Why Brands Must Tap into the Tier-2 Short-Form Content Boom in 2025

The trajectory of short-form video content has been nothing short of revolutionary since TikTok popularised the format.

Following TikTok banned from India in 2020, platforms like YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and local SFV apps such as Moj and Josh seized the opportunity, reshaping digital content consumption. With India's SFV market now reaching 250 million monthly users, a Redseer report highlights a 3.6 times increase in active users since 2020. By 2025, monthly active users are projected to increase to 650 million, urging marketers to prioritize SFV in their digital strategies for the coming year.

What’s in it for brands?

The strong case for brands to focus on SFV is its unmatched reach in tier-2 cities and beyond, which drive over 63 percent of total engagement. Mukesh Kumar, associate partner at Redseer Strategy Consultants, emphasised this demographic shift: "A large portion of users from tier-2 cities and beyond engage with SFV for discovering products, fashion trends, music, and even movies."

Further, "Brands targeting these audiences should focus on regional content, as the platforms offer strong reach and engagement in these markets. Improving ad product quality will also be crucial for platforms to attract more advertising revenue from brands focusing on this demographic," he noted. 

In 2024, SFV platforms in India contributed 1-1.5 percent of the total digital ad spend, up from less than 1 percent the previous year. Despite this, SFV accounts for 15-20 percent of total online time, creating a significant opportunity for brands to tap into underpriced attention.

Varun Malik, marketing head, Shalimar Paints, explained, "Short-format video content is the need of the hour. It is cost-effective, quick to create, easy to repurpose, and ideal for cross-platform promotion. We’ve seen much lower cost per lead and higher view rates since we adopted short format videos."

Such potential is already in the attention of different brands where SFV has become part of their digital agenda. Remarking such is Shalimar Paints which is already employing this strategy at full throttle by incorporating SFV into its marketing mix.

Malik stated, "Apparel and fashion, automobiles, food & beverages, beauty & cosmetics, fitness & sports, electronics & gadgets, travel & hospitality, home décor, home improvement, and interiors will benefit more as demonstrating products or services in bite-sized video content can create much more engagement and impulse buying behaviour."

He also enumerates a few highly valuable examples for which the SFV may come in handy in the marketer's toolbox. They include short product demonstrations, which show features and benefits in a matter of seconds and are most effective in consumer education for technical products.

ASMR style is another form of SFV that has worked wonders for the brand by getting their engaging washability tests under 30 seconds.

One of the most effective uses of short-form content marketing is user-generated content (UGC). For Shalimar, UGC initiatives featuring customer testimonials in one-minute videos have achieved impressive views through rates of 15-20 percent, according to Malik.

Amyn Ghadiali, country head at Gozoop Creative Digital, shares this positive sentiment, recognizing the power of UGC in driving engagement and brand trust.

He says, “User-generated content is the real game changer (for brands). Encouraging your audience to co-create trends transforms followers into brand advocates. With AI-powered editing tools democratising content creation, marketers can scale their SFV campaigns faster than ever.”

Further, Ghadiali highlights the content saturation challenge: "With over 100 million videos uploaded daily, it's a content jungle. For brands, the challenge is no longer about just showing up; it's about standing out."

This is what Ghadiali believes agencies also level up their game daily and have talent and content specialists who understand this space well.

Furthermore, Ghadiali emphasized, "Unlike search ads with clear intent, SFVs often play at the top of the funnel, sparking awareness rather than immediate conversions. Platforms like Instagram with their Attribution Insights are trying to bridge this gap, but it's still a work in progress."

“Brands must invest in regular, high-quality uploads while partnering with influencers or faces who bring authenticity to the table. AI and blockchain might soon solve measurement woes by providing deeper insights and transparency, but until then, the real differentiator will be a brand’s ability to adapt, experiment, and stay fearless in this high-stakes game," he added.

The influencer-brand dynamic in the SFV era

Most influencers have tailored their content to short-form videos, thanks to the rampant reach raised by platform algorithms. This high reach and engagement superseding the creator's own following or subscriber count would require different influencer marketing strategies.

Kalyan Kumar, co-founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, “Influencers are aware that platforms reward short-form videos disproportionately, unlike other content. And the brands are therefore adopting this format due to its reach.”

SFV has influenced influencer-brand dynamics by prompting brands to use influencer-led content as advertisements. This trend, which began during the Covid-19 pandemic when high-budget content was difficult to produce, has become widespread. Kumar explains that influencer content with strong organic engagement is often repurposed by brands as ad units on their own channels. Beyond the paid partnership tags, brands also amplify this content using paid media.

In addition, Sahil Chopra, founder and CEO of iCubesWire, another influencer marketing platform, explains "We are likely to see brands leaning into micro-influencers, who bring access to niche audiences and push user-generated content for community building."

"As the trend matures, brands will focus on innovative storytelling within seconds, making SFV a core element of influencer marketing strategies," he adds.