What are YouTube Shorts? 7 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use Them

Social media is fascinating. It always presents users with new features and varying content types to entertain your audience and build your online presence. One such new feature is YouTube’s version of TikTok — “YouTube Shorts” (aka Shorts YouTube).

It is a short-form video section of YouTube that allows creators to make up to 60 seconds videos. The YouTube team designed the 15 to 60 seconds video component to help creators and businesses to entertain their audiences and drive engagement.

Shorts might be your best option if you want to achieve more with YouTube videos. And if you have yet to hear of this YouTube feature, you are at the right place.

This blog post defines YouTube Shorts videos and offers helpful insights into why you should use them for your business.   

You will learn the following:

1. What are YouTube Shorts?
2. Why are Shorts important for business?
3. Benefits of YouTube Shorts
4. Why your business should use YouTube Shorts for growth.

You can read this post to learn how to create Shorts on YouTube.

What are YouTube Shorts?

What are Shorts on YouTube? They are a micro-video section of YouTube that enable video content creators and marketers to create vertical short-form videos using their smartphone and the Shorts creation tools.

The YouTube Shorts length is up to 60 seconds. With the Shorts’ creation tools, you can make 15-60 seconds or bite-sized videos, add music, animated texts, and other elements, and upload the content directly on YouTube. 

You can also edit numerous 15-second videos to make Shorts on YouTube. Shorts can be multiple 15-second video clips or a 60-second continuous video combined.

Furthermore, unlike the lifetime of Instagram Story, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat, which expire after 24 hours, Shorts videos do not disappear. They continue permanently on YouTube after publishing. 

For this, Shorts is YouTube’s reply to other short-form video apps. This incredible feature from YouTube offers creators, marketers, and brands a fantastic way to create and repurpose content into multiple mobile-friendly bite-sized vertical videos and share them with their audience.

Why are Shorts Important for Your Business?

Why YouTube Shorts? The short-form video format on YouTube is essential because it lets you (content creator, marketer, or business owner) reach more of your audience and prospective customers. 

Besides the standard or regular YouTube channel, Shorts is an ideal way to entertain subscribers further. These short-form videos are addictive and grab viewers’ attention, keeping them watching various short videos for several hours.

Indeed, as Wired reported, TikTokers find it challenging to focus on longer videos. But TikTok’s micro-videos are better at engaging viewers, with 50% of users saying that videos longer than 60 seconds are stressful to watch.

In another report , YouTube Shorts accounted for 57% of all video views on YouTube from July 2021 to the same time in 2022. That’s a 135% increase, in contrast to 11% traffic two years ago when the regular YouTube channel reigned supreme.

Therefore, with TikTok’s increasing popularity, the YouTube team designed “Shorts” as a top competitor for the micro-video sharing platform and other similar sites.

So, using Shorts will help to demonstrate your brand authority, increase engagement, and build awareness for your products or services. Below are more reasons why YouTube Shorts benefits your business.

Benefits of YouTube Shorts for Business

YouTube Shorts videos provide a unique opportunity to get your message in front of a captive audience in a fun, interactive, and entertaining medium. The short format videos allow your brand to experiment with new ideas that could be shared across social media and attract new followers and leads.

Let’s look at some outstanding benefits of Shorts YouTube videos in marketing:

Content repurposing

Shorts benefits your business in many ways, like allowing you to slice longer videos into multiple bite-size contents and publish them on your YouTube Shorts platform.

The best part, you can repurpose the short videos into “Reels and Stories” for other social media sites, like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and others.

However, based on each social platform’s posting requirement, you may need to reformat the content or make minor modifications. But that can be a simple task if you’re using one of the best video editing apps to edit your content. 

Further Reading: Repurposing Content: 15 Specific and Popular Methods

High engagement

According to these video marketing stats, video content will account for over 80% of all online traffic in 2024 — a startling contrast to static images and text-based content.

And since short video formats run the show across social media, they generate higher engagement.

Short videos boost more: 

• Likes
• Shares
• Comments
• Reactions

Therefore, adding YouTube’s short video format to your content marketing strategy is incredibly beneficial.

Shorts don’t expire 

Your business can gain with Shorts since they do not disappear like their competitors. While other similar apps allow videos to exist only for 24 hours and disappear following that, YouTube Shorts are permanent. 

This step allows marketers and creators to generate more engagement, increase awareness, and drive better ROI.

For instance, if viewers search for content on a topic you published months or years ago, your video may appear in the search results, increasing your odds of attracting more viewers and subscribers to your channel.

Easily processed information

YouTube Shorts are also beneficial because the information/content is quickly processed and consumable. They’re digestible, short marketing videos that users can promptly consume on the go. And with the ability to retain viewers’ attention, your audience and consumers love short video content. 

Improves SEO results

YouTube is a search engine platform like Google. So, if used correctly, Shorts YouTube can improve your SEO results. The more engaging Shorts videos you publish, the better your chances to boost your organic search marketing campaign. 

When your videos add value to viewers, they spend more time scrolling down the page and watching more videos. These actions improve dwell time and reduce bounce rate. 

As a result, these metrics will send rank-worthy signals to Google, improving your SEO ranking. Moreover, re-posting your videos on other social sites and including them in your email campaigns will enhance your SEO strategy. 

7 Reasons Your Business Should Use YouTube Shorts

Does your brand need ‘Shorts’ if you already have a YouTube channel?” Yes, it does! The release of YouTube Shorts is a timely and welcome experience for content creators, marketers, and brands. 

Many top social media sites have transitioned to short-form video content strategies with remarkable ROIs. 

The following social media platforms have adopted short-video formats:

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. TikTok
4. LinkedIn and 
5. Twitter, with its two minutes 20 seconds Reels

This approach makes Shorts a valuable video marketing tool for business growth. So, whether you’re a brand owner, content creator, or marketer, YouTube Shorts should be a part of your video content strategy.

Let us consider the seven logical reasons your business should use Shorts YouTube.

1. Reach more people (new audience)

As stated above, Shorts can help you reach more people and build awareness for your brand, products, or services. Why? YouTube Shorts are mobile-friendly bite-sized videos, and over 50% of YouTube, users interact with the platform through mobile devices.

That’s according to data compiled by Statista. Also, on average, users exploring YouTube through mobile devices visit 4.63 more pages per visit, as opposed to just 2.84 pages via desktop.

Shorts on YouTube is built on a mobile-first format. According to statistics, people spend more time watching and interacting with short-form videos via their mobile devices. As a result, Shorts receives over 30 billion global views daily. That’s outstanding.

What does this mean for marketers and brands?

It indicates that people are hungry for short video content formats. And users can find Shorts in many ways, such as:

• Through notifications
• Your YouTube channel
• YouTube home page
• Click the “Shorts” tab at the bottom of the YouTube app or on the left-hand side of your desktop menu.

You can reach more people, generate more leads, and build your brand with YouTube Shorts.

2. Increase your YouTube subscribers (new leads)

Like its parent channel, Shorts on YouTube offer a simple way for users/viewers to find and watch videos by topics. And since people love watching bite-sized videos, YouTube Shorts will help you increase your subscriber database.

Indeed, if you get asked “how to grow your channel on YouTube” or “how to grow a YouTube channel,” the answer is “start posting YouTube Shorts videos.” 

Accordingly, if you have a YouTube channel, you can add Shorts to your YouTube marketing strategy and use the short video format to promote and grow your channel.

Every YouTube Short you post has a “Subscribe” button which automatically subscribes viewers to your YouTube channel. That way, whenever you publish a new short video, you increase your chances of getting more views and subscribers. Remember, new subscribers, are new leads and eventual customers.

Further Reading: 17 Smart Ways How to Get More Subscribers on YouTube

3. Source user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is a top trend we expect to see in 2024. Why? They’re cost-effective, build trust, and inspire shoppers’ purchasing decisions. Blog post readers and video content viewers find UGC more authentic than other content types.

They are efficient, result-driven content you must add to your business’ marketing toolbox using YouTube Shorts.

Let’s look at a few stats compiled at one website:

• Over 90% of shoppers trust reviews and recommendations from others more than ads.
• 92% of customers search for endorsements and reviews from existing buyers.
• According to 70% of brands, UGC helps them engage their audience, build brand trust, and connect better with customers.
• 90% of online shoppers find UGC useful; they believe what existing customers say about a brand, product, or service more than they would ads and promotional emails
• 64% of customers seek reviews of products or services before making a purchase
• 75% of consumers state that UGC highly impacts their buying decision
• Ads that display UGC produce 73% more positive remarks than traditional ads on social media sites.
• On average, customers spend 5.4 hours daily interacting with UGC.

According to the statistics, it’s logical to take advantage of user-generated videos via YouTube Shorts to create content that drives results.

Shorts user-generated content (UGC) will:

• Get you tons of engagement
• Grow your brand awareness
• Converts more subscribers
• Increase sales and revenue

Here is an example of user-generated video content by Brianna Fornes for a cosmetic brand.

Further Reading: What is User Generated Content? The Definitive Guide to Leverage UGC for Marketing

4. Appeal to your audience’s changing needs

Short-form video content has become the norm. We see this trend on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and the like. As a result, your audience’s needs and demands have changed. They embraced the micro-video content trend – switching from watching longer videos to short-form content.

Please, consider the following short-form video statistics:

• One report shows that consumers watch 60% of short-form videos for up to 80% of their length
• 51% of consumers are highly likely to share video content formats 
• Viewers watch 30% of all bite-sized videos, over 80% from start to finish
• Viewers spend 45 minutes in one sitting watching TikTok videos
• According to another report, 73% of viewers crave short-form marketing videos

Considering the data, more marketers and brands plan to invest in or increase their budget in short-form video marketing. Why? According to over 90% of marketers, video content increases user understanding and brand awareness.

So, using YouTube Shorts for business is a fantastic way to appeal to your audience’s changing demands and meet their needs. 

5. Increase brand engagement 

HubSpot’s above report indicates that engagement rate is the most vital video marketing metric for 60% of marketers. That’s because when your video gathers a higher engagement, people connect with your content.

It also reveals that your videos are providing value to viewers, so much weight that can move them to:

• Like
• Comment
• Share, and
• Subscribe to your YouTube channel

Given this, engagement is paramount to the success of any business initiative. Websites like YouTube that display videos give viewers multiple levels of engagement with your business.

In addition to video views, the video marketing platform (YouTube) provides creators, marketers, and businesses with many other ways to drive engagement and connect with subscribers.

For instance, users can like a video and leave a response on the content. In the comments, they can ask questions to get more help from you (the creator, marketer, or brand). These are terrific ways your brand can increase engagement with YouTube Shorts.

6. Showcase your behind-the-scenes (BTS)

Behind-the-scenes (BTS) video content is crucial for providing your audience with an inside look at your business operations. It humanizes your brand by showing how your product came to fruition.

Indeed, BTS content is an unedited look into your company’s processes (what’s happening behind the curtain). It gives your audience and customers a feeling of inclusion. This content marketing approach helps you connect with your audience and consumers on a deeper level and build trust.

Undoubtedly, behind the scene, video content is authentic storytelling. And it’s effective because it focuses on revealing a brand’s method of creating a product or service.

This hack is popular among receipt brands. For example, this Tasty, short YouTube video shows behind the scene how to make a Wonton Noodle soup in 10 minutes.

Hence, creating BTS videos will demonstrate to your audience that you value them as customers and potential clients. You can produce many behind-the-scenes videos, including a tour of your company, to entertain and engage your target market.

Here’s an example behind the scene video tour of Tasty headquarters. 

Granted, YouTube Shorts is a fantastic platform for displaying BTS videos. You can use Tasty’s YouTube Short video to inspire your behind-the-scene marketing content. So give your customers a glimpse behind the curtain to create an intimate brand experience.

Further Reading: How to Make YouTube Shorts: A Guide for Newbies

7. Perfect for product teasers

Product teaser campaigns create buzz around your business and build excitement for your product launch. It is a marketing strategy where you only release little information about your new offer.

The bite-sized data creates suspense and curiosity among your audience and prospective customers before your brand or product’s launch. The purpose is to get people talking about your brand, generate engagement/excitement, and increase awareness leading to the final launch.

And since teaser campaigns give out a small amount of information, YouTube Short (aka Shorts YouTube) is perfect for your product teaser campaigns. You can also enhance user engagement by asking for feedback. 

Further Reading: 15 Viral YouTube Shorts Ideas

Wrap-Up

Shorts YouTube video is beneficial for business growth because it allows marketers and brands to produce salable content without the exhaustion on your budget that product placement can bring.

Moreover, YouTube is prioritizing its new asset — Shorts, for performance and viewing. Therefore, producing Shorts on YouTube frequently will boost your brand reach to a larger target market.

Considering the data-backed benefits and insights above, it makes sense for your business to use YouTube Shorts for growth. Add this content marketing to your content marketing strategy. 

Did we miss something? Do you have any questions or concerns about this post? Or, what would you like to add to strengthen this blog post? We will appreciate your comments below!