Next Generation Content

Insta-Reels, TikToks and other short clips have become an integral part of social media and marketing. Content creators manage to create a video in 10-15 seconds that reaches hundreds or even thousands of people in no time. Are short clips now replacing vision or image films? Does it make sense for brands to generate content exclusively for social media platforms?

Media consumption in transformation

Friday night primetime in front of the TV no longer exists. Although the older generation remains loyal to the TV, general media consumption has changed dramatically with the smartphone. On average, we consume 214 minutes of moving images every day, which puts video far ahead of audio or writing. That’s due in part to GenZ and millenials. The keyword is video on demand: watch what you want at any time, whether it’s streaming services, YouTube or social media. On the other hand, technology has also developed greatly, the smartphone offers access to all content, can also record high-resolution videos itself and offers simple and free tools for cutting and editing. Today, TikTok and Instagram offer pre-made editing templates, where the content only needs to be inserted by swiping. The advantage? You can present yourself in an entertaining way in a short time and reach a large number of people in the process. But not only yourself, but also information or teasers about brands, events or products can be shared this way.

Content follows Media? Media follows Content?

With so much content on offer, most people have become very selective about what they pay attention to. The first 3-4 seconds decide whether a video is watched to the end or scrolled to the next video. However, if a video has aroused interest, in most cases the account behind the video is called up to watch further short clips or longer videos. In this context, it is important for brands to know that produced reels perform better. And for two reasons. Firstly, because the content is geared to the special viewing habits on social media, and secondly, because the algorithm of the social media platforms checks whether a video has been generated for smartphones and then pushes them more strongly. However, an extra reel for social media does not automatically mean a huge reach. With reels and short clips, it’s the entertainment value that counts; the information must be subordinate or kept short. So will longer formats like image and vision films be displaced by reels and TikToks? It’s not quite like that. Reels do attract interested people to the profile, but the new generations prefer to get more information from longer versions, which is why YouTube, among other places, is very popular. The young generation not only engages a lot, but also intensively with media. If their interest is aroused, they also like to search for and watch longer videos.

Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses. Reels, TikToks and the like will be with us for a long time to come. Short clips have established themselves as openers for further information and formats. They should be seen as an additional asset for positioning a company in social media and not as a replacement for a big production.