A few months ago, YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Shorts, a new way of watching and creating short content. It consists of the overwhelming, and increasingly prevailing, trend of short formats. Or, in other words, one of the biggest marketing and diversification strategies that has taken place in the industry this year.
So, what exactly is YouTube Shorts all about? And even more importantly, what are its advantages over other platforms with a similar format? On one hand, it consists of vertical videos with a maximum duration of 60 seconds and with a simple and intuitive creation process. On the other hand, it combines the trend and virality of short videos with YouTube’s unparalleled reach. The combination of both realities explains why by March 2021 the YouTube Shorts player will exceed six and a half billion views per day. Therefore, there are plenty of reasons why any artist and/or content creator should be interested in this initiative.
How YouTube Shorts works
First and foremost, as always when facing a creative project, is to have an idea. Once this first hurdle is overcome, access YouTube from a mobile phone. The option “Create a short film” should then appear. At this point it is worth remembering that YouTube Shorts is not active in all countries and that not all users have access to this option. From here everything goes smoothly. As we said at the beginning, the interface is simple and intuitive, nothing we have not seen before. When creating the video you can choose duration, speed, timer, undo and redo as many times as necessary, apply filters, and, of course, add audio and music.
We should also mention that there are several advantages and disadvantages. YouTube allows you to access and use all of its content, including that of record labels. In addition, by listening to a fragment of a song, the user can access the full song, watch the video clip or get more information; and vice versa. Likewise, its free use is limited to personal and non-commercial use (unless you have the corresponding license) and the maximum duration will always be 15 seconds. And in case you want to use copyrighted material outside of YouTube you must have permission. Otherwise a Content ID claim will be processed, it will be removed and a warning will be sent for non-compliance.
As for how users access this content, they have several possibilities. They can do so from the YouTube home page, from the YouTube Shorts tab, from their notifications or subscriptions and from the channels themselves. Once they have accessed them, they can scroll to continue watching more.
What does this mean? That your possibilities as a creator to access new audiences multiply exponentially. Therefore, you will have to make decisions about the content and its classification. If you want you can create the same type of content or you can diversify your approach by sticking to the theme of your long-form videos and start a new profile in other creative fields. The possibilities are endless. If you also make sure that all your Shorts contain #Shorts in their title, you will have much more of a chance of being recommended by the platform.
How to monetize from YouTube Shorts
At the moment, it is not possible to earn revenue through the ads displayed in the YouTube Shorts player. A situation that may change in the future as the platform is testing and working on developing long-term monetization solutions.
In order to reward creators for their contributions, the platform has created the YouTube Shorts Fund. This is a $100 million fund that any user can be part of. The only requirement is to create YouTube Shorts that will appeal to the YouTube community. Those creators whose shorts generate the most interaction will be better rewarded.
How you can use YouTube Shorts to your advantage
Twice a month YouTube publishes a Shorts Report. This is a report that you could well consider as a source of inspiration. In addition to analytics, this document contains news and tips that, if used wisely, will take you to the top.
