How brands use YouTube Shorts: Expert tips from social media managers and 5 examples

YouTube Shorts are picking up steam! In 2023, these short-form videos racked up 70 billion daily views! And they consistently get higher engagement rates than long-form videos. 

So how can social media managers and agencies build community with Shorts? Mastering YouTube Shorts is no short order. So we’re here to dish out advice from expert social media managers – and leave you inspired with real-world examples of YouTube Shorts. 

Let’s get into the Shorts! 🩳

What are YouTube Shorts? 

YouTube Shorts are vertical videos that are less than a minute long. Like TikTok videos and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts can feature interactive elements, like polls and questions. 

Your existing community members – and new ones! – can find your YouTube shorts on the YouTube homepage, on your channel homepage, and in the Shorts feed on the YouTube app.

You can post Shorts directly from YouTube Studio. Or schedule Shorts in HeyOrca alongside your other social media content!  

How do brands and social media agencies use YouTube Shorts?

We were wondering the same thing! So we asked social media management experts Emily Paetau and Jenn Dixon for answers. 

Emily is the Director of Managed Services at DigiSphere Marketing. Her clients are in various industries, including, marine, automotive, residential construction, body shop, and collectibles.

Jenn manages social media in the real estate title industry as the Commitment Specialist and Social Media Manager at Landmark Abstract. 

Here are their answers to the top 3 questions we get about YouTube Shorts:

1. What type of YouTube Shorts content works best for social media marketing agencies? 

When you spend all of your time posting for clients, it can be easy to run out of time (or creative steam!) to craft posts for your agency. YouTube Shorts can be a great platform for whipping up engaging agency content. 

We asked Emily what kind of posts perform best for DigiSphere Marketing. Here’s what she had to say: 

“For our brand, trends have been the best. We actually somewhat stopped posting them to other platforms and moved them to just Shorts as they overall seem to do better there, especially the sillier ones. Educational content pieces do not seem to do that great on Shorts.”

Orca tip: If you’re looking for trending ideas for short-form videos, you’ll want to check out our list of CapCut templates and video trends. We update it weekly! 

2. What type of YouTube Shorts content works best for clients or brands? 

If you’re posting for businesses or clients, you’re probably wondering what kind of content you should prioritize. 

According to Jenn, trends top the list. Psst! Jenn had a YouTube Short go viral from a trend. (Can you guess which one it is from the list of examples below?) 

Jenn also notes that YouTube Shorts with “tips and tricks” do well, too. Finally, informational videos rank #3 on her list. 

Emily has insights on what you should post for your clients, too! She says:

“Real people. We have noticed when posting for our clients, they prefer to see real people in the video content and not stock, fake, put-together things. So taking footage from events or testimonial videos is great to add to YouTube Shorts.” 

3. What should new social media managers keep in mind while creating content for YouTube Shorts? 

Here’s Emily’s advice for social media managers who are just getting started with YouTube shorts:

“A/B test! You don’t know what is going to stick until you try it. Think outside of the box. Be funny and daring, and have fun with it. Things you don’t think are going to work, usually are the things that work and vice versa. It’s funny how it works that way sometimes.”

Jenn’s also a big fan of fun and experimentation: 

“Don't be afraid to do something silly or unusual. People watch Shorts mostly for quick entertainment. Have fun with it!” 

Bonus: HeyOrca’s top tips for using YouTube Shorts as a brand or social media agency 

Have more questions about how to optimize your YouTube Shorts? Let’s dive in! 

1. What’s the most important part of a Short? 

An engaging hook! You have only seconds to capture your audience’s attention, so you’ve got to make it snappy. Need hook ideas? You can steal inspo from our resource on TikTok hooks. 

2. Should brands and agencies use hashtags in YouTube Shorts?

Yes, YouTube recommends adding hashtags to your YouTube Shorts. More specifically, the platform recommends using “#shorts” in your video title. 

Don’t get carried away with hashtags, though. YouTube will penalize “over-tagging” by ignoring your hashtags or removing your video altogether. Experiment with your content to determine how many hashtags work for you brand. 60 hashtags is considered over-tagging. 5 hashtags seems to be the sweet spot. 

3. Can you upload custom thumbnails for YouTube Shorts?

Yes . . . and no. You can post your YouTube Short with a custom thumbnail image – even when you post your Short with HeyOrca! Just be aware that your community members will only see your custom thumbnail if they watch your video as a regular YouTube video. In all other cases, YouTube will automatically generate a thumbnail image for your Short. 

Orca tip: Thumbnails can improve click-through rates (CTRs), but if you don’t want to spend too much time on a thumbnail image that may not be seen by every viewer, focus instead on adding accessible video captions to make your post stand out.  

5 YouTube Shorts examples from brands and social media agencies

Get inspired by these YouTube Shorts!

1. Make some marketing magic

Who said professional industries have to post boring content? Get your coworkers together to perform a disappearing act – just for the fun of it.

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2. The squad is back together

Grab your work besties and tell them, “Let’s dance!”

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3. Tips and tricks

Establish your brand or client as a subject matter expert by sharing advice or little-known industry insights. 

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4. Social media holidays

Engage your community by sharing your spin on fun social media holidays, like Walk to Work Day.

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5. Just here for the content

What’s the difference between team bonding days and content days? Not much, if you ask us! 😜

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Summary 

We’ll keep this part short and sweet. Now you have everything you need to create scroll-stopping YouTube Shorts content! For more resources and industry news, subscribe to our free daily social media newsletter, the HeyOrca Brief.