What is Short-Form Content and How You Can Create It?
- Brainz Magazine
- Apr 16
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 19
Marco Benavides is a Retired and Disabled Military Veteran, Entrepreneur, Visionary and Philanthropist. He is a Minority Business Owner, Published Author and Motivational Public Speaker. He is the CEO and Founder of Holy Spirit Ministry Foundation, and in 2024, he was acknowledged as an Honored Listee in the Marquis Who's Who Publication.
Would you watch a 3-minute ad about a product or service? Probably not, right? Well, neither would I, because spending three minutes on an ad feels like a long time. And unless the ad is very captivating, it may also become boring.
Today, most brands understand that the user’s attention span has decreased. That’s why they are more focused on producing bite-sized, easily digestible short-form content, which may also be considered the “content king.”
Usually, short-form content includes:
Short videos (under 3 minutes), such as Shorts, Reels, Stories, etc.
Blogs and articles (under 1,000 words)
Brief infographics and social media posts that deliver information instantly.
Below, I’m going to explain more about short-form content. If you’re running a small business, this article will help you understand how to integrate it into your marketing mix. So, let’s start by analyzing the prerequisites for short-form content, shall we?
Prerequisites for short-form content
Although there are only a handful of prerequisites, note that they’re crucial for creating an effective short-form campaign:
Choose the right social media platform
This may be confusing and overwhelming for most people, as there are so many available. However, I believe the right approach is to choose the platform that aligns best with your business nature.
For example, Instagram may be more suitable for a clothing business than YouTube. However, if you’re selling tech products, you might create YouTube Shorts and offer insightful reviews to your audience.
Create a content calendar
A content calendar will help you determine what and when to post. Essentially, you may mark important dates or events, brainstorm ideas, and create content beforehand to post on the chosen platforms. This way, you can actively post short-form content to boost engagement (which I’ll talk about later in the article).
Use an ever-available internet connection
It does not matter if you’re creating long- or short-form content, a reliable internet connection is a must. However, I believe the internet is even more important for short-form content because you may be creating and posting content on trendy topics with short deadlines.
Personally, I’m subscribed to one of the high-speed Spectrum Internet plans to access the free hotspots that come with it. This way, I can always create catchy short content on any trendy topic from anywhere, anytime I want.
How to create effective short-form content?
Wisely choose the social media platform
As mentioned above, there are multiple types of short-form content such as Reels, Shorts, infographics, etc., and you may only use a single type of content in a post.
So, it is incredibly important to choose the type of content most suitable for your business and audience. Here, I would suggest understanding your audience first and picking accordingly, as this may help you create the best content type.
Hook your audience
Keeping your audience hooked is one of the primary objectives of short-form content. To create a content hook, you may brainstorm and refine your competitors’ ideas or get help from generative AI (artificial intelligence) tools like ChatGPT.
Once you’ve successfully done that, craftily add the CTAs (calls to action) and advertise your products or services. Also, it’s ideal to create the hook in the initial few seconds of short videos or in the first few lines of articles to grab people’s attention from the start.
Keep your content concise and valuable
Keeping your content concise, while at the same time making it valuable, may be challenging for most people. However, it is incredibly important that short-form content is precise but informative enough for the audience.
Here, I’d suggest refining your original content multiple times, as this technique helps me condense my content and add more value to it. Watch out for redundancies in your original content and replace them with something more precise and value-adding.
Use visuals in your content
Interactive visuals are important in short-form content, as they keep the audience engaged. Note that most people may believe visuals include only pictures or images. However, a dynamic color scheme, transitions, or aesthetic effects in your short-form content may also contribute to visual appeal.
Besides engagement, visuals may also offer the following advantages to your short-form content:
Attention-grabbing: Visuals may readily grab people’s attention.
Digestible: Eye-catching visuals may be more digestible than text.
Storytelling: You may use visuals to tell a brief but informative story.
Be consistent in posting short-form content
Posting short-form content regularly may seem easy, but it can be the biggest challenge for some people, simply because many people struggle to generate ideas for relevant content.
That said, the content calendar I mentioned above may be helpful for regular content posting. Now, let’s look at some benefits of consistently posting short-form content:
It may provide you with a loyal customer base.
You may convert potential leads into sales by consistently posting.
Regular posting increases the chances of your content appearing in customers’ feeds.
Winding up: Major social media platforms to post short-form content
Before I wrap up, below are some major social media platforms where you may post short-form content to attract an audience:
Instagram: Instagram Reels and Stories
YouTube: YouTube Shorts and Videos
Snapchat: Snapchat Stories and Spotlight
Facebook: Facebook Stories, Videos, and Status
Read more from Marco A. Benavides
Marco A. Benavides, Visionary and Philanthropist
Embarking on a transformative journey to the United States at just six years old, Marco A. Benavides, a proud individual of Mexican descent, now radiates wisdom and compassion at 51 years young. With a loving family of four extraordinary teenagers by his side, he distinguishes himself as a Spiritual guide, channeling the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to offer profound counsel. A beacon of hope in today's world, he champions mental health awareness and empowers others to forge a meaningful connection with the divine, inspiring them to lead lives filled with purpose and productivity.
