Livestreaming giant Twitch recently held their annual conference in Paris. I was reading the recap of everything they announced, and one section caught my eye. They are making improvements to their “Clip Editor” which allows streamers to cut out a small portion of their stream and upload it directly to their social media platform of choice (Youtube, TikTok, etc.).
This reminded me of just how prevalent and useful short form content is in todays timeline scrolling environments. How do you grab someone’s attention, hold their interest, and even get them to dive deeper into your content? Make an enticing piece of short form content and let them organically seek out the larger piece that was cut from.
I would guarentee that anyone scrolling through their Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn feed will come across a short clip of a talk show, sports broadcast, or podcast. These are everywhere now a days, and for good reason.
Here at 5 Tool Productions, we encourage all of our partners to utilize short form content before and after their event. Why put all of this time and effort into putting on an event, live stream, or conference if once it is over that great content just gets left in the dust? We always recommend you pull sound bites and video clips and create short digestible videos to keep that content relevant and help your event live on to audiences that may have not been able to see it live.
Take for example our work with Syracuse University for their Boost the Cuse 2023 Giving Day. Our team helped them produce a 16 hour long all-day live stream with live and remote guests and tons of content that students and alumni alike would love. They had a live hit every hour on the hour broadcasting live around the world to their Syracuse community.
While folks were tuning in to the stream, Syracuse’s social channels were also posting clips taken directly from the show so their followers could view bits of the event and see what they were missing.
Clipping out content allows organizations to highlight the most engaging or entertaining moments from their live streams. By sharing these highlights on social media platforms, they can grab the attention of potential viewers who missed the event or stream or may enjoy that type of content. These clips serve as a condensed representation of the event or stream’s best moments, making it easier for viewers to get a taste of their content and decide if they want to watch the larger content on-demand.
Providing easy-to-consume clips on social media platforms makes it more convenient for viewers to engage with an organization’s content. Instead of watching entire live streams, potential viewers can quickly browse through curated clips to get a sense of the organization’s personality or content focus. This method can also entice someone to go back and watch the entire section if the clip catches their attention.
Clipping out content for social media allows organizations to cross-promote their content and build their brand identity. By showcasing their unique style, information, or personality through clips, they can create a recognizable and memorable presence on social media platforms. This can attract followers, drive traffic to their social channels, and help establish their personal brand within their community.
Creating these short clips allows you to have control of the content you are pulling from. This means editing down longer sessions into just the important clips and being able to add elements to said clip in post production. Accessibility is key these days and adding closed captions to your clips not only helps those who need it, but also statistically improves engagement and SEO. This accessibility can be particularly beneficial for viewers with limited time or those who prefer shorter, bite-sized content and also makes it easy for viewers to repost and share your clip around their own channels.
Clipping out content for social media platforms allows organizations to effectively market themselves, engage with a broader audience, and increase their visibility and potential growth. It enables them to share their best moments, showcase their content and knowledge, and attract new viewership from various social media.