Short Form Videos: You are what you consume – trash.
Let’s talk about short form videos. Also known as: YouTube Shorts, TikToks, Instagram Reels, and… whatever Facebook calls theirs.
Short Form Content – It’s HOT.
Why? Because we (trash gobblers of the internet) love to scroll endlessly until something catches our eye. We binge trash, stumble into value, then back to trash. Delightful. Love that for us.
As creators, our job is to:
Figure out what content our audience actually finds valuable.
Use that content to interrupt their endless scroll.
Somehow convert them into customers.
Easy right? Bruh.
What This Means For You
Creating short form videos means accepting three brutal truths:
You have to experiment and research.
You have to dish out a lot of content to figure out what works. Boo.
You have to embrace the suffering that is content creation.
Oh you don’t want to create content? Oh it’s too hard? Get in line buddy. No one wants to pump out content 24/7 but here we fucken are.
Short Form’s Job
The whole purpose of short form videos is to attract and appeal to the masses — fast.
You’ve probably heard the ol’ “3-second rule”. Basically, if you don’t hook people in the first 3 seconds, they’re gone. Poof. Off to the next video. Dicks.
This is mostly true if you’re creating for people who don’t know who the hell you are. But if you’ve already built a following? Different story.
Who Are You Creating For?
This is key — and it impacts the type of content you make, the tone you use, and how hard you have to work to grab attention.
1. New People (aka Strangers)
These are the peeps who have never seen your face, heard your name, or know what you do. For them, you need to hook fast and hard (reow) — they need a reason to care within the first 3 seconds, or they’re out. Again – dicks.
What they need: Clarity + Intrigue. What’s this about and why should they care?
Example hooks:
“You’re posting videos wrong mate — here’s why.”
“I spent $500 on Facebook ads and got nothing.” (Life story amirite)
Basically, social media is for entertainment so if you catch people off guard by reminding them about their responsibilities in life – especially in 3 seconds then mateee, you’re onto a winner.
2. Your Existing Audience (aka Your Loyal Goblins)
These are the people who already follow you, love your shit, and actively look forward to your next piece of content. With this crew, you don’t need to work as hard to hook them — they’re already interested. You just need to deliver what they came for.
What they need: More of what they love from you — your unique take, humour, honesty, whatever makes you you.
3. Potential Customers (aka Lurkers Who Are Low-Key Interested)
These people have seen you around — they might follow you, but they haven’t bought from you yet. They’re in research mode. They’re quietly stalking your content trying to figure out if you’re the real deal.
What they need: Proof + Value — they want to see you actually know your shit, and they want to feel confident you can help them.
Example hooks:
“Here’s how I helped a client go from zero to one in zero days.”
“If you’re stuck on what to post, steal my 3-step content plan.”
4. The Algorithm Gods
Let’s be honest — some content isn’t even for hoomans. It’s made purely to feed the algorithm, tick all the engagement boxes (weh), and signal to the platform that your content deserves to be shown to more people.
What this needs: Trends, Formats & Watch Time Traps — this is where you might jump on trending audio, use captions that say “watch me beetch,” or structure your video to keep people glued.
It Doesn’t Matter What You Do — Just Do Something
Here’s a fuggin truth: You could sit there for weeks obsessing over the “perfect” video strategy… or you could just start making stuff and actually learn what works by doing. Spoiler: Doing nothing teaches you nothing. Actually, it teaches you to continue to feel shit about yourself for not doing anything. Yikes – fun times.
This is exactly (ha) why I created the Mini Video Library. Not just to help you make content — but to help you research, experiment and play around with short form content ideas. Just saying.
What’s The Actual Plan Then?
Alright, so now that we’ve accepted our inevitable suffering and embraced our roles as digital slaves, here’s how to make short form work for you:
1. Know Your Audience (And Why They Care)
Are they here for tips? Laughs? Hot takes? Figure out what keeps their eyeballs glued to your content — then do more of that.
2. Get Clear On Your Hook
This doesn’t have to mean seizure induced graphics and clickbait titles. It just means get to the damn point fast. Open strong, and be interesting.
3. Post, Learn, Adjust, Repeat
Your first 10 videos might (will) flop. So might your next 20. The point isn’t to go viral (embrace being a nobody mate) — the point is to learn. What topics land? What style gets people to comment? What makes someone actually click through to your page?
4. Don’t Overthink It (But Also… Think A Bit)
Sometimes you’ll spend hours crafting the perfect video and it’ll tank — it’s normal. That’s the game. But consistency beats perfection every time.
Final Thought
If you’re tired, overwhelmed, or considering throwing your phone into an innocent strangers’ head (don’t ask why) — you’re not alone mate. Short form is brutal (and annoying). But it’s also one of the best ways to get in front of people for free.
So embrace the chaos. Post your dumb idea. You: “It’s not dumb!”. Me: Bitch, it’s dumb. Experiment with messaging and whatever else you want to experiment with. Just do it mate.
Or let “us” do it. Fuck you knew a sales pitch was coming so don’t act like you didn’t. One outs. Fight me – to the death.
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