The news: Young US consumers engage with short-form video as much as they do with TV shows, per Luminate, and they’re using the medium and social media to find new content to watch and listen to.

• 57% of viewers ages 18 to 24 discover new movies and TV shows through short-form social video, compared with 33% through commercials, ads, or trailers on TV.
• About two-thirds of frequent moviegoers in that cohort find movies through traditional social media (67%) and short-form social video (62%).
• Over half of music listeners in the 18 to 24 range find new music and artists through short-form social video (53%), on par with video and audio streaming services themselves (55%).

Zooming out: Many streamers have introduced short-form offerings in the past year to capitalize on users’ interest in the format.

• Netflix is using publisher deals—including with BuzzFeed, Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, PMX, People Inc., and Tastemade—to expand its short-form offerings and increase time spent.
• Disney+ launched Verts, a short-form video feed with clips from Disney shows and movies, aimed at encouraging content exploration.
• Prime Video added news content and hundreds of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels to attract Gen Zers’ attention.
• Peacock and Tubi incorporated vertical video feeds in their mobile apps.

Most haven’t established ad inventory options yet, indicating the offerings are more about getting users to watch new content and spend time on-platform than about bringing in ad revenues.

Implications for entertainment marketers and streamers: Short-form has cemented its place as a core part of young consumers’ entertainment habits, giving studios and streamers a dedicated place to reach audiences.

• Clips and highlights, creator partnerships, and social-first campaigns build interest and awareness ahead of releases.
• Shareable content, such as fan edits and creator commentary, adds the power of organic engagement.

Meanwhile, word of mouth and platform browsing remain powerful levers, per Luminate—out-of-home ads like billboards encourage in-person conversations, and placements on streaming homepages capture attention.

Marketers should also focus on measuring viewership and avoiding association with low-quality social content.

• Connect short-form exposure to trailer views and ticket purchases by adding UTMs to social links and scrutinizing timing of engagement in relation to campaign launches.
• Avoid working with aggregator accounts, as trailers or clips that add little to traditional commercials and ads may be seen as spammy.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.