Short-form video is here to stay, so it's time you embrace it as part of your content strategy to help your business to be discovered.
But you don't need to spend hours scrolling your feed for inspiration; we've done the thinking for you!
In this article, you'll find 45 ideas for your short-form videos:
- Six behind-the-scenes content ideas
- Six how-to style content videos
- Four short-form videos to show social proof
- Five videos to introduce your business
- How to promote your business in all videos
- Six short-form videos for quick tips
- Eight videos created from repurposed content
- Nine lists you can create short-form videos about
Behind-the-scenes content
Anytime you can use short-form videos such as Instagram Reels to grow your business, we are all for it! Here are some simple ways to include behind-the-scenes content so people can get to know you and your business.
Show your audience where you work.
People are nosey, and they love to see where you work. If you want to attract a local audience, showing a well-known local attraction can work well to stop local business owners from scrolling past your content.
You could also shoot some stock video of yourself at your desk or walking through a prominent location where you live and use it as the background for a video with text overlaid.
A day in the life
Think about all the things business owners who think social media managers only post pictures on their behalf and show them the reality! A day in the life of a social media manager can be eye-opening and help people understand why they should hire you and what your fees include.
Onboarding a new client.
Showing how your onboarding process works does two things.
Firstly it helps people understand the process they will go through when they hire you, which removes the risk they might feel about hiring you. This is why unboxing videos are so successful.
Secondly, it provides social proof. By showing people that others trust you, they can too.
Completing a client audit.
If you are planning to write an awesome social media audit anyway, so show behind-the-scenes of your auditing process so that viewers can understand the process and book one for themselves.
Completing a client strategy.
You'd be surprised how many people don't even know what a social media strategy is, let alone that they need one. Use your short-form video to educate them about why they need one by showing what goes into yours.
Share the tools you use in the business.
Often the tools you use can help you look professional. Plus, sharing the tools that help you can help others, and if you are an affiliate marketer, then you can even make some commission by sharing them!
How-to style content.
People love to learn on social media, and short-form video is a great way to teach and show off your expertise. Use these prompts to help you create how-to content for any platform.
- Save time creating content.
- How to get content ideas.
- How to audit your own social media accounts.
- Canva content creation hacks.
- How to carry out competitor research
- How to use a platform feature
Use short-form videos to show social proof.
Instagram Reels and TikTok are great places to show your social proof.
- Case studies from long-term clients
- Testimonials from your 1:1 clients
- Results and reviews from all your services
- A challenge your client was having & how you overcame it
You can ask clients to record your videos, show screenshots of comments or use a greenscreen to talk through results on screen.
Introduce your business on video.
Often people think of introduction posts as posts where you simply say who you are and who you help. But there is far more to introducing your business so that people remember you. Try these prompts to help people get to know your business further.
- Who are your ideal clients?
- What niche or industry do you help? How? Why?
- Introduce your team
- The best piece of business advice you’ve ever received (this can help you position yourself as an expert)
- Frustrations of working in social media
Promote your business in a short-form video.
Being salesy in video can either feel really awkward or impossible to avoid. But you can promote your business in any short-form video simply by having a great strapline.
Knowlton does this really well in their content by always talking about ‘trackable results' in entertaining videos.
Use short-form videos for quick tips.
Quick, easy-to-digest tips make for great shareable content! And they position you in the process!
- Social media SEO tips
- Hashtag tips
- Canva tips
- Editing tips
- Copywriting tips
- Tips about engaging
You get the gist!
Repurpose your existing content into Reels or TikTok videos
Don't just repurpose your content when you are short on time. You should repurpose content all the time!
People need to hear the same message multiple times in many different ways. So you need to find a way to say the same thing 100 different ways!
- Recreate your best posts as videos.
- Use the H2s in your blogs as video ideas.
- Record a video with the contents of your lead magnet (people rarely do this!)
- Create a teaser for your blog posts or podcasts you feature in.
- Use the comments on your content as video inspiration.
- Recreate engaging stories as Reels.
- Repurpose videos from one platform to another (if it makes sense).
- Recreate content from other platforms as video.
Don't rule out content that didn't work so well; it might work better as a video.
Lists work well as short-form videos
3 ways to X or 7 reasons why are great hooks to get people to watch your video to the end and can also be great inspiration for you. Try these for starters:
- 7 reasons a social media strategy helps your business
- 3 ways your audits can help your business
- 5 reasons to outsource your social media
- My 3 favourite AI tools for Facebook ads
- 5 tools I use daily
- 3 reasons you should use Reels
- 30 CTAs (use this carousel if you need more inspiration)
- 3 reasons your Facebook ads aren't working
- 4 Instagram myths
Make short-form video part of your strategy
Now you have 45 ideas for your Instagram Reels, TikTok or YouTube Shorts; you can make eye-catching videos in minutes!
FAQ's
What makes a good short-form video?
A few key elements make a good short-form video. The best-performing short-form videos all have these key elements in common:
- A strong hook to get people to watch
- Good editing and frequent scene changes
- Entertainment is key, and even the most boring of businesses can entertain in a short video
- A call-to-action to drive engagement
If you need some more ideas to get going try our 7-day Instagram Reels Challenge.
What are good YouTube short ideas?
Here are 10 good YouTube short ideas for 2023
- Introduce your business
- Show behind the scenes and allow people to see how you work
- Share a list of the best tools for YouTube video editing
- Show 3 ways you can repurpose a YouTube short
- List 10 reasons businesses should use YouTube shorts
- Repurpose your best blog using the H2s as primary hooks in your YouTube shorts
- Provide some quick tips
- Show some real customer results
- Show how to edit a YouTube short
- Share how you onboard a client
What are short-form Reels?
Short-form Reels are vertical videos that can be up to 90 seconds long and are published on Instagram. Before 2023, Reels were the prioritised content format on Instagram. However, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, recently admitted they showed people too many Reels in 2022 and implied they will no longer be ranked so highly.
