What is short-form video?

Every major platform now has a short vertical video format, with its own length rules.

• YouTube Shorts: square or vertical videos up to three minutes are treated as Shorts. You can upload them in the YouTube app or YouTube Studio.
• Instagram Reels: Instagram allows longer reels, but its help centre says reels longer than three minutes won't be recommended to people who don't already follow you.
• TikTok: TikTok allows longer uploads than its early days, but most videos are still short. Check the current limit in the app.
• Facebook Reels: reels can be shared to Facebook as well, including from Instagram to a connected Facebook Page.

Short doesn't mean easy, but it does mean simple: one idea, shown clearly.

1. Start with the hook: the result, the problem or a question, in the first second or two.
2. Film vertically (9:16) in good light, holding the phone steady.
3. Show one idea: one tip, one product, one transformation.
4. Add on-screen text so the video works with the sound off, and keep it in the safe zone.
5. Cut anything that doesn't move the story on.
6. End with one clear call to action.
7. Write a short caption that adds context, and post at a time your audience is online.

The best ideas come from what you already do every day.

• Before and after: a haircut, a cleaned carpet, a repaired phone.
• How it's made: from raw ingredients to the finished product.
• Answer a question customers often ask.
• Packing an order, opening up the shop, or a day in the business.
• A quick tip related to what you sell.

Most short videos that don't work have one of a few problems.

• A slow start: logos, greetings or setup before anything happens.
• Too many ideas in one video.
• Text placed where the app's buttons and caption cover it.
• Filming landscape for a vertical feed, leaving the video small with bars around it.
• Poor light or shaky footage that makes the product hard to see.
• Posting once and giving up. Short video rewards steady, regular posting.