With over 122 million active users consuming more than a billion hours of video each day, YouTube is not a channel that you can ignore.

Video is not only a preferred medium, but an effective tool for captivating your audience. Studies have shown that people share videos at twice the rate as any other form of content, and 84% of people buy a product or service based on a company’s brand video.

YouTube has released new features designed to make content even more shareable. This blog will discuss the new tools and how you can use them to captivate your audience, whether you’re new to YouTube or a long-term user.

YouTube Shorts

The way that your audience engages with content is changing. More and more people are choosing to consume short-form content, particularly short-form video. In line with this trend, YouTube has introduced YouTube Shorts- a new way to watch, share and create videos 60 seconds or less.

At first glance, it’s tempting to dismiss YouTube Shorts as an effort to emulate other platforms such as TikTok, and the stories feature on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Like these platforms, YouTube Shorts allows you to record, edit and upload content straight from your phone. Although the feature is very similar, it has one distinct advantage- the age diversity and breadth of YouTube’s user-base.

While TikTok and Snapchat attract a younger audience of predominantly 16-24 year olds, and  Instagram and Facebook’s key demographic is 18-34 year olds, YouTube’s audience-base is much more evenly distributed. According to a US study by Statista, 77% of 15-25 year olds use YouTube, and more surprisingly, 70% of 45-64 year olds also use the platform. If you want to capitalise on the success of short-form content but your target audience is an older demographic, YouTube Shorts is a perfect solution.

YouTube Clips

If you prefer to create longer-form videos but need to quickly capture your audience’s attention, YouTube Clips is for you. Clips allow you to create 5-60 second clips from your existing videos or streams to highlight must-watch moments.

With endless content available on social media, capturing your audience’s attention is getting harder and harder. When it comes to videos longer than 10 minutes, people want to know that your content is worth their while before investing their time. Clips can be used to entice viewers with palatable 5-60 second content which should compel them to watch the entire video.

Clips have their own shareable links that will link to the clipped segment in the original video, and can be shared on other platforms. This is a great way for attracting new audiences and generating more views.

Custom URLs

With 37 million channels on YouTube, the easier it is to find your channel, the better. This is where Custom URLs come in. This feature allows you to change your URL to an easy to remember channel URL that you can share with your viewers. The URL can be shared on platforms other than YouTube, making it faster and easier to find your channel and gain more viewers.

To create a Custom URL, you must have 100 or more subscribers, an uploaded profile picture and banner image, and your channel must be at least 30 days old. Your URL can be changed up to 3 times a year. However, Custom URLs are available for a limited time only, so make sure to claim yours sooner rather than later.

Have any questions on how to create and drive traffic to engaging video content? Feel free to reach out to the team at Eloquent.

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