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In recent years, video has become one of the most popular forms of content for online users – and it’s not hard to see why. Well-done videos can make you laugh, move you to tears, and get you rooting for the hero of the story, even in a marketing context.
For brands, video marketing is a must. As of 2023, 91% of businesses used video as a marketing tool. Short-form video is among the most popular type of video used by marketers.
Just about every social media platform supports video in short- and long form, but not quite like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. These platforms are designed for short, snappy, engaging videos that viewers love to consume, so you’re missing out if you’re not promoting your campaigns there.
Want to elevate your marketing campaigns with short-form video that captivates the users on TikTok and YouTube Shorts? Here’s everything you need to know.
Tell a Great Story
Storytelling is the secret sauce for successful video content. TikTok and YouTube Shorts offer video editing tools that can ensure your videos captivate your audience from the first second, wrapping them up in the story and the ending.
For brands, stories can be a customer testimonial showing how your product or service made a difference in their lives, a “making of” story about how your brand went from an idea to the success it is today, or a behind-the-scenes look into your operations. Here’s some inspiration:
- Customer success stories: Use testimonials or stories from real customers that show how your product or service made a real difference in their lives. Seeing the benefits for others can get them emotionally invested.
- Brand origin story: Tell your customers how you founded your brand, including your inspiration, the challenges you’ve faced, the milestones you’ve reached, and what you expect for the future.
- Behind-the-scenes tours: Give customers a peek behind the curtain into aspects of your business that aren’t public facing, such as the making of a product or an employee appreciation event.
One of the best examples of this is Lume Deodorant, which has captured the attention of fans using storytelling with a lighthearted approach:
Be Authentic
TikTok and YouTube Shorts aren’t the place to share your professional ads. These platforms rely on authenticity, so it’s all about humanizing your brand and letting it shine in a relatable way. This applies to all brands, not just the ones that are more humorous or lighthearted.
There are many ways to show off your authenticity, including product demonstrations, industry news stories, and customer testimonials. Here’s some inspiration:
- Host a Q&A with staff or management to answer common customer questions and concerns.
- Share a real customer offering a review of your product or service and let them share their story.
- Offer a glimpse into a typical day in your operation, like this example from the San Diego Zoo showing how they care for the grizzly bears:
Engage the Audience
TikTok and YouTube Shorts are appealing to viewers because they can interact with brands directly. This is an opportunity for you to encourage engagement using questions, live sessions, and contests, such as:
- Using polls to gather feedback or ask customers about their experiences.
- Asking customers to brainstorm with you and develop new products, services, or policies.
- Running a contest or giveaway that allows customers to share their story with your brand in exchange for a prize.
Create Challenges and Use Sound Effects
There are unique aspects to TikTok and YouTube Shorts that you can use to your advantage, including trends. Tracking trends is a lot of work, but it can pay off by showing your videos to users at the top of their For You page.
Track trends in your own account or look for the content that’s currently trending in your industry. The trends you choose should always be relevant and appropriate to your brand, but you can get creative. Here are some ideas:
- Dances: TikTok dances are a big part of the platform. Make a video of your staff dancing to the latest music trend and enjoying their work.
- Sound effects: Sound effects and music clips are popular on TikTok videos, so add trending sounds where you can to improve your videos.
- Challenges: TikTok challenges “throw down the gauntlet” to get users in on the fun. Consider creating a branded hashtag to encourage your audience to take on the challenge, such as a 30-day update after using your product.
Keep It Consistent
Consistency is one of the most important parts of success on social media. TikTok and YouTube get a ton of content each day, however, and you need to be posting consistently to stay ahead.
This doesn’t mean you need to share new videos multiple times a day. Decide how many videos you can realistically post each week, then stick to that schedule. It’s more important to post quality videos consistently than pumping out lackluster content just to post something.
Optimize Your Hashtags
Hashtags are how users find the content they want on TikTok and YouTube Shorts. They operate like keywords and need to be relevant and appropriate for your brand and content to reach the right audience.
Don’t spam your posts with popular, unrelated hashtags to get to the top of the search results. It’s a bad practice and will bring you traffic you don’t really want. Keep your hashtags highly relevant for searchability.
Here’s an excellent example of just a few hashtags that go a long way. The Metropolitan Museum of Art used these hashtags to appeal to their current audience, attract new art enthusiasts, and expand reach to travelers and lifelong learners:
Use Visuals
Adding stickers, text overlays, and filters to your videos can make it more dynamic and appealing for viewers. Both TikTok and YouTube Shorts offer features and tools to enhance your video in a way that makes sense for your brand.
Here’s an example from Xfinity that uses polished, on-brand stickers and text overlays to promote the brand and product, Trolls:
Keep It Unique
Trends, effects, and other aspects of TikTok and YouTube are important to keep your videos looking like they belong on the platform, but it’s easy to go overboard and drown in the noise. Try to balance looking native to the platform with staying true to your brand identity and original. Look for ways to make trends your own and put your own unique spin on the ideas.
Focus on Improving
Video marketing can offer excellent return, but it’s time consuming and involves a lot of effort. You can’t just “set it and forget it.” Make sure you’re watching your analytics on TikTok and YouTube to understand how your audience is consuming your content, what they like and don’t like, and how you can improve in the future.
There are some important metrics to keep an eye on, including video views, likes, shares, and comments, which you can see with the built-in analytics tools on each platform.
Use Short-Form Video to Your Advantage
Video content is among the most popular content types for online users, no matter the industry or platform. If you want to make short-form video work for you on TikTok and YouTube Shorts, it’s crucial to create high-quality videos that align with the tone of the platforms, tell a good story, and captivate your viewers’ attention.
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