YouTube Releases New Video Ad Campaign to Boost Shorts Usage

With a new global ad campaign aimed at demonstrating how individuals can use the feature to add their own take on popular music trends, YouTube seeks to increase awareness of Shorts, its vertically aligned, TikTok-clone within the app.

The new Shorts ad campaign, featuring artists like The Weeknd and Camila Cabello, basically shows how individuals have been using TikTok for years, though with a YouTube-specific flair, as shown here. Users will be able to select the 'Shorts' button while watching a music video to rapidly make their own rendition utilizing sample audio from that clip, now that Shorts is accessible in all areas (in beta).

It's essentially a clarification of how TikTok trends actually work, which YouTube hopes will pique the interest of more of its users in the feature - and with music videos becoming one of the most popular uploads on the platform, there appears to be considerable add-on advantage in this regard.

Admittedly, Shorts is gaining popularity. Short clips have already surpassed 15 billion daily views in the app, up from 6.5 billion in April, and many TikTok clips are gaining momentum on YouTube, thanks to compilation clips and notifications from top platform celebrities. Couple that with the news that YouTube will begin granting cash incentives for top-performing Shorts, and the framework appears to be in shape for the option to become a larger component. But the question is, would it actually help prevent users from migrating to TikTok? Moreover, will Shorts truly become an important aspect of the YouTube experience?

In regards with content usage, it still appears that YouTube and TikTok fulfill entirely different goals, and that having a dedicated TikTok-like feature within YouTube will not be enough to meet this demand.

But it's possible. Perhaps, with payouts and easier access, as well as this enhanced awareness campaign, YouTube users will begin looking through their Shorts feed more frequently, hindering at least a part of users from turning to TikTok.

In any case, YouTube appears committed to moving forward, and with Shorts gaining momentum in India in the wake of the TikTok ban, it may be the best way for the company to coincide with user trends and, at the very least, mitigate some of TikTok's growing momentum.

YouTube's new Shorts ad campaign will be seen initially on YouTube, YouTube TV, and social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and, most notably, TikTok.