Fast forward to 2018, when a seismic shift occurred in the social media landscape. Musical.ly, a popular lip-syncing app, has rebranded itself as TikTok and taken the world by storm. It wasn’t just a name change; it was a revolution in the way we consume content online. TikTok introduced the For You Page (FYP), a radical departure from the traditional follower-driven feeds we were used to.

Suddenly, our feeds weren’t determined by the people we followed but by our interests, interpreted by a sophisticated algorithm.

Do the same

This tapped into people’s seemingly insatiable appetite for short-form content. People found themselves consuming up to 10 videos per minute, while TikTok’s algorithm harvested vast amounts of data to refine each user’s interest profile. The result was a highly personalized and addictive experience that kept users scrolling for hours.

We are now seeing the impact of TikTok’s innovation. Major online platforms have adopted short-form videos driven by a TikTok-style algorithm, not only to boost engagement and time spent on apps, but also to develop more well-rounded user profiles.

The domino effect began in August 2020 when Instagram introduced Reels, its answer to TikTok’s FYP feed. Snapchat quickly followed suit with Spotlight in September 2020, and YouTube joined the fray with Shorts in February 2021. But the trend didn’t stop at social media platforms.

In the act

In November, Spotify launched a new feature offering a scrolling stream of 90-second vertical video clips to highlight podcast episodes. Netflix announced Moments, a tool that lets users bookmark and share short video clips from their favorite shows.

Even platforms not traditionally associated with video content are jumping on the bandwagon. Substack is integrating more video content, much to the dismay of some high-profile users. LinkedIn has also integrated short-form video into its platform with a vertically scrolling feed, which is said to perform five times better than static content.

As short-form video cements its place as the dominant content format, the challenge for creators and marketers is how to stand out in an increasingly crowded and homogeneous space. Success now depends not only on navigating the platform’s features, but also on understanding which formats resonate, the tone of voice that cuts through the noise, and the innovative hacks that can make content stand out.

Creative scopes

Yes yes. “We know,” you say in unison. But I really want to emphasize how important this is for marketers. For the first time in the history of our industry, the strength of the creative has a direct impact on the scope of the work. If people like what you do, the algorithm serves it to more people. Great creative motivations achieve. You don’t have to spend millions on media dollars. This is a pretty amazing next step for our industry, which has spent a lot of money promoting content that viewers didn’t think was so great.

You should, however, keep a watchful eye on the latest platform updates and the cultural nuances that drive engagement. As we move forward, the ability to adapt and do a good job will be crucial to any successful marketing strategy.

At VaynerMedia, we have been working with Indeed as a client for over three years now. When asked about the changes taking place, Darragh McGinley, Head of Social Media for EMEA at Indeed, said: “We’ve moved to multiple platforms and multiple accounts per platform and market to ensure we’re Let’s adapt to the power of reaching, not subscribers. This means we optimize content for both the platform and the account it’s posted from, ensuring the best chance that something we post will resonate with audiences.

“Once the algorithm sees that you’re connecting with people, it improves what’s working, and that’s had a huge impact for us in terms of other metrics like brand awareness, consideration, and marketing. ‘commitment. This is the key to the future of how we market our brand.

Here to stay

Social media’s evolution from simple timeline feeds to complex algorithm-driven experiences is far from over. As platforms continue to innovate, we will likely see increased competition in this area, as non-traditional players fight for public attention. For example, Amazon dusted off Inspire, its short-form video shopping app, and made it more mainstream, or Netflix dubbed Moments and only enabled it in its app, creating a sort of social network for it -even.

One thing is certain: the short-form video era is here to stay, reshaping not only how we consume content, but also how we connect, learn, and express ourselves in the digital age.