25 questions

Short video marketing

Plain answers on Reels, Shorts, paid social costs, disclosure rules and planning ad spend for Indian D2C brands.

What are Instagram Reels?Instagram Reels are short vertical videos on Instagram. They appear in a dedicated Reels feed and are recommended to people who don’t follow the account.
What are YouTube Shorts?YouTube Shorts are short vertical videos on YouTube, shown in a swipeable Shorts feed and recommended to viewers based on what they watch.
Instagram Reels vs YouTube Shorts: which is better for brands?Both reach large Indian audiences with short vertical video. Reels sit inside Instagram’s social and shopping habits; Shorts sit inside YouTube’s search and long-form viewing. Many brands use both.
Why are ad costs so unpredictable on Meta?Because each impression is priced by a live auction. Costs move with competition, audience size, season and how the platform rates your ad.
How does the Meta ads auction work?Each time Meta can show an ad, it runs an auction. The winner is the ad with the best mix of bid, predicted action rate and ad quality, not simply the highest bid.
What is paid social?Paid social is any advertising you pay for on social platforms, such as Meta ads on Instagram and Facebook, YouTube ads, or paid posts by creators.
What is a D2C brand?A D2C (direct-to-consumer) brand sells directly to customers, usually through its own website or app, instead of mainly through retailers.
How much should a D2C brand spend on ads?There is no single right number. It depends on margins, growth goals and customer lifetime value. Start from what you can afford to pay to acquire a customer.
How do you forecast what your ad spend will buy?Use recent cost data, plan for seasonal swings, and separate channels with fixed prices from auction channels. Fixed-rate channels can be forecast exactly.
What is ROAS?ROAS (return on ad spend) is revenue from ads divided by the amount spent on them. A ROAS of 3 means ₹3 of revenue for every ₹1 spent.
What is CAC (customer acquisition cost)?CAC is the total cost of winning a new customer: marketing and sales spend divided by the number of new customers in the same period.
Why is predictable ad spend important?When you know what spend buys, you can plan launches, stock and cash with confidence, explain spend to investors, and repeat what works.
What is a good CPM in India?It varies widely by platform, audience, format and season, so there is no single benchmark. Compare CPMs only when you know what is being counted.
How can a brand reduce its dependence on Meta ads?Spread spend across channels with different pricing, build owned channels like email and WhatsApp, and add at least one channel with a known price.
What is creator-led distribution?Creator-led distribution means getting a brand’s video seen through posts on independent creators’ accounts, rather than through ad placements.
What is a paid partnership label on Instagram?It is Instagram’s built-in tag that marks a post as paid content, showing “Paid partnership” above the post. YouTube has a similar paid promotion setting.
What do ASCI guidelines say about paid social posts?ASCI, India’s advertising self-regulator, requires paid posts by creators to carry a clear, upfront disclosure label, and expects claims in them to be truthful.
How long should a short video be for Reels or Shorts?As short as the idea allows. Many effective brand shorts are 15 to 45 seconds. What matters is that people watch to the end.
What makes a good short video hook?A good hook gives viewers a reason to keep watching in the first second: a striking result, a question, a surprise or a promise of something useful.
How do you turn long videos into Shorts and Reels?Find the strongest 15 to 45 second moments, reframe them vertically, add a hook and captions, and cut everything that doesn’t lead to the payoff.
Why can small accounts get big views on Reels and Shorts?Because both platforms recommend videos based on how viewers react, not only on who follows the account. A video people watch gets shown to more people.
What is watch time on short videos?Watch time is how long viewers spend watching a video. On shorts, the share of the video people watch, and whether they rewatch, matters a lot for reach.
What is organic reach?Organic reach is the number of people who see your content without you paying to promote it, through followers, shares and platform recommendations.
How do you measure the results of a short video campaign?Start with verified views and cost per 1,000 views for reach, then look at engagement, site traffic, search interest and sales over the same period.
What is the difference between paid and organic social?Organic social is content you post without paying for reach. Paid social is when you pay for reach, through ads or paid posts. Most brands need both.