Short Form Content Sucks for Your Business

Want to win with your brand? Then read this and get off the Tok!

Here’s 2 fun facts for you to kick off your Tuesday.

- There have been more Popes than Yokozuna’s in history. (267 vs 74)…

- Youtube is the 2nd biggest search engine owned by the 1st… Google. (if you truly understand that and SEO, you’ll know how important Youtube is)

Everyone’s chasing short-form. Reels. TikToks. Shorts. It’s fast, it’s viral, and it makes you feel like you’re doing something. That wonderful dopamine hit of thinking about going to the gym, not going but feeling good about yourself lol. Basically… it’s easy!

If you actually want to drive revenue, build trust, and turn viewers into clients, long-form still wins. Every f**king time.

Why you ask? How’s this for a slice of fried gold:

Short content gets clicks. Long content builds businesses.

Shorts are great for attention but attention doesn’t pay the bills.
If you’re serious about client success, long-form YouTube content is your most valuable asset. It’s where trust is built, authority is earned, and conversions actually happen. It’s near impossible to fall in love with someone and build trust through tiny 30 second clips. Long form gives you that magic to build rapport with a viewer on their terms.

Also, the kind of person watching shorts (on a break or in a doom scroll for a dopamine hit) are not the kind of people who watch long form int he same mindset (study, indepth, receptive, has time).

What long-form content does better:

• Builds real relationships: People spend more time with you. They get to know how you think, how you operate. That’s what creates trust.

• Educates at a deeper level: You can actually explain something, not just tease it. That turns viewers into qualified leads.

• Tells better stories: You have room to talk about wins, failures, and the real journey. That’s what makes people stick around.

The data backs it up (Data is everything in my world):

• Higher SEO ranking: YouTube’s algorithm favors watch time. Long videos = more watch time = more reach = more chance to meet Henry Cavill…

• Better conversion rates: When someone watches 10+ minutes of your content, they’re warmed up. They’re way more likely to do whatever your CTA is.

• More monetization options: More mid-roll ads. More affiliate opportunities. More value per view. More sponsors!

• Evergreen traffic: Unlike Shorts that die in a day or two, long-form videos can rank and drive leads for months or even years. Don’t be disheartended by videos that don’t “pop” out the gate. Youtube is a long game, like seriously long…think 5-10 years long. 

This isn’t anti-Shorts. It’s pro-strategy.

Short-form can still be useful and of course there are unicorn examples. Just a reminder you probably aren’t a unicorn.
If you want some fast vanity metrics or to build your media muscle, then shorts are your tool to get attention. I recently started working with someone and we have a predominantly short form content strategy as the outcome required it. It’s all outcome based and what your goal is. Can you do both… sure! As long as you know what you’re doing and have an ace strategist on your side to help ;)

Until next week!

Bo