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Why Churches Should Invest in Short-Form Videos

Written by Tom Pounder | Jan 24, 2024 11:00:00 AM

Short-form video is all the rage, not just now, but for a number of years. Whether it is TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, all those platforms are encouraging creators to create these 60 second videos and making sure people see them. 

What are short-form videos? Short-form videos are videos ranging from 5 to 60 seconds, recorded vertically, rather than horizontally like long-form videos. They are intended to be quick, easily digestible videos for people scrolling through social media to watch and be entertained or encouraged. TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are the most popular platforms for these videos to appear on.

Because of their popularity, creating short-form video content is increasingly important for churches to utilize. While long sermon videos and other longer form content will always have their place in your content strategy, creating these bite-sized videos for social media allows your Church to share encouragement to a growing number of people. For example, you can share verses, short devotional thoughts, key quotes, sermon highlights, and worship clips, just to name a few ideas.

The great thing about these short-form videos is that they do not need to be well produced videos. During the covid pandemic, when TikTok became very popular, it showed us that you don't have to have all the right lighting or sound equipment to produce videos that connected with people. People wanted authenticity and someone they could relate to. 

Stats to Support Short Form Video Investment

  • YouTube Shorts Gets 50 Billion Views Every Day Around the World (source).
  • 74% of Adults in America Use YouTube (source).
  • Out of 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, 23% use TikTok (source).
  • U.S. adults spend 55.8 minutes per day on TikTok in 2023. This is up from 45.3 minutes in 2021 (source).
  • 2.35 billion people interact with reels every month (source).
  • Reels get 22% more interaction than standard video postings (source).

Conclusion

The possibilities become endless for utilizing these short-form videos across the various platforms. You could use it for outreach, connection, encouragement, and testimonies just to name a few. Sharing these short messages or encouragement into these easily consumable videos, it can be just the right thing people need for that day. Prayerfully consider how you can implement a short-form video strategy to help you reach people for Christ as these platforms continue to grow.

What do you think? What are some other short-form video ideas you can create?  Share your ideas below or on social media.

Through The Church Digitalwe are helping physical and digital churches better understand the discipleship process, and helping churches and church planters understand this and other decentralized mindset shifts. By taking this quick survey we can get you connect with a coach, resources and more. Also, check out our Facebook Group where we are encouraging people daily.