Takeover of Bitesized Content
by Emma Borsh
Short form content has taken over social media platforms. In effort to keep social media users engaged, content creators have shifted from the long form content we used in the past with platforms like Youtube, to more a “bite-sized” formatting of video production we see with apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels. Studies done throughout the years have shown that the average attention span for humans has dropped from about 12 seconds in the year 2000, to about 8 seconds in the more recent years. In fact, the average attention span is about 9 seconds for a goldfish!
Short form content
The average length of a TikTok video is about 10-15 seconds.
Now, marketing to a goldfish might sound like a difficult task, but the market for on-the-go learning and information intake has little time to spare for long form content these day, so how do brands shift to short form content?
Bite sized content format has quite a bit to offer for marketing. In the case of brand awareness, bite-sized content is one of the best formats for view time. With the rate that people take in content as they scroll away in their free time, the chances that they view multiple different brands in one sitting is much higher than it is with long form content. In addition to that, platforms like TikTok take advantage of a re-view feature, meaning that the content instantly replays after the content is viewed once. This feature guarantees more impressions of the content for a brand, in turn allowing for the algorithm of the platform to send the content to more screens.
In my personal experience, I can recall so many more advertisements for brands through this formatting of bite-sized content than I believe I could have prior to the switch. Even sports teams have taken advantage of TikTok to market to their fans. Utilizing sound trends and creating videos of 15 seconds have changed their engagement with fans online in a way that long form content couldn’t do. Check out this recent TikTok by the Pittsburgh Steelers!
Additional links on short form content:
https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/02/bite-size-content.html
https://www.wyzowl.com/human-attention-span/