Youtube Shorts for Brands

Youtube Shorts for Brands

Diving into the different uses of Youtube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok

Youtube Shorts is not new, it’s been around since September 2020 (obviously as a competitor to TIkTok). Yet discussion of Youtube Shorts and the interest from brands really seems to be popping off right now seems about right for things to take two years to settle in. 

Let’s backup to talk about Youtube in general - unless you are a bigger brand or have products that really need education on how to use, your brand is probably not using Youtube on a consistent basis. Creating long form videos can be expensive, and brands have viewed the channel as not as valuable than channels like Instagram and now TikTok. Paid ads are a great way to break into the Youtube market. Generally it’s important to be on Youtube as it’s one of the top 4 search engines on the web. So, with the release of YouTube Shorts it allows people to have a presence on a channel they may not have been using regularly prior, and with a format they have become familiar with via TikTok (and Instagram).


So, what is defined as a Youtube Short? Short form video (no longer than 60 seconds) in 9:16 format - can be shot in app or uploaded. Sounds familiar? Almost nothing makes this different than Instagram and TikTok. 


What is the benefit of using YouTube Shorts?

  • Diversifying presence on a new channel for a unique audience

  • Help improve SEO (in channel and on search engines)


How do I differentiate my Youtube Shorts vs Reels vs TikTok?

  • Content Creation/Approach:

    • There are always two paths: Using the same content (that is in a similar format) across channels (so just reposting/recycling) or creating new/unique content per channel.

    • When you recycle content, the channels do not like to see fully edited videos (or watermarks) so if you go that route it’s best to use the clips but edit/format within the individual apps using their text, sounds, etc.

    • When you create unique content (and this will be the most ideal way to go) the channels usually reward you. Not to mention, this gives your followers a reason to follow you across multiple channels, or overall have more ways to connect with a unique user. One thing I like (and recommend) for Youtube Shorts is to use that as bite sized content to push to longer videos. This is something we used to see people do from blog posts - create a blog post and then create several social posts based on that. This not only helps your Youtube account success, but you get more bang for your buck. They key here is to create longer videos that have key info that can be chopped up - so it needs to be very engaging.

  • Hashtags:

    • Youtube - Overall for regular videos and Shorts, Youtube is more focused on keyword search. You can definitely test hashtags on Shorts (some say only using one hashtag is best) but focus on your caption/copy to help with search.

    • Instagram - Instagram is the OG champion of hashtags, they are still heavily used but becoming more irrelevant as they are trying to mimic the TikTok algorithm. Approve your Reels hashtags with the same strategy you take for regular posts. Test everything from 0 hashtags, branded hashtags only, or between 2-6 relevant hashtags.

    • TikTok - TikTok has the best algorithm to help people find your content organically via the FYP page. So hashtags may not be needed at all, but everything is worth a test. Check out my full thoughts on TikTok hashtags here.

  • Sounds:

    • For all channels you can upload a coordinating sound to your video in app. You can also do VoiceOver (or use sound/speaking from original video)

  • Text Overlays:

    • For all channels you can utilize in app text and sticker features/overlays - again, recommended to do this within app. The more you are utilizing a channels tools the better.

Anna Sullivan