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Your guide to short formcontent

What Short Form Content is: 

Short form videos aren’t just videos under one minute.

Short form content is about attention.

You need to grab viewers quickly, create curiosity fast and reward them for watching.

Every second COUNTS…

You either get attention or lose it.

 

Why people keep watching :

People watch videos for many reasons, including: Curiosity, Tension, Surprise, Relatability, Anticipation and even satisfaction regardless of the content type you post.

People don’t stay for niches, they stay for how the video makes them feel.

Examples:

  • Gaming
  • Real Life
  • Commentary
  • Comedy
  • Fitness
  • Storytelling

 

How to make a hook:

You have to be able to keep people within the first SECOND. If viewers don’t quickly understand why they should watch, they’ll scroll away.

You can do this by adding by using:

  • Visual triggers (like moving into frame)
  • Dialogue hooks (like a reaction or question)
  • Emotional hooks (like a jumpscare or laugh)
  • And starting in action

 

Same clip: Different results

 

Example one is clearly looking a little boring and missing something. It takes too long to get to the best part of the recorded moment. People would click off a lot faster. People don’t want to stick as they don’t know why or what will happen. The caption was boring too.

Example 1 was slow, didn’t bring curiosity and low retention.

Example two is a lot shorter, but it loops well and the caption makes it way better. People stick around and know exactly what the video is showing. It has the core idea of the video without a big difference.

Example 2 has a 70% watch rate on youtube instagram and tiktok.

Fancy graphics or photo settings don’t matter as much, if the message isn’t clear.

You NEED structure and pacing:

Good short form content removes any unnecessary waiting. So much to the point where cutting out breaths to speak and making the words pour through is more acceptable. Cut out any stutters or hesitation too to make a cleaner timeline. And cut out anything that interrupts the payoff of the video. Viewers shouldn’t feel the need to wait for the video to really begin.

The Payoff:

This is the reason for the creation of the video. The viewer should feel rewarded for staying until the end. There are many different types:

  • A Joke
  • An emotion (laughter, fright or being scared etc.)
  • A reveal (maybe a plot twist, prototype etc.)
  • Information
  • Shock (end with something shocking)
  • Satisfaction (Being satisfied with what they see)

 

Hooking someone and then having nothing happen hurts.

Captions and Framing:

It’s not about writing something good or taking ages to find the right words. Change how they see a clip. It could be a clip like example two. Clearly I wasn’t a hero, I just trolled my friend. But it made me prank him a lot more funny.

The same clip can feel very different depending on how you frame it.

Loopability and retention:

Every platform rewards you for watchtime and rewatching. If a video loops then people get back into watching it and may look at it again and leave a comment. For example you start a video with, You want to learn (Topic) and you don’t know how and to loop you end with So, Then when it ends it goes back to, So you want to learn (Topic).

However it’s not all about the technicalities. The moment can be replayable in general. You need to make people feel the need to watch again.

Presentation and Quality:

Each platform has their own format:

Youtube Shorts: Prefer the full 9:16 ratio filled up

Instagram Reels: Prefer 1:1 as some tabs only show that area

Tik Tok: Open to multiple types of Formats

Place the text ideally over the video and at eye level to view the screen. Most people view shortform on mobile so make sure you preview your own videos.

A good technique to use is mirroring the video and blurring it to fill the space. To do this find a tutorial online for your editing app of choice.

Improving is better than being a One hit Wonder:

Remember you make your own type of content. Experiment with formats, captions and Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t start well. The more you do the better you get.

Consistency > Perfection

Why most beginners fail:

  • Slow starts
  • No clear point to the video
  • Weak framing
  • Random clips and no payoff
  • Overexplaning
  • Trying to follow a trend without knowing the trend

 

You want to make a clear message to what the video is and what the viewers gain from it

 

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