YouTube Shorts: Everything Your Brand Needs To Know

Social media is built for entertainment now, and short-form video is leading the shift. Audiences are discovering brands through fast, engaging content that feels native to the way they watch, search, and shop.

For brands investing in YouTube marketing, Shorts offer a powerful way to meet that behavior head-on. With short, vertical videos built directly into YouTube, marketers can reach new audiences, test creative ideas, and extend the value of their video strategy across one of the world’s biggest content platforms.

In this guide, we’ll break down what YouTube Shorts are, why they matter for brands, and how to create Shorts that capture attention, build credibility, and support stronger social performance.

YouTube Shorts are short-form, vertical videos on YouTube. They’re designed for quick discovery, entertainment, and engagement, similar to TikTok or Instagram Reels.

As of now, Shorts can be up to three minutes long. YouTube says square or vertical videos uploaded after Oct. 15, 2024, can be categorized as Shorts if they’re three minutes or less.

For brands, Shorts matter because they give social teams another way to reach audiences with fast, entertaining, search-friendly content. They’re especially useful for repurposing longer videos, testing creative ideas, highlighting products, and showing up where people are already watching short-form content.

YouTube Shorts has become an important part of the short-form video landscape, giving brands another way to reach audiences through quick, engaging, mobile-first content. While adding another format to your social strategy might feel daunting, Shorts can help brands expand their reach, strengthen discoverability, and create content that entertains, educates, and builds trust with viewers.

Social Entertainment

‍Above all, audiences expect to be entertained by content on social media. YouTube Shorts is a great way to strengthen your brands social entertainment strategy. What does this mean for marketers? Entertaining content is what will get eyes on your content. Focus on content that provides something of value to your audience.

Brand Awareness

With 1.5 billion monthly viewers, YouTube Shorts has massive demographic reach opportunities and is most popular with 15-36-year-olds. Different algorithms allow you to reach different audiences with similar content.

Building Credibility

‍One way you can leverage YouTube to further build trust among your audience is by using social proof in your videos. Common ways to implement social proof marketing are through customer testimonials, how-tos, or behind-the-scenes.

Discoverability  

Creating and sharing videos on YouTube Shorts allows discoverability through the platform itself and Google. Google owns YouTube, and if your brand optimizes your videos with the right keywords, you will benefit from the discoverability of both platforms.

Now that you have an understanding of what YouTube Shorts are, and how they can help your brand, it’s time to learn how to make a YouTube Short and publish them for your followers.

1. How to Upload YouTube Shorts: Getting Started

You can only create YouTube Shorts through the YouTube app.

Download the YouTube app, log in to your YouTube account (or sign up), and tap ‘Create’.

2. Create Your Video

To record a clip, press and hold the ‘Capture’ button or tap it once to start, and again to stop. You can also change your recording speed, set a timer and string clips. 

3. Edit & Add Music

Within the YouTube Shorts app, you can edit your video using the tools available (speed, timer, filters, etc.).

Once you’re satisfied with your video, tap ‘Next’ to preview. Here you can add music or text.

4. Add the Details

Once you’re happy with your Short, tap ‘Next’ to add a title and choose settings, like video privacy. 

5. Upload and Share

When you’ve recorded and edited your video, it's time to share your Short with the community. Tap 'Upload' to finish.

When posting video content to YouTube Shorts, yShorts use some of the same best practices you would when creating content for other social platforms. While the same type of content won't necessarily work across all platforms, these general practices will. 

When creating your next YouTube Short, keep in mind these factors:

Grab and Hold Attention  

Focus on making the first few seconds captivating for users to stop their scroll and watch. Keeping your audience engaged will favor the algorithm. 

Build for Mobile

The majority of users now watch videos on their mobile devices. Ensure that your video is visible on a small screen. Keep in mind framing, font, and brightness. Shorts loop, so pace your content accordingly and encourage replayability. 

Prioritize Rewarding Content 

Rewarding content is key. Content that educates, entertains, or leaves the audience feeling good will perform best. Make your content relevant by incorporating trending songs, pop culture, or events.  

Partner With Influencers

Brands can leverage influencers to help create highly entertaining content that caters to a specific niche. When brands can find the right creator, one who understands the company's values and audience, the resulting content has the potential to reach a broad audience. 

Test, Measure, Repeat 

Every social media platform is different, and what works on TikTok or Instagram won't necessarily work on Shorts. Experiment with the content you post on Shorts, then look at how that content performed and optimize future content based on the results.

Video performance analysis is complex. Dash Social's YouTube insights provide a holistic and easy-to-digest view of your content strategy. Whether you’re experimenting with YouTube Shorts or looking to streamline your reporting, we’ve got you covered.‍

Easy to Distill Insights

Quickly analyze your YouTube performance with insights that are easy to understand, from the KPIs on a single video to your entire channel’s impact on your marketing investment.

Custom Content Analysis 

Break your content down by topic, Shorts, or campaign to uncover YouTube trends and use the insights to improve your channel’s watch time.

Total Social Measurement 

Dash Social provides the in-depth video-first creative analysis you need to deepen your engagement and discoverability across all key marketing channels.

Cross-Channel Impact

See the impact your YouTube content has on your overall campaign strategy.

Compare Competitors

Use Competitive Insights and Benchmarking to learn more about which content performs well for competitors and help set benchmarks for your own goals and KPIs.

How do I access YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts can be accessed from desktop, on the YouTube homepage, from a tab on the left of the screen.

Or YouTube Shorts can be accessed in the YouTube app from a tab on the bottom. To create a Short, you will need to use the app. 

What is the difference between YouTube Shorts and TikTok?

TikTok has a very different approach to video than YouTube. While YouTube has prioritized longer videos in recent years to compete with Netflix, TikTok went in the opposite direction and focused on serving users an infinite scroll of short-form entertainment. The current landscape has YouTube moving towards short-form video with its introduction of Shorts, while TikTok is introducing long-form video into its platform by allowing users to post TikToks that are up to ten minutes long. 

Similar to Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts do not have the focus on trending hashtags and sounds that many consider TikTok’s secret to success. The advantage YouTube has is its comprehensive advertising infrastructure, including monthly payouts to creators. The TikTok Creator Fund, which we’ve written about, is still relatively new, and YouTube gives users control over how many and what types of ads are shown in their videos, which means that business-savvy creators benefit from sticking with YouTube.

Are YouTube Shorts worth it?

Every social media strategy is unique; what works for one brand might not work for another. However, adding an additional social media platform has the potential to build brand awareness and reach new audiences - especially if it involves short-form video. 

With the launch of Shorts, YouTube now has a player in the short-form video game. And with 1.5 billion monthly viewers, there’s the potential to reach a large audience.

So to answer if YouTube Shorts are worth it? You won’t know until you try. But it’s a platform worth exploring. 

How long are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts can be up to 60 seconds long, but keeping them shorter is recommended.