Let me inform you essentially the most difficult a part of my job. Typically, I’ll delete TikTok and Instagram from my cellphone as a result of I am unable to assist however waste time endlessly scrolling by means of these apps, watching dozens of short-form movies in a single sitting. And I’m not the one one.
Based on HubSpot’s 2025 Advertising Tendencies 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 essentially the most used format and 21.02% citing it as delivering the best ROI.
So, why are short-form movies so well-liked? Turns on the market are just a few causes, considered 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. Nevertheless, some entrepreneurs and content material creators agree that short-form movies could be as much as 3 minutes. However, if you’d like my opinion, I might persist 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 data in a digestible, bite-size format so viewers can shortly watch and bookmark the content material in the event that they’re on the go or watch it a number of occasions.
And, if you happen to’re going to make your content material longer than 60 seconds, attempt to front-load all of the vital stuff early into the video to ensure extra folks see what issues most.
Need to be taught what else it’s worthwhile to make a profitable video? Seize our Free Video Advertising Playbook right here.
Why are short-form movies so well-liked?
There are just a few causes short-form movies are extra well-liked than ever amongst customers and entrepreneurs, and I‘ll go to these in a bit. For now, I need to get into the psychology of all of it — that’s why we’re right here, proper? Stroll with me.
Client 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, not too long ago wrote a guide known as Consideration Span: A Groundbreaking Approach to Restore Steadiness, Happiness, and Productiveness, and she or he says her analysis signifies folks’s consideration spans have been shrinking during the last 20 years.
Dr. Mark shared her findings on Talking of Psychology, an American Psychological Affiliation podcast.
Her findings got here from a decades-long experiment she participated in, which was first carried out by shadowing members and monitoring their actions by way of stopwatches.
“We’d document the beginning time and the cease time,” she explains.
“So that you‘re on a display screen the place you’re working in a Phrase doc. As quickly as you get to that display screen, 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 turned extra subtle as expertise superior, and it solely made the sample of shrinking consideration spans clearer.
“Again in 2004, we discovered the common consideration span on any display screen to be two and a half minutes on common,” Dr. Mark recollects through the interview. “All through the years, it turned 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 outcome inside just a few seconds. So it appears to be fairly sturdy,” she says.
And this development of dwindling consideration spans is affecting how we eat content material. And I am not simply speaking about social media movies — even tv and movie pictures are getting extra temporary, in response to Dr. Mark.
“They began out for much longer. They now common about 4 seconds a shot size,” she says. “In the event you watch MTV music movies, they‘re a lot shorter. They’re solely a few seconds. So we have develop into accustomed to seeing very quick shot lengths once we watch TV and movie.”
Dr. Mark explains through the interview that it‘s a rooster vs. egg scenario — she’s uncertain which got here first or what’s influencing the opposite.
Nevertheless, the actual fact stays that we‘re changing into extra accustomed to shorter bursts of content material, and it’s bleeding into the sort of content material we eat and what’s being created.
Research discovered that the majority customers will solely watch a complete video if it is lower than 60 seconds lengthy. Then you could 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 eat on the go.
Most of us do most of our on-line scrolling and procuring on our cell telephones.
Watching lengthy movies on tiny screens isn’t often what we would like.
However brief movies are straightforward to look at every time you could have a couple of minutes, whether or not you’re doomscrolling on the sofa at evening or have a couple of minutes whilst you wait in your youngsters to get out of faculty or their exercise.
I’ve usually discovered myself within the swim observe pick-up line catching up on my favourite creators, like Beneath the Desk Information and The Day by day Present, and the rest 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 attraction to emotion and curiosity.
Brief-form movies are nice at grabbing consideration shortly. Extra on that in #5 under. Nevertheless, in a nutshell, if you happen to’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 folks curious or to really feel some sort of approach, 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 Day by day Present:
Different occasions, it’s one thing that tugs on the heartstrings extra.
Brief-form movies are straightforward to share socially.
What number of occasions have you ever watched a Reel on Fb or Instagram and instantly shared it on Messenger with your mates?
Right 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 snort. This Korean Beef Meal Prep concept has me salivating.
One in every of my associates 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 go alongside to associates, your content material is extra more likely to go viral.
Talking of viral — among the best methods to go viral is by leaping on a development. Take a look at these short-form content material developments to look at.
Why Manufacturers Ought to Use Brief-Kind Video Content material
I’ve seen firsthand how short-form video content material can remodel a model’s means to attach with its viewers. Anecdotally, I’ve fallen in love with just a few 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 beautiful new sectionals on each platform, all I need to do is cozy up.
The information backs my anecdotal perspective.
Based on HubSpot Analysis, 75% of entrepreneurs plan to keep up or improve their funding in short-form video this 12 months. 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 fashionable advertising and marketing.
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 turned 15% extra vital for entrepreneurs over the previous 12 months. That’s an enormous sign that companies can’t afford to disregard this format. By piquing folks’s curiosity, you may 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 the reason 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 arduous to maintain their viewers engaged. Meaning strengthening the content material with dynamic pictures, mood-setting music, and an extended 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 what you are promoting in a fraction of the time. Brief-form movies are extra to the purpose and infrequently require fewer frills to be efficient.
For instance, language studying platform Duolingo’s TikTok account has over 10.8 million followers and is among the most well-known accounts on the app as a result 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 outdoors on a wet day, and getting soaked in a bathe.
The caption of the video is “Once 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 accessible by way of its sound archives. So easy, so low-cost, but so efficient.
2. They will present invaluable data in a brief period of time.
Based on a current Adobe Survey, 2 in 5 Individuals 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 lookup recipes or work out model a denim maxi-skirt (the trick is to experiment with completely different layers and silhouettes).
The truth is, I comply with Mother Generations for simple coiffure concepts for my daughter, and we watch them collectively to pick the day’s hair (once we’re not dashing out the door).
Between work, household, hobbies, and relaxation — time is treasured, and short-form movies permit us to soak up the knowledge we’d like in beneath a minute. Who does not love that?
3. You’ll be able to watch them virtually anytime, wherever.
Bored on the practice downtown? Scroll by means of TikTok. Must kill a while in between lessons or appointments? Pull up YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels in your cellphone.
Need 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 virtually 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, understanding 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 in search of recipes, brief coiffure movies, homesteading ideas and methods, or one thing altogether completely different, every video can stand by itself.
What’s extra, you may break up bigger concepts with a number 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 data 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 searching for. Lengthy-form content material nonetheless thrives when it aligns with a person’s particular pursuits or wants.
Nevertheless, if you happen to’re competing for consideration in a crowded area, short-form video has develop into indispensable. It’s not nearly brevity; it’s about assembly audiences the place they’re — whether or not they need to be entertained, educated, or each.”
I can relate to this. What number of occasions have I binged a complete TikTok sequence of updates to get the total story? Or what number of hour-long woodworking movies have I listened to my husband watch? (Spoiler alert — the reply is so much!
As customers, we’re prepared to take a position time in what we’re involved in and actively searching for out. However that’s the place short-form video advertising and marketing could be so good.
Kudumula explains this phenomenon additional: “The secret is to know the second. When audiences are scrolling, they’re usually in search of a fast snort, a compelling concept, or a visible that sticks. Brief-form video excels right here, offering a quick, cost-effective approach for manufacturers to make an impression whereas driving engagement and conversions — and staying related.”
6. Human-driven content material is changing into extra vital.
AI is already altering the way in which we search and create content material, which means individuals are searching for 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 is going to matter is actual folks (the world of AI-generated content material appears to be very shut). Thus, for each product and market functions, brief movies that includes actual folks will doubtless carry out effectively.”
That mentioned, AI may also be used that can assist you pace 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 slightly extra regarding than others (severely, why are our consideration spans so brief?), however irrespective of the explanation, the actual fact stays the identical — brief type isn’t going away anytime quickly.
Editor’s word: This submit was initially revealed in April 2024 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
