
over in such a short time. Ice cream – yes, insurance expertise – possibly not. If
you’re aiming to build your business as an authority in a particular area, or need to
delve deeper into a subject, short form isn’t going to work.
The advantages of long form video
If you’re looking to produce tutorials for a product you’re launching, offer insights into
an industry, make a documentary or create compelling narratives, you need a long
form video. This format enables you to build your authority on a topic and create
longer-term connections with viewers, which can lead to higher conversion rates. It
takes time, but if you go about it the right way it demonstrates commitment and can
be a valuable strategy. YouTube and Facebook work well for long form.
Exactly how long is long form? Good question! Opinions are divided on this one, as a
long form video is generally considered to be over ten minutes in length, but some
people firmly believe if a video’s over five minutes then it’s long form.
Choosing long form is an investment in more of a slow-burn marketing approach, but
it’s one which can be extremely effective.
Disadvantages of long form video
It goes without saying though that regardless of the length of your video, you still
have to grab and keep your viewers’ attention, which is much trickier with long form.
It can take time to build up a loyal following, so you’ll need to be patient.
Producing a long form video is much more of a commitment to the process. It’ll take
longer to plan, film and edit – and you must make sure you choose the right way to
put your message across. You may be the CEO and feel you should be out front
telling everyone about your latest product launch, but if your delivery is bland and
expressionless people will scroll past immediately. Also, it’s inevitably going to be
more expensive to produce, but don’t let that put you off because the return on your
investment can be impressive.
Can’t make your mind up?
Well, you could go for both. It’s quite possible to make a long form video and extract
bits to use as short form, although this will only work really well if you plan it
beforehand.
Decided? That’s just the start . . .
What do you specifically want to achieve with your video – do you want viewers to
sign up, buy, visit your website? What’s your story? Who is your audience and how
can you hook them in the first few seconds? Music, visuals, which platform to launch
on . . .
It’s complicated – which is why using the professionals will make all the difference.
Whether long form or short form, a video production company will create a polished,
high-impact video which propels your business into the limelight.
Why not make a decision – and contact us?