Author - James, Customer Services - Toolkit Websites.
Which is better?
With the rise of apps such as TikTok, and Instagram and new additions to existing Social Media sites such as YouTube shorts, it can get confusing on whether it’s worth the effort of creating long content to accompany your business or quick short-form content.
Long-form content refers to the traditional way of informing your customers such as lengthy YouTube videos, Vimeos, Presentations, live streams etc.
Short-form refers to the "new age" way of content creation, short, snappy, 10-60 second clips to get attention, generally found on apps such as Tiktok for example, and even YouTube itself with YouTube shorts.
You've got the below options for short-form:
- TikTok
- YouTube Shorts
- Twitter
And the below for long-form:
- YouTube
- Facebook
- Twitch
- Vimeo
Both have their benefits and their downsides.
For example, short-form content is great for gaining a following, but are they loyal or do they just like what kind of social media content you create? Long-form content is great for getting information across en masse, but is it good for holding the attention of your potential clients?
There’s always a balance to strike with this, for example, you could make an incredibly funny short TikTok following the latest trend with your employees that gets great engagement, but will it point people to your Business or just your TikTok page?
One thing that’s been used to great success is a healthy mix of both, using your long-form content - to create the short-form content. Taking interesting snippets out of your long-form YouTube video or presentation and editing it down to within those golden 60 seconds leaves people wanting to see more and they’ll want to hunt for it.
From there, a link to the longer content then gets people invested and interested in the rest of it, gaining their loyalty and attention to not only you but your brand and what you do.
A really interesting example of this working is ThePoolGuy, an independent Pool specialist in the UK who started with TikToks, moved onto Long Form content and now has a huge brand with people begging to book him left right and centre.
https://www.tiktok.com/@thep00lguy
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2XHNAE8IzWWUFrLuex0bzg
While most people see YouTube or TikTok as a cash cow, the above example is a great idea for expanding your own Brand or Business using both Short-form and Long-form content, as long as you find that balance!
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Social Media Setup
