Will YouTube’s Shorts Last In The Long-Run?
It’s impossible to have gone this long without hearing about TikTok, the social media platform for short-form video. But have you heard of YouTube’s Shorts? It’s YouTube’s answer to TikTok, or Instagram’s Reels, and is a section of the site dedicated to vertical videos that run a maximum of 60 seconds. While TikTok is the leading platform for short-form video content, many believe that Shorts’ updated
revenue sharing model could help keep them competitive.
There’s a good reason YouTube wants a slice of the pie when it comes to short-form video. TikTok is the
fastest-growing social media app ever; and they’ve garnered a healthy
1 billion active monthly users. YouTube was quick to notice, and now Shorts has great potential to be a supportive platform for both creators and marketers. As an already established video platform, YouTube has a plethora of resources available to them, including a vast range of video creators who already call YouTube home. Now with Shorts’ new revenue sharing model, creators will earn
45% of allocated revenue from their Shorts. And if Shorts can attract popular TikTok creators over to the platform, there’s no reason their fans won’t follow.
Shorts is currently a great opportunity for existing YouTube creators to increase their following, because when a user subscribes to a Shorts channel, they are also
automatically subscribed to that creator’s long-form content. At the moment, demand for Shorts is currently
exceeding the supply, meaning that viewers are hungry for more Shorts. It seems that the early adopters of Shorts are
influencers with an established following, but there’s more than enough room for new creators to grab a slice of the Shorts pie when it comes to viewership.
With the recent uncertainties about
TikTok’s future in the US, it seems like now is the time to take other short-form video platforms seriously, because consumers’ desire for short-form video
isn’t going anywhere. Shorts is positioned to be an attractive alternative. Aside from the perks for creators, there are other factors that make Shorts an enticing avenue for marketers. For one, it’s much easier to access a wider range of individuals from different backgrounds. YouTube has been around for much longer and has collected a diverse audience. TikTok has a large user base, but it skews very young (71.3% of users are under the age of 35). While YouTube does have a good share of younger viewers,
46% of their users are over the age of 35, giving them a much healthier spread of age groups to target. While impressions for Shorts are still
much lower than their traditional YouTube videos, there is a great potential for growth.
In a sea of TikTok copycats, it appears Shorts could be a viable challenger. Unlike Instagram or Facebook, it already has a reputation of being a quality, strictly-video sharing platform. With a multitude of engaged creators and users already on YouTube’s traditional videos, it seems that there could be a successful future for their Shorts platform. If your business has been looking to advertise with short-form video, there’s a chance Shorts could be a fit for you.
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