Short vertical videos have won over the internet audience and can now be found on almost all social networks. The first was TikTok, but today YouTube Shorts, where they recently added the ability to stream, looks more perspective. In this article, let's understand why it is worth using streaming in Shorts and how to do it.

 

What are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts are short vertical videos up to 1 minute long, to which you can add licensed music and subtitles right inside the platform. Recommendations in Shorts are selected based on the popularity of the videos as well as the user's interests: previous Shorts they've liked, search history, and tracks and samples. Shorts are also ranked in YouTube searches, so a user can easily find your shorts if the topic and metadata match the search request.

On the plus side, the site is trying to actively promote this format, so it's a great opportunity for authors to expand their audience and monetize it for free. In addition, in Shorts you can promote to different GEOs from one channel. YouTube recognizes the language in clips and shows them to the appropriate audience.

 

How do YouTube Shorts differ from similar short videos on TikTok and Reels on Instagram?

 

Platform	Technical specifications	Content lifetime
TikTok	Video up to 10 minutes, description length up to 2200 characters	Content lives very little – maximum 2 weeks of views. Videos on long-playing topics can bring new audience for a long time.
Reels	Video up to 1.5 minutes, description length – up to 2100 characters.	Video can live and bring views even up to six months. In this case, new reels, if they get into the recommendations, can "revive" old videos.
Shorts	Video up to 1 minute, description length – up to 100 characters.	Content does not disappear from the audience's sight for years, especially if the video is getting on keyword requests in Google.

 

Regardless of the platform, short vertical videos are the #1 format on all social networks. Such content can effectively capture attention and deliver the right message. Short videos don't require a deep dive, analyzing information or spending time. In just a minute you can get an answer to a question, lift your spirits or learn something new. They are convenient to watch them from a cell phone and send them to friends. For authors, the short video format has a lot of advantages:

 

• It's easier, faster and cheaper to create short formats than 40-minute videos;

• short videos are more likely to be watched to the end, which increases retention and makes it easier to move forward with recommendations;

• videos with a catchy preview, title, metadata and theme can go viral and bring millions of people to you at no additional cost.

 

As for YouTube Shorts, it is one traffic attraction tool that gives a good return on investment. What's more, Shorts can now be streamed, which opens up even more opportunities for affiliates. 

YouTube Innovation: Streaming in Shorts

Streaming in Shorts is one of YouTube's most recent tools. It presents live broadcasts in a vertical "phone" format. Identical to TikTok, only with more benefits for traffic arbitrage. So what are the advantages of streaming on Shorts? 

Fresh source of traffic. Recently, most of the sites have burned out a lot and their returns are dropping. Arbitrageurs need to look for new tools, and Google's new products are always a huge interest and fresh audience. That's why streamers are a real chance to create a new source of traffic, boost your YouTube channel and accumulate a new audience on your other sites. 

Tip: you should start using vertical streamers to attract traffic as soon as possible, while the audience is not yet "overfed". 

Benefit for streamers. Today, YouTube's No. 1 goal is to lure as many big-name streamers and their audiences as possible from other platforms. For this purpose, Google prioritizes streamer shows in Shorts in every possible way – it gives authors more coverage and willingly offers streamers to users. However, it should be taken into account that the site helps to push in recommendations streamers of those authors who have "live" channels with a lot of videos with active views. If the videos on the channel have 10-50 views or the channel has no content, you should not count on YouTube benefits.

Tip: in order to use streamers as a tool to attract traffic, you first need to deal with the channel. Shoot and upload classic horizontal videos on relevant topics. The more videos, the better. But it's important to get views on them. And for this you need to pay more attention to optimization and promotion. 

Huge audience. Today, the active audience of Shorts is 2 billion users, which is 80% of the entire YouTube audience. Shorts viewers are quite loyal and active, so you can easily attract them to the streams, and then transfer them to the platforms you need. In addition, in terms of audience engagement, Shorts streams are able to gather 10 times more viewers than regular YouTube broadcasts. This is due to the novelty of the tool and the convenience of the format.

Tip: Increase your visibility on Shorts by shooting vertical content. This will help in promoting your streams, because YouTube will offer them to those people who have seen your Shorts at least once, liked, commented. Generate Shorts should be dozens, using catchy titles and previews, keywords in descriptions, and triggers at the beginning of the video. YouTube will pick up the videos and find an audience for them on its own.

Interactive communication with the audience. Streams allow you to "humanize" an offer. When the viewer sees a real person who shares useful information, answers questions, shows the trading process in real time, the offer stops being a faceless advertisement. That is, streamers allow you to build a trusting relationship with the audience from the first touches.

Tip: as with Shorts, as with streamings in Shorts, regularity and a clear understanding of what time to upload videos and air them is important. Take into account the specifics of your target audience and GEO! Determine what time your target audience is active and can spare time to watch the stream. For example, if your audience is working people, then going on air on Tuesday at 10:00 will be a bad decision. 

Traffic Monetization. The funnel in Streaming Shorts works pretty much the same way as with long-form YouTube videos. First, the audience finds recommended streams in the feed or streams of authors from subscriptions. On the stream, the user is warmed up with useful content and transferred directly to the offerer or to another platform, such as a Telegram channel, where he is closed for registration and the first deposit on the trading platform. For this purpose, QR codes and links are placed on the streamer. This is a classic streamer approach. 

Tip: To move viewers from your streams to another platform, you need to give them a motivation, such as a bonus, a promo code, exclusive content, a drawing, a contest with prizes, etc. However, you shouldn't send your audience to another site too aggressively. On-air content that retains views should come first. 

How to start streaming YouTube Shorts? Step-by-step instructions

Simply streaming to Shorts from your phone is the easiest way to go live. But note that the feature will be available after confirming the channel, and for this you need to specify and confirm your phone number. Also, streams may not be available in some regions, and for users who have less than 50 subscribers on their channel. If your channel qualifies and you can't access streams on Shorts, simply update the app to the latest version. 

 

To start streaming from your phone: 

 

• go to Shorts, tap the "+" icon at the bottom of the screen, and select the "Start Broadcast" feature;

• customize your broadcast by tapping on the pencil icon. In the field that appears, enter the trigger headline and make sure that public access to the broadcast is enabled;

• Next, select the audience, indicating that the content is not for children;

• add a description of the stream and turn on chat; 

• click "Next" and, when you're ready, click "Start live stream".

 

To show additional materials, the platform's trading terminal, and add information to the broadcast screen, you will need a third-party program, such as OBS Studio, and you will have to stream from a PC. 

 

To start streaming to Shorts from a PC: 

 

• Open or install the OBS Studio program. Additionally, on the OBS Studio website you need to download and install a special plugin for vertical broadcasts. After that, in the "Scenes" section, you will see a "Vertical Scene" box that you can customize.

• Next, in the "Sources" section, customize the capture areas, such as your browser or desktop, and add all the necessary elements that should be on the broadcast screen (captions, promo codes, logo, links, QR codes).

• Go to settings to set video, sound, etc. To do this, click "Basic" and select or manually specify the video resolution: 1080x1920.

• Go to the "Broadcast" tab in settings, then in the "Service" field, select YouTube and the broadcast key. To get the key, you'll need to go to the creative studio on YouTube and schedule a broadcast. Be sure to select the vertical broadcast settings, add a catchy description and metadata, access and turn on chat, and then you'll see the broadcast key in a new window. Copy it and paste it into OBS Studio.

• Once you've completed the settings, click the "Start Broadcast" button in OBS Studio. Then go to Youtube Studio and wait for the "Start Broadcast" button to become available. 

 

Also, using a computer and the OBS Studio program, you can easily stream at the same time on a channel (horizontal) and in shorts (vertical). To do this, you need to schedule two broadcasts in YouTube Creative Studio, add two different broadcast keys in OBS Studio, and set up two different scenes (horizontal and vertical). 

An additional plus of the broadcasts is that they are saved and can be viewed later by more users, which will add positive weight to your channel.  

 

Summary

Shorts streams have excellent prospects as a fresh source of traffic. If you already have a live channel with subscribers, a solid amount of videos and views, Shorts streams can become one of the most profitable tools for you right now.

The advantage of streams is that they don't require any investment of time and money, like shooting and editing long videos. Thanks to the chat, you can also get tons of insights and topics for classic videos on streams. Plus, recording a stream is already ready-made content that can promote your channel. And the highlights of the broadcast can be cut into shorts, which will bring you a more fresh audience. That is, in the long run, Shorts streams will become the basis of marketing strategies on YouTube. And how do you think YouTube Shorts Streams can change the way you approach video content as part of your traffic efforts?

We recommend trying out the new tool and launching your first Shorts stream while the competition is weak and the audience is loyal. Have time to take your niche and collect the cream of the crop!