Long-Form vs. Short-Form Videos: Which One is Best for Your Business?

Videos have become a non-negotiable asset for every online coaching or consulting business. If you ever planned to start recording videos and grow your client base this way, the time to begin is now. However, first you’ll need to determine what kind of videos you want to record and on which social media platforms.

The good news is that you can’t be wrong here when choosing. Every platform is promoting video content nowadays, whether that’s Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook or even X (formerly Twitter).

YouTube has also evolved as a platform, and it started to promote more YT Shorts. However, when it comes to long form videos, new or small channels have an opportunity to grow faster and reach more people if their content is high quality.

Since every platform is favoring video content you should take advantage of it and use it to scale your business.

Choosing the Right Social Media Platform

The answer here is not that simple… There are no “bad” or “good” platforms, but certain platforms are better in some situations than other.

That’s why you have to do a self-analysis first and ask yourself:

1. Who is my target audience, and where do they spend their time online?

Since we're talking about videos for business purposes, you have to start with your clients in mind. Different platforms attract different audiences:

LinkedIn – The most professional platform. It attracts an older, corporate audience and is great for B2B offers.
TikTok – The complete opposite of LinkedIn. It has a younger audience, and people use it primarily for entertainment. Great for B2C offers.
Instagram – A universal platform with the most active users, making it suitable for both B2B and B2C offers. However, the general tone of communication is more casual.
Facebook – Skews toward an older audience.
X (formerly Twitter) – Also leans toward an older audience but is surprisingly effective for B2B offers. Controversial content performs well.
YouTube – The king of video content. You can’t go wrong with creating YouTube videos since everyone is on the platform.

2. What is my personal preference?

How you speak, dress, and present your personality also matters when deciding which platform to focus on. To get best results, you need to match the energy of the platform.

For example, if you're very serious, use corporate language, and wear suits, you probably won’t fit in well on TikTok. Instead, you should focus on platforms like LinkedIn or YouTube.

Next we’ll talk about the key differences between short-form and long-form videos.

Short-Form Videos: The Fastest Way to Get Noticed

Short-form videos are all videos that are up to 60 seconds long. These are especially popular on platforms like TikTok, Instagram & Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts.

This is a great way to reach large number of people because those type of videos are really easy to consume and if you produce them the right way, the algorithm will catch onto them, and make them viral.

Also people will share it between themselves if they find it valuable, so the key component here is the quality.

Here’s what makes a high-quality short-form video:

Great hook - The first 3-5 seconds need to be attention grabbing where you will have intrigue, promise and solution for the problem you are solving.
Valuable content – The video needs to be packed with a few valuable points that are easy to comprehend.

Those short videos are good for building recognition for you as a business owner because people will start to remember you, for example, as the fitness coach who specializes in creating programs for freelancers who work remotely.

This is relatively easy to achieve because the production cost of these videos is low, you can easily record 20-30 videos in just 2 hours and that should be enough for the whole month.

Another good thing for this type of videos is that you can easily repost them to TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube Shorts and hit 4 birds with one stone.

One disadvantage these videos have is the low conversion rate, which means that people won’t respond that often to your Call to Action as you would like to.

The reason for this is that they are not in a vicinity where they can easily do that. For example, if they are watching your Instagram Reels on their cell phone, there’s a lot of friction for them to go and click on the link in your bio, sign up for your newsletter, or go and check your website. It’s much easier to just scroll away and watch the next Instagram Reel.

Another limitation of these platforms is that they are time limited. For example, as of writing, Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts are capped at 3 minutes.

This means that you don’t have much time to elaborate or give complex analogies. That’s why you must speak clearly, get to the point fast, and use simple language so that your 8-year-old niece can understand you.

So, for short videos you need to be aware that the reach is going to be relatively easy, but the conversion is going to be a bit harder.

It’s a great way to build recognition for your business and to build a solid following base, but for client acquisition you must be aware that there are limitations and certain amount of friction.

Long-Form Videos: The Key to Higher Conversions

We’ll focus on longer videos that are posted on YouTube, as that platform is dominating this whole marketing segment.

For YouTube videos you will have to allocate a bit more time for recording as they are longer. But that means that you’ll have more space to explain your points in depth and deliver more value in a reasonable timeframe. For coaches and consultants, the ideal length for those videos is 7 – 15 minutes. This is the sweet spot.

YouTube is better for you if you want to use videos in your long-term strategy to market your services, showcase your skillset and highlight things that differentiate you from competitors.

Also, if you’re recording valuable content, the videos will have pretty much infinite lifetime. People can go back and rewatch them anytime they want. YouTube is also not shying away from suggesting older videos to its people, unlike other platforms.

Since viewers are going to watch your videos for longer, you will naturally have higher conversion rates if you place your CTA on the right spot and if you design your video in such a way that the viewer sticks until the end and actually sees your CTA.

Also, the conversion rate can be higher because most people are watching those type of videos on their computers and it’s easy for them to click on the link in the description, open it in a new tab and take a look at the services that you offer.

Another big advantage of this platform is that you can easily repurpose those long-form videos into short-form videos by optimizing the video script. This way, you can easily extract 3 – 7 short-form videos

So, if you are posting 4 long-form videos per month, you can extract 20-30 short-form videos which is enough for the whole month. Practically, with 4 videos you leverage YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts and X (formerly Twitter) all at once.

And that’s why the combination of those long-form and short form content is the best. You don’t leave any money on the table and at the same time you cover all platforms that your potential clients use.

One big advantage of long form videos over the short ones is that you have a variety of choice of topics:

System Protocols (Proven Methods) – you will show how you developed your methods and how effective they are
Process Leveraging (step-by-step guides) – you can show the exact blueprint of your process and help your viewers benefit from it with easy implementation that they will see in your video
Deep Dives – breakdown of common problems that you notice among your target audience
Thought sharing – give your perspective on a certain problem or situation that your clients experience often
Case studies – show how you helped your clients and demonstrate why your service is superior to your competition
And many more, which can be a combination of previous 5...

Conclusion

To summarize, if you are serious about building a solid marketing foundation that will help you grow your client base and showcase your skillset, the combination of long-form and short-form video content is the path to take.

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