Let me inform you probably the most difficult a part of my job. Usually, I’ll delete TikTok and Instagram from my telephone as a result of I can not assist however waste time endlessly scrolling via these apps, watching dozens of short-form movies in a single sitting. And I’m not the one one.
In accordance with HubSpot’s 2025 Advertising Traits Report, visible storytelling is the brand new norm. Brief-form video content material leads the way in which, with 29.18% of entrepreneurs figuring out it as probably the most used format and 21.02% citing it as delivering the best ROI.
So, why are short-form movies so standard? Turns on the market are a couple of causes, certainly one of which concerned a little bit of psychology. Let’s get into it!
Desk of Contents
What are short-form movies?
Brief-form movies are movies which are lower than 60 seconds in period. Nonetheless, some entrepreneurs and content material creators agree that short-form movies will be as much as 3 minutes. However, if you would like my opinion, I might keep on with the 60-second rule.
I take this stance as a result of consideration spans are getting shorter, however we’ll get into that later.
Anyway, short-form movies ship info in a digestible, bite-size format so viewers can rapidly watch and bookmark the content material in the event that they’re on the go or watch it a number of instances.
And, in the event you’re going to make your content material longer than 60 seconds, attempt to front-load all of the essential stuff early into the video to verify extra individuals see what issues most.
Wish to be taught what else you might want to make a profitable video? Grab our Free Video Marketing Playbook here.
Why are short-form movies so standard?
There are a couple of causes short-form movies are extra standard than ever amongst customers and entrepreneurs, and I‘ll go to these in a bit. For now, I wish to get into the psychology of all of it — that’s why we’re right here, proper? Stroll with me.
Shopper consideration spans are shrinking.
Science tells us that one of many essential causes we love short-form movies is that our consideration spans are getting shorter and shorter.
Dr. Gloria Mark, a psychologist, just lately wrote a ebook known as Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity, and he or she says her analysis signifies individuals’s consideration spans have been shrinking over the past 20 years.
Dr. Mark shared her findings on Speaking of Psychology, an American Psychological Affiliation podcast.
Her findings got here from a decades-long experiment she participated in, which was first performed by shadowing members and monitoring their actions by way of stopwatches.
“We might document the beginning time and the cease time,” she explains.
“So that you‘re on a display the place you’re working in a Phrase doc. As quickly as you get to that display, we click on begin time. As quickly as they turned away and checked the e-mail, we clicked cease time for the Phrase doc and begin time for the e-mail,” Mark provides.
Over time, logging methods grew to become extra refined as know-how superior, and it solely made the sample of shrinking consideration spans clearer.
“Again in 2004, we discovered the typical consideration span on any display to be two and a half minutes on common,” Dr. Mark remembers throughout the interview. “All through the years, it grew to become shorter. So round 2012, we discovered it to be 75 seconds.”
Dr. Mark says the quantity continued to dip because the years went on.
“After which within the final 5, six years, we discovered it to common about 47 seconds — and others have replicated this consequence inside a couple of seconds. So it appears to be fairly sturdy,” she says.
And this pattern of dwindling consideration spans is affecting how we devour content material. And I am not simply speaking about social media movies — even tv and movie photographs are getting extra transient, in accordance with Dr. Mark.
“They began out for much longer. They now common about 4 seconds a shot size,” she says. “If you happen to watch MTV music movies, they‘re a lot shorter. They’re solely a few seconds. So we have turn into accustomed to seeing very quick shot lengths once we watch TV and movie.”
Dr. Mark explains throughout the interview that it‘s a rooster vs. egg scenario — she’s uncertain which got here first or what’s influencing the opposite.
Nonetheless, the actual fact stays that we‘re turning into extra accustomed to shorter bursts of content material, and it’s bleeding into the form of content material we devour and what’s being created.
Research discovered that almost all customers will solely watch a whole video if it is lower than 60 seconds long. Then you will have apps like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels that push short-form movies to customers in an infinite scroll format.
Brief-form content material is ideal to devour on the go.
Most of us do most of our on-line scrolling and buying on our cell telephones.
Watching lengthy movies on tiny screens isn’t often what we wish.
However brief movies are straightforward to look at each time you will have a couple of minutes, whether or not you’re doomscrolling on the sofa at evening or have a couple of minutes when you wait to your children to get out of college or their exercise.
I’ve usually discovered myself within the swim observe pick-up line catching up on my favourite creators, like Under the Desk News and The Daily Show, and anything the algorithm brings me.
In my expertise on-the-go watching is even simpler with apps like TikTok and Instagram, that are designed particularly for cell experiences.
Brief-form movies enchantment to emotion and curiosity.
Brief-form movies are nice at grabbing consideration rapidly. Extra on that in #5 beneath. Nonetheless, in a nutshell, in the event you’re aiming for a chilly viewers that doesn’t have a lot consciousness of your model or merchandise, you’re extra more likely to seize them and draw them in.
When you may get individuals curious or to really feel some form of means, they’re extra more likely to stick round and ask for (scroll for) extra.
Generally, it’s humor, like this Steve Carell clip from The Each day Present:
Different instances, it’s one thing that tugs on the heartstrings extra.
Brief-form movies are straightforward to share socially.
What number of instances have you ever watched a Reel on Fb or Instagram and instantly shared it on Messenger with your folks?
Here’s one that has made the rounds in my circles.
That is me elevating my hand. I ship LOTS of them out. My husband and I alternate recipes and issues that make us chortle. This Korean Beef Meal Prep concept has me salivating.
One in all my mates and I ship one another a mixture of jokes, work concepts, and issues that make us say, “Holy cow, keep in mind once we did this 25 years in the past?”
My level is that — whether or not it’s one thing humorous, a useful tip, or a motivational second — when movies are straightforward to cross alongside to mates, your content material is extra more likely to go viral.
Talking of viral — the most effective methods to go viral is by leaping on a pattern. Check out these short-form content trends to watch.
Why Manufacturers Ought to Use Brief-Kind Video Content material
I’ve seen firsthand how short-form video content material can rework a model’s skill to attach with its viewers. Anecdotally, I’ve fallen in love with a couple of new manufacturers and found some actually nice merchandise on account of TikTok and Instagram.
Do I want that new sofa, perhaps not — however after seeing short-form content material from a number of manufacturers of attractive new sectionals on each platform, all I wish to do is cozy up.
The info backs my anecdotal perspective.
In accordance with HubSpot Analysis, 75% of entrepreneurs plan to take care of or enhance their funding in short-form video this yr. Past that, 90.35% plan to do the identical with their general video funding. That’s as a result of these bite-sized items of content material have gotten a staple in trendy advertising.
Whether or not you’re showcasing a product, sharing a fast tip, or humanizing your model with behind-the-scenes moments, this format means that you can create content material that resonates on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
Brief-form video grew to become 15% extra essential for entrepreneurs over the previous yr. That’s an enormous sign that companies can’t afford to disregard this format. By piquing individuals’s curiosity, you possibly can then get them to work together with extra content material, whether or not different short-form movies, long-form movies, and even different kinds of content material.
In case you are curious, listed here are a pair extra explanation why many people love short-form movies.
1. They’re cost-effective and simpler to create than long-form movies.
With long-form movies, entrepreneurs and creators should work further onerous to maintain their viewers engaged. Meaning strengthening the content material with dynamic photographs, mood-setting music, and a protracted however compelling script.
All that takes extra time, effort, and (most significantly) cash.
Free instruments like HubSpot’s Clip Creator leverage AI to create customized, high-quality movies for your online business in a fraction of the time. Brief-form movies are extra to the purpose and sometimes require fewer frills to be efficient.
For instance, language studying platform Duolingo’s TikTok account has over 10.8 million followers and is likely one of the most well-known accounts on the app on account of its brief, humorous, and barely unhinged movies.
Its hottest video has 57.7 million views and is tremendous easy by way of execution.
It reveals a plushy of the Duo Lingo owl getting tossed down the steps on the firm’s workplace, sitting exterior on a wet day, and getting soaked in a bathe.
The caption of the video is “Whenever you ignore my notifications.”
The video was clearly shot on somebody’s smartphone with out fancy angles or lighting. The music is from a viral track already out there by way of its sound archives. So easy, so low cost, but so efficient.
2. They will present priceless info in a brief period of time.
In accordance with a latest Adobe Survey, 2 in 5 People use TikTok as a search engine, and practically 1 in 10 Gen Zers usually tend to depend on TikTok than Google as a search engine.
I even discover myself taking to TikTok to search for recipes or determine find out how to model a denim maxi-skirt (the trick is to experiment with completely different layers and silhouettes).
In reality, I observe Mom Generations for straightforward coiffure concepts for my daughter, and we watch them collectively to select the day’s hair (once we’re not speeding out the door).
Between work, household, hobbies, and relaxation — time is treasured, and short-form movies enable us to soak up the data we want in underneath a minute. Who does not love that?
3. You’ll be able to watch them nearly anytime, wherever.
Bored on the practice downtown? Scroll via TikTok. Have to kill a while in between lessons or appointments? Pull up YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels in your telephone.
Wish to use your 5-minute break between conferences to determine why everyone seems to be speaking concerning the newest JLo documentary? Let’s circle again to TikTok.
Brief-form movies are straightforward to look at nearly wherever and anytime from our smartphones.
Not solely is that this handy for customers, however it additionally helps entrepreneurs as a result of it means we will repurpose our content material on varied platforms, realizing somebody will see it from someplace.
4. Each bit of content material stands by itself.
I caught up with Debbie Moran of RecurPost, who agreed with this wholeheartedly:
“Brief-form video requires no long-term funding, so it feels easy and stress-free. There’s no want to trace a storyline or keep in mind the place you left off. As an alternative, audiences can click on, watch, and transfer on at will. In the long run, the content material is extra accessible, and the viewing expertise is lighter and extra liberating.”
Whether or not I’m searching for recipes, brief coiffure movies, homesteading suggestions and tips, or one thing altogether completely different, every video can stand by itself.
What’s extra, you possibly can break up bigger concepts with plenty of factors into smaller stand-alone items of content material:
5. You’ll be able to meet your viewers the place they’re.
I do know I simply shared a bunch of knowledge on why shopper consideration spans are shrinking, however Durga Kudumula, Head of Progress Advertising at Designity, has one other perspective that I discover myself agreeing with wholeheartedly.
“I consider that shopper consideration spans are solely shrinking with regards to content material audiences aren’t actively in search of. Lengthy-form content material nonetheless thrives when it aligns with a consumer’s particular pursuits or wants.
Nonetheless, in the event you’re competing for consideration in a crowded area, short-form video has turn into indispensable. It’s not nearly brevity; it’s about assembly audiences the place they’re — whether or not they wish to be entertained, educated, or each.”
I can relate to this. What number of instances have I binged a whole TikTok sequence of updates to get the complete story? Or what number of hour-long woodworking movies have I listened to my husband watch? (Spoiler alert — the reply is loads!
As customers, we’re prepared to speculate time in what we’re fascinated with and actively in search of out. However that’s the place short-form video advertising will be so good.
Kudumula explains this phenomenon additional: “The secret’s to grasp the second. When audiences are scrolling, they’re usually searching for a fast chortle, a compelling concept, or a visible that sticks. Brief-form video excels right here, offering a quick, cost-effective means for manufacturers to make an impression whereas driving engagement and conversions — and staying related.”
6. Human-driven content material is turning into extra essential.
AI is already altering the way in which we search and create content material, which means individuals are in search of out content material that’s clearly created by different people. Talking for myself, it simply feels extra genuine and reliable.
Ivan Venberg, Head of Content material at Yango Advertisements, agrees:
“What’s going to matter is actual individuals (the world of AI-generated content material appears to be very shut). Thus, for each product and market functions, brief movies that includes actual individuals will seemingly carry out effectively.”
That mentioned, AI can be used that can assist you velocity issues up, too:
Able to dive into the world of short-form content material?
There are completely different causes to like short-form movies.
Some causes are somewhat extra regarding than others (significantly, why are our consideration spans so brief?), however irrespective of the rationale, the actual fact stays the identical — brief kind isn’t going away anytime quickly.
Editor’s be aware: This submit was initially printed in April 2024 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
