YouTube Shorts Rolls out Globally: what does this Mean for Short Video Rivals?

Campaign: Do you expect users to flock to Shorts, and away from platforms like TikTok? Today, we're living in a world where platforms have a pull towards users based on functionality and usability, but also we're seeing a steady pull by creators themselves attracting audiences on whatever platform they are on. With Covid-19 increasing both audiences and creators on both platforms, there are a lot of opportunities for both platforms in this era of short-form videos, and I believe that YouTube did not launch Shorts to kill off TikTok, but rather to share this space and provide more options for audiences. We ask industry experts in Asia-Pacific whether this is the beginning of the end for short video pioneers like TikTok and Snapchat, how platforms can seek to defend or gain market share in this competitive space, and how brands are expected to respond. We need to remember that these platforms have created monetisation opportunities with content creators at the core, where advertising can be targeted based on the content a creator produces, and by extension, what their audiences see.

Users can edit pre-existing videos or shoot new videos using a multi-segment camera, which allows multiple video clips to be strung together. YouTube is launching additional features for the international expansion, including the ability to add text or clips to specific points in a video, as well as captions and colour correction filters. Launching a separate app (like Lasso’s case) is a lot harder to succeed (which seems also to be YouTube Shorts approach), because it requires users to download a new app, much harder than introducing a new feature in the same app to existing users. No one wants to dilute their budget too much but at the same time no one wants to miss out on a growth opportunity. The short-form video product was beta launched in India in September last year, and subsequently rolled out to 26 markets, including the US, from early 2021. It will now be available in the more than 100 countries. The creator's community is massive on YouTube and with this new format they are providing them with more options in an ecosystem that is much bigger.

In addition, when Instagram added the ‘Stories’ functionality in 2016, Snapchat was a much smaller player with lower adoption, only around 80 million MAU, while Instagram already reached 430 million. Secondly, when there’s already an existing dominating app with high adoption, consumers have low motivation to download a new app that serves a similar purpose. TikTok has become a mainstream and the go-to short video platform for hundreds of millions of consumers globally, it’s hard for any new platform to replace, even from YouTube. YouTube believes its extensive library of videos and its creator network, built over its 16-year history, gives it a competitive advantage in the short video space. A YouTube Shorts Fund will distribute over US$100 million over the course of 2021-2022, it said. YouTube Shorts is entering this market knowing there is demand and with the experience and trust of Google advertising in delivery and measurement will be hoping to increase its own revenue whilst taking on a new disruptor in the market. TikTok has shown there is a huge demand for this format, however is still trying to find the best ways to monetise ad revenue. As opposed to YouTube which still require a level of technical production detail, TikTok has democratised content creation for everyone.

YouTube tried to adapt the format too, but couldn’t find an audience for ‘Stories’. ‘Stories’ was initially a Snapchat innovation, which Instagram successfully copied and innovated across it’s audience. Advertising follows the same way-where audience is the key selection criteria. At the same time, the power and authenticity of the platform is also very attractive. Let's take influencer marketing as an example-brands seldom choose the platform they want to run campaigns on first. In this case, we're looking at a situation where platform functionality matters, but also the types of content that content creators make available on Shorts. TikTok’s influence over culture, the creators that became famous on the app, its own hit list of songs, all give TikTok a level of ‘cool factor’ that the Shorts brand will take a long time to cultivate. Do you expect brands to prefer Shorts over other platforms? First, YouTube has a huge user base of over 2 billion people, of which around a billion are in Asia Pacific. Shorts will have access to long established YouTube veterans. YouTube has battled its shares of brand safety issues and Google has stringent measures in place.  This ​post w as g enerated with t᠎he ᠎help ​of GSA C​onte nt Generat or D᠎em᠎oversi on!

Location:

Share :