Are you investing time in producing short-form video content for TikTok or Instagram Reels? Good news: you’re a perfect candidate for repurposing and cross-posting your content!
The truth is that every single social media post you create is ready and waiting to be repurposed. With snackable video content dominating on social media, there’s never been a better time to cross-post this content across a number of platforms, including to YouTube Shorts.
If you’re ready to maximize the lifetime value of your content, grow an omnichannel social presence and tap into a booming new video format, you need to be repurposing content for YouTube Shorts.
In this complete guide, we’ll reveal why you need to be repurposing content to YouTube Shorts, a step-by-step guide to cross posting video content and best practice tips for optimizing every single post.
What is cross posting?
Before we go any further, let’s get a few definitions straight. Cross posting is all about taking a single piece of content (such as a short-form vertical video) and sharing it to a number of social media channels.
Cross posting is all about streamlining the content creation process for business owners, entrepreneurs and content creators. Think of it like working smarter, not harder.
Instead of filming unique video content for Isntagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, cross posting allows you to film one video and post to all of your short-form video channels.
What are YouTube Shorts?
Not familiar with YouTube Shorts? Let’s get you up to speed.
Launched globally in 2021, Shorts is YouTube’s answer to the bite-sized video content format synonymous with TikTok and Reels.
Shorts are mobile-first vertical videos that are up to 60 seconds long. Each video can be shot and edited directly on the YouTube mobile app, with YouTube’s extensive music library on-hand to easily add music and audio to your clips.
Watched by millions of users daily, Shorts are visible on the YouTube homepage, in the Shorts tab on the YouTube app and on your brand’s channel homepage. Best of all, eligible creators can earn an income from Shorts as part of the YouTube Partner Program.
Three reasons why you need to cross post content to YouTube Shorts
If you’re already producing short-form video content on social media, you need to be repurposing and cross-posting it to YouTube Shorts – and here’s why.
• Reduce time spent on content creation: You know that producing video content is a time-consuming process, from conception to shooting and editing. But, by sharing the same video to multiple platforms, you can reduce the time it takes to show up consistently on social media – getting you back to what you do best sooner!
• Maximize the value of every video you create: With cross posting, you can ensure every single video you create reaches the widest audience possible, helping you to build your audience across multiple channels with ease.
• Test video performance across multiple platforms: What content does your audience want to see from you on YouTube Shorts vs TikTok? By testing the same creative on multiple platforms, you can make data-driven decisions about the content you create to optimize your results and boost your success on social media.
How to repurpose content to YouTube Shorts
So, what steps do you need to take to cross post content to YouTube Shorts? We’re taking the guesswork out of streamlining your content creation with this step-by-step guide to repurposing video content to Shorts.
• Step 1: You’ll need to start with an edited short-form video. You can either download this from TikTok or Isntagram Reels (just make sure to remove the watermark) or edit in a third-party app (like Capcut). Save it to your camera roll and head to the next step.
Pro tip: Make sure this video is under 60 seconds and resized to 1080 x 1920 pixels.
• Step 2: Open the YouTube mobile app and tap the + icon.
• Step 3: Tap Upload video.
• Step 4: Select a video from your camera roll.
• Step 5: Add your caption, select your video’s visibility and audience and tap Upload Short.
Best practice tips for repurposing video content to Shorts
With so much content being shared to YouTube Shorts every hour, you need to be strategic with what content you cross post to the platform. With these best practice tips up your sleeve, you’ll have the best chance of cutting through and capturing audience attention at scale.
• Repurpose your top-performing videos: Not sure which videos are worth cross posting to Shorts? Dive into your analytics and let data drive your decision-making! Look at which TikToks and Reels have generated the most engagement and views and start by cross posting those pieces of content.
• Upload a custom thumbnail: Want to grab attention from your YouTube channel? Make sure you’re designing eye-catching, branded thumbnails resized to 1080 x 1920 pixels. Add text overlays that quickly communicate the key message of your video to hook viewers in!
• Harnessing trending audio on Shorts: YouTube’s music library is packed with tracks and sounds ready to add to your Shorts. Make sure to source popular, trending tracks that are making waves on YouTube. The tracks that are currently trending on TikTok and Instagram might not always perform best on YouTube, so always select a new sound!
• Tap into high-performing content themes: On YouTube Shorts, educational videos (like how-to tutorials and product explainers), humorous videos (like skits or pranks) as well as user-generated content tend to be top-performers. Make sure to prioritize these content themes when looking for videos to repost from TikTok and Instagram Reels to Shorts.
Cross post your short-form video content with Plann!
Psst… have you heard the news? You can now schedule YouTube Shorts content in Plann! Harness our handy cross post tool to effortlessly repurpose snackable video content across all of your social media channels.
Skip posting on the fly or showing up inconsistently on social media. Plan ahead and cultivate a strategic social media presence with the power of scheduling through Plann.
With our new YouTube Shorts scheduling tool, you can spend less time posting content and more time building your business. Talk about a win-win!
Ready to repurpose like a pro on social media?
Looking for an all-in-one content creation suite that simplifies managing your social media channels? Inside Plann, you’ll discover everything you need to effortlessly map out your strategy, repurpose your content, and take your content to new heights across multiple platforms.
Go on, and redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
