Every YouTube creator has their own definition of success, whether it’s expressing themselves creatively, building a path to fame and fortune, or discovering new ideas from global communities. That is why YouTube provides creators with a variety of video formats to use as they see fit, including Video on Demand, Shorts, Live, and Audio, all while earning money from multiple revenue streams.
YouTube Shorts now receives over 30 billion daily views, which is four times more than a year ago.
Listed below are five ways that Shorts can help superpower your channel so you can best realize your goals.
Why Should You Use Youtube Shorts
Some of our most creative creators are abandoning the multi-format approach in favor of the newest format available on YouTube: shorts. These bright bursts of video allow creators to engage in a variety of ways, whether they’re new to the platform or seasoned YouTubers looking to try something new. YouTube Shorts currently has over 30 billion daily views, which is four times more than a year ago. To say the opportunity for creators is ripe would be an understatement!
Here are five creators who, in their own words, have made Shorts work for them in extraordinary ways to help supercharge your channel.
1. Drive views – Example from The Beverly Halls
They saw Shorts as a great opportunity for growth that they had always wanted to achieve on the platform when they first heard about it. The Beverly Halls started their channel in 2019, but it was difficult to break into long-form, so when Shorts came along, they jumped on it. They’ve gained a ton of new subscribers since investing, the majority of whom love their short-form content, but many have also migrated over to watch their VODs.
They’ve developed a really cool thread between their Shorts and long-form content in which they expand on themes from their Shorts in their longer videos. In fact, simply by including Shorts in their content mix, they’ve reached more people than they could have imagined.
Baby Caedon has to choose between MOM vs DAD ? #shorts
2. Diversify audience – Example from SimplyJaserah
She has wanted to grow her channel and find a large community she could relate to with lots of engagement for as long as she has been on YouTube. Her subscribers were mostly from the United States and acted more like ghost watchers; She received a few thousand views but little to no engagement.
Her community has completely changed since she began using Shorts. Many of her followers are now from other countries, including India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Her engagement has evolved into a “fan base,” with her new subscribers becoming more invested and responsive to her content.
This sea change is the result of a shift in her approach: shorts are more focused on bite-sized, digestible fun, easy, and entertaining content to reach a new audience, whereas a VOD is more thought-out, informational, and heavy in topics for her subscribed community. She also uses Shorts to supplement her VODs, such as posting a 15-second Hijab Hacks video, which leads to full VOD reviews. Try Shorts if you need a channel refresh; it’s worth it!
3. Build subscribers – Example from Lisa Nguyen
When she first heard about Shorts in November 2020, she knew she had to give it a shot because she believes that short-form content is the future of media. So she started her first YouTube channel in the hopes of building a community that would join her in her food adventures. Today, Shorts has assisted her in driving a channel with over 3.3 million subscribers.
4. Increase channel memberships – Example from Caleb Marshall, The Fitness Marshall
Memberships are everything in the fitness industry, whether it’s at the gym or, in his case, on YouTube! He was looking for a way to drive traffic to his memberships, which allow him to offer exclusive perks and content to viewers who join his channel as a monthly paying member when he first started on Shorts. This is his primary source of income. Shorts allow for snack-sized content that quickly piques the interest of a large number of viewers, and this allowed him to attract an entirely new group of members who had no idea what kind of content they had been missing from him.
Every week, he packs a handful of his single song workouts from his YouTube channel into super-sized live streams for his members. This means that his Shorts are widely available to the YouTube community, while his VOD content remains much more personal to his core fan base.
5. Broaden off-platform business opportunities – Example from Cassey Ho, Blogilates
She wanted to show people a different side of herself when she first started on Shorts. She has been posting long-form workout videos on YouTube since 2009, and because of the growth of Blogilates on YouTube, people recognize her for her pilates workouts. What most people don’t realize is that she spends roughly 95 percent of her day working on design, product development, and the brand’s business side. Shorts has enabled her to connect with people who value the other side of her, which has aided in the growth of the business.
Shorts drives a lot of traffic and serious customers to her website, which results in REAL sales. When a Short goes viral (which has happened several times! ), the product can sell out in a matter of hours. Viewers become customers when they see the soul behind a product or brand, and Shorts give you another opportunity to do so to YouTube’s massive audience.
We hope hearing from these creators inspires you to take advantage of Shorts and all of YouTube’s video formats. Give them a shot; Shorts could be just what you need to supercharge your channel!
Bonus: You can learn more about these editing apps for YouTube videos here!
