When views of YouTube Shorts videos hit 30 billion per day in the first quarter of 2022, everyone started to take notice. Having already seen some huge brand names going big in this space and with YouTube pushing Shorts heavily to, potentially, steal market share from TikTok, the opportunity for media ROI is huge. If you know what you are doing and why.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are mobile-optimized, vertical, short-form videos that sit on YouTube. They must be 60 seconds or less and do not disappear after a certain time period.
The launch of YouTube Shorts came at a time when many social media platforms were making pivots towards video content, especially short-form content.
Even in its infancy, Shorts saw solid performance. In March 2021 the Shorts beta was fully released in the U.S., quickly surpassing 6.5 billion daily views. By July 2021, Shorts officially launched globally in over 100 countries.
By 2022, a few things had changed. Most notably, the time limit on Shorts has expanded to 60 seconds, and many creators take advantage of every second, with more than 70% of Shorts being longer than 15 seconds.
Although Shorts is still pretty new this feature still deserves your attention, especially if you already have a video strategy and even more so if you are already advertising ‘traditionally’ on YouTube.
Why should we care?
YouTube is now paying creators a bigger cut of ad revenue, specifically on Shorts to incentivize more creators to make them. So, having a vertical Short ad will only become increasingly important to continue to get reach and engage with new audiences.
If your business or brand isn’t in this space, it should really start thinking about it.
If you are focused on direct response advertising, Shorts should be a component of any up and coming campaign. You’ll be able to drive more conversions on more surfaces, meeting the audiences you want to.
For more information about advertising on YouTube Shorts, please get in touch.
