Three issues that cannot be ignored in short films for educating marketers

Kristina DeMichele, Assistant Director of Digital Marketing, MIT Sloan School of Management

In the higher education industry, short video strategies for social media are more important than ever. In 60-90 seconds, institutions can visualize campus life, showcase noteworthy research, and further establish credibility with their audience.

According to Statista statistics, data from October 2023 shows that YouTube and Instagram have more than 2 billion monthly active users; TikTok is not far behind, with 1.28 billion monthly active users. Active users living in the United States spend an average of 46 minutes a day using TikTok and YouTube.

What makes these active users spend all their time on these platforms? People certainly want to be entertained, but many people have an almost constant desire to learn new things. Educational institutions can satisfy this desire of their audiences by offering a “microlearning” experience—a highly engaging 60-90 second video that teaches a simple concept.

When creating these microlearning videos, education marketers should always consider these three factors that cannot be ignored.

1. Subtitles

Displaying accurate, easy-to-read subtitles in short videos on social media is an absolute must.

First and foremost, including a title shows that your institution respects and adheres to accessibility standards. Including subtitles is also critical because it allows people to watch the video without sound and still understand what is happening. Many times, people browse social media without sound. Reading subtitles allows viewers to gauge interest and then turn on sound or save the video to watch later with audio.

2. Clarity

The center point of the video must be clearly visible. Once viewers are confused, they’ll keep scrolling. The challenge: the short film concept had to be simple and compelling.

Developing a short video strategy for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and even LinkedIn takes time.The more videos you create, the better you’ll be able to benchmark your own analytics against industry averages and the more you’ll be able to streamline your production process

According to HubSpot data, 59% of short-form videos have a viewership of 41-80%, while 30% of short-form videos have a viewership of over 81%. So, if your video is 60 seconds long, approximately 59% of views last between 24.6 and 48 seconds on average, and 30% of views last on average 48.6 seconds or more.

With this data in mind, the first 20 seconds of a short video are extremely important. Be sure to explain the key to the concept within that time frame, and then use the rest of the video to illustrate and provide context.

3. Value

The bottom line is that any short film you make needs to be valuable to your audience in some way. What should viewers take away from your film? Will viewers save your video so they can reference it again? The more you save, the more you know you’ve successfully provided value.

Developing a short video strategy for Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and even LinkedIn takes time. The more videos you create, the better you’ll be able to benchmark your own analytics against industry averages and the more you’ll be able to streamline your production process.