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Leveraging Short Form Video: Ideal Business Types and Use Cases

Leveraging Short Form Video: Ideal Business Types and Use Cases

Short form video has become an increasingly popular and effective format for brands across industries. But what kinds of businesses can benefit most from using short videos in their marketing and content strategies? This article will examine some of the best business types and use cases for short form video content.

Characteristics of Businesses Ideal for Short Form Video

While any business can find ways to leverage short video content, some characteristics make a brand especially well-suited:

  • Visual products or services - Products or services that are highly visual naturally lend themselves to dynamic and engaging short videos. Apparel, food, technology products, real estate, and beauty brands tend to excel here.
  • B2C focus - Short videos tend to work better for consumer-focused (B2C) businesses, where entertaining and grabbing attention quickly are priorities. Short videos can be used in B2B as well but may require a more educational focus.
  • Young target demographic - Younger audiences have grown up consuming short form, mobile video content. Brands targeting Millennials or Gen Z should strongly consider a short form video strategy.
  • Active on visual social platforms - Businesses that already have an audience on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube etc. can leverage short video content without needing to build a new audience.

Effective Use Cases for Short Form Video Content

Some of the most impactful ways businesses can leverage short form video content include:

  • Product demonstrations - Create quick how-to videos, unboxings, reviews, and comparisons to highlight products.
  • Behind-the-scenes - Give an insider look at your business processes and team through short clips.
  • Spotlight employee stories - Let individual employees introduce themselves and their roles. Humanize your business.
  • Tease upcoming offerings - Share sneak peeks, announcements, and teasers about new products or content.
  • Explain key differentiators - Use short videos to quickly communicate what makes your business unique.
  • Respond to trends - Capitalize on viral trends, holidays, and current events with topical short videos.
  • Tutorials - For software/apps, provide quick how-to videos to help users.

The bottom line is short form video is no longer optional for most modern brands. But businesses with products, services and audiences aligning with the characteristics and use cases outlined above are likely to see the most success and ROI. Experimenting across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube can reveal what short form video content resonates most with your audience.