Short format videos are the current ruling revolution in today’s digital world

An average Indian spends 142 minutes on content consumption every day. Sounds too much? Trust me, it isn’t. Because these 142 minutes get distributed amongst a gazillion brands and individuals (read: relatives, friends, old flames, ex-es), they have ever interacted on the web, all thanks to the algorithm these platforms work on.

So, I’ll give you math for a timeline that you’re all familiar with: 3 seconds.

The man gave the world the 3-second rule. Digital media gave the world 3-second views.

A view on digital is like a gaze that you’d lock with a person in the real world. If you can’t get their interest in 3 seconds flat, you’d probably never be able to build a connection with them.

The same ground rule holds for everything in Digital Advertising. Drop something to your audience. If they pick it up in 3 seconds flat, they are bound to build a connection with your content and invariably, your brand.

These 3-second views have been all around us: in brand films, in publisher content, in YouTube Content, even your Netflix trailers (why, don’t we fall in love at the first 3-seconds-sight with a show?). We just realized their importance in our lives relatively later, in a day in age where everyone’s pressed for time and everyone’s just playing catch up with whatever’s happening with the world and the worldwide web.

Short format videos are the current ruling revolution in today’s digital world. There, I said it and I’ll also give you 5 quick reasons to believe in it.

Gone are the days of social media posts: Statics or GIFs. They only work for the brands that have already worked up these numbers and stood the test of time. Whether you’re a new entrant or an old legacy brand, people want to see the real picture. Not fancy-looking cosmo-cover-ish visuals.
Short formats, shorter TATs: The world out there survives on repeat hammering: Ideologies, beliefs, and even content. If you can’t make a ritual out of something, it’s best to not get into it. To be an ace brand, you need content. Lots and lots of content and that can only happen if TATs match your brand’s end goals.
Better ROI: Need visibility? Looking for conversions? Shouting to get your message across? Videos are your answer because they’re not just the need of the hour. They’re like dopamine that your consumers are addicted to. And they perform approximately 76% better, whatever your goal.
Make the feed look good: One sad mail from the boss and people take to the feed. One pitch went wrong and people take to the feed. One tinder date accident and people take to the feed. If the feed is the hook that’s pulling everyone out of life’s misery, why not invest in your feed. What you show to the world defines your brand’s character. It is estimated that at least 68% of shoppers online, scroll through a brand’s Instagram feed before they dunk the product in their indulgence and eventually, their carts. The more believable the tell-tale, the better chances of your product making its way to carts.
One big-ticket or many smaller tickets, that is the question: Digital media lets you talk to your consumers every day, every minute, every hour. Considering this, the question most marketers like to ask each other is whether it’s wise to invest in one big-ticket and shush up for the rest of the year or keep creating flashes in the pan for brilliant strokes of marketing. As I can read the trend, the big ticket is slowly going extinct, and short bursts of relativity and connecting with the audience make a brand what it is. About 74% of the clients. I’ve interacted with in the past two quarters have testified to this trend, and IMHO: It’s only the tip of the iceberg.

About the author:

Amrita Sharma, Co-founder and Creative Head, Mixed Route Juice