Short form is king. Just make sure your creative (and strategy) is up to scratch

Fast forward to 2018, when a seismic shift occurred in the social media landscape. Musical.ly, a popular lip-syncing app, rebranded itself as TikTok and took the world by storm. This wasn’t just a name change; it was a revolution in how we consumed content online. TikTok introduced the For You Page (FYP), a radical departure from the traditional follower-driven feeds we were used to.

Suddenly, our feeds weren’t determined by who we followed but by our interests, as interpreted by a sophisticated algorithm.

Follow suit

This tapped into people’s seemingly insatiable appetite for short-form content. People found themselves consuming up to 10 videos per minute, while TikTok’s algorithm harvested vast amounts of data to fine-tune each user’s interest profile. The result was a highly personalized and addictive experience that kept users scrolling for hours.

We’re now witnessing the ripples of TikTok’s innovation. Major online platforms have embraced short-form videos driven by a TikTok-style algorithm, not just to boost engagement and time spent on apps but also to develop more comprehensive user profiles.

The domino effect began in August 2020 when Instagram introduced Reels, its answer to TikTok’s FYP feed. Snapchat quickly followed suit with Spotlight in September 2020, and YouTube joined the fray with Shorts in February 2021. But the trend didn’t stop with social media platforms.

In on the act

In November, Spotify launched a new feature offering a scrollable feed of 90-second vertical video clips to highlight podcast episodes. Netflix announced Moments, a tool allowing users to bookmark and share short video clips from their favorite shows.

Even platforms not traditionally associated with video content are jumping on the bandwagon. Substack is incorporating more video content, much to the annoyance of some high-profile users. LinkedIn has also integrated short-form video into its platform with a vertical scrollable feed – that reportedly drives five-times better results than static content.

As short-form video cements its place as the dominant content format, the challenge for creators and marketers is how to stand out in an increasingly crowded and homogeneous space. Success now hinges on navigating not just platform features but also understanding which formats resonate, what tone of voice cuts through the noise, and what innovative hacks can make content pop.

Creative reaches

Yes, yes. “We know,” you say in unison. But I really want to hammer home how important this is for marketers. For the first time in the history of our industry, the strength of the creative directly impacts the reach of the work. If people like what you make, the algorithm serves it to more people. Great creative drives reach. You do not have to spend millions in media dollars. It’s a pretty amazing next step for our industry, which has spent a lot of money pushing content that viewers didn’t think was all that great.

You’ve got to keep a vigilant eye on the latest platform updates and cultural nuances that drive engagement, though. As we move forward, the ability to adapt and make good work will be crucial to any successful marketing strategy.

At VaynerMedia, we’ve been working with Indeed as a client for over three years now. When we asked about the changes underway, Darragh McGinley, head of social media, EMEA for Indeed, said: “We’ve made the shift to multiple platforms and multiple accounts per platform and market to make sure we’re adapting to the power of reach, not followers. What this means is that we’re optimizing content for both the platform and the account it’s posted from, ensuring the best chance that something we post resonates with audiences.

“Once the algorithm sees that you’re connecting with people, it boosts what’s working, and that’s had a huge impact for us in terms of other metrics such as brand awareness, consideration, and engagement. It is key to the future of the way we market our brand.”

Here to stay

Social media’s evolution from simple, chronological feeds to complex, algorithm-driven experiences is far from over. As platforms continue to innovate, we are likely to see increased competition in this space as non-traditional players fight for the attention of audiences. For example, Amazon dusting off Inspire, its short-form video shopping app, and bringing it more mainstream, or Netflix doubling down on Moments and only enabling this within their app, building a social network of sorts for themselves.

One thing is certain: the era of short-form video is here to stay, reshaping not just how we consume content but how we connect, learn, and express ourselves in the digital age.