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Short Video: Fewer Videos, More Reach

Get users from short vertical video (TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts) by making fewer videos that each have a better chance to spread. Picks one repeatable format for your product type (app, game, extension, SaaS, AI tool), writes hooks for the first 1-2 seconds, scripts 15-45 second videos you can film on a phone or as a screen recording, tests 3 formats against each other, then repeats only the winner and reposts it across platforms.

Beginner⏱ Setup 60 min · each video 30-60 min · 3-week test📂 socialv1.2.0

One video format that fits your product, 10 hooks, 3 scripts to test, and a rule for when to repeat a winner and when to drop a format.

Goal

Short-video platforms show each new video to a small test audience first and show it to more people if they watch and react. You don't need to post daily to win. You need a format that makes strangers watch to the end, then the discipline to repeat it with small changes. This skill helps you find that format in 3 weeks with about 9 videos, then spend your time only on the format that works.

When to use

  • Your product can be shown in seconds: a visible result, a before/after, a game moment, a satisfying action.
  • You've posted a few videos with low views and don't know what to change.
  • You want a channel that can produce a sudden spike (a momentum signal for strategy-spend-and-timing).
  • Not for: text posts on X, Threads or Facebook → social-credible-posting. A one-off launch video for Product Hunt → launch-product-hunt-launch.

Inputs

  • A phone, and a screen recorder for app/web demos (iOS and macOS have one built in; Android has one on most devices).
  • The product's "wow moment": the second where a user sees the result.
  • A landing link that works on mobile, with a UTM tag, or a store link.
  • 3 hours a week for 3 weeks.

The rules you must follow

  • Say when a video promotes something. TikTok's Branded Content Policy asks you to turn on the content disclosure setting for promotional content. Instagram and YouTube have similar paid-promotion labels (YouTube paid product placements). Promoting your own product is allowed; hiding it isn't. In the US, the FTC's Disclosures 101 applies to anyone paid or gifted to post about your product.
  • No fake engagement. Bought views, follower trades and comment pods break each platform's rules (see the TikTok Community Guidelines) and the platform's ranking learns from fake viewers who don't care about your product.
  • Use sounds you have the rights to. Business accounts usually get a smaller, commercially cleared music library. Free music (Pixabay Music, YouTube Audio Library) can go into the file; trending songs are added only inside the app.
  • Never re-upload someone else's video, even a viral one that fits your topic perfectly. Use licensed stock clips (Pexels, Pixabay) for the "frustrated person" moment, Stitch / Duet inside the app, or recreate the trend with your own footage. Sources and licenses: references/formats.md.

Steps

  1. Pick your format family (10 min). Choose the one that shows your wow moment fastest. The full list of 17 formats, with which ones an AI agent can render for you, is in references/formats.md:
Product Formats that usually fit The first 2 seconds show…
Utility app / extension Before → after · "Stop doing X manually" · speed run of a boring task The annoying "before" or the finished "after"
Indie game Satisfying clip · fail/win moment · "I made this game, can you beat it?" The most dramatic frame of gameplay
SaaS / AI tool Real input → real output · "I asked [tool] to…" · a problem-solved screen recording The output on screen
Template / design Transformation (blank → finished) · "steal my setup" The finished result
Builder story "Day N of building X" · "I made $X from a tiny app" (only with real numbers) The number or the product, not your face saying hi
  1. Write 10 hooks for that format. A hook is the first line on screen and the first thing said. Make them specific and visual:
  2. "This button saves me 20 minutes every morning."
  3. "Your Mac can do this and nobody told you."
  4. "I built a game where you lose if you blink."
  5. "POV: you finally stopped [annoying thing]." Avoid "Hey guys, today I want to show you…": that's the classic first 2 seconds that make people scroll.
  6. Script 3 videos, one per format (15–45 seconds each): Hook (0–2 s) → problem shown (2–6 s) → product does it (6–20 s) → result + one-line CTA (last 3 s). Text on screen for every line (many people watch without sound). One idea per video.
  7. Film in batches, or render. Record all 3 in one session: screen recording + a phone shot of a real hand or real screen if you can, since real-looking footage often reads as more native than polished ads. Edit in any free editor; captions on. For the Auto formats (silent demo, pain hook, before/after, satisfying, loop, challenge, race, carousel), let an agent write a render spec next to the script and build the file with a code-based video tool: references/auto-render.md. To see a full pipeline with one rule file per genre (app promo, AI tips, AI news, book debates, finance), study references/ready-made-pipelines.md. Tag each post format:, and for a test test: + variant: A|B|C, so results line up per format.
  8. Post and test (3 weeks, ~9 videos). Week 1: one video per format. Weeks 2–3: two more of each, changing only the hook. Post the same video to TikTok, Reels and Shorts (remove other platforms' watermarks). Write the disclosure and one specific CTA in the caption: "Free on the App Store, link in bio".
  9. Read the numbers that matter. For each video log: views, average watch time / % watched to the end, shares, profile visits, link clicks, installs (UTM or store campaign link). Views alone don't count; a video with fewer views but many link clicks is the better one.
  10. Keep the winner, kill the rest. After 9 videos, keep the format with the best watch-through and clicks. From now on, make only that format, 2–3 per week, with a new hook or new example each time. If a video suddenly gets 5–10× your usual views, make 3 close variations within 72 hours while the audience is warm.
  11. Turn viewers into owned users. Link to a page that captures something lasting (install, account, email), not just your homepage. → strategy-product-as-funnel.

Prompt (copy-paste)

Works in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor. Replace everything in {{ }}.

You are a short-video strategist for indie apps and games. You value watch-through and installs over views.
No fake engagement, no misleading claims, and always remind me to disclose promotional content.

Product: {{what it is, platform, price}}
Who it's for: {{...}}
The wow moment (what the user sees when it works): {{...}}
What I can film: {{screen recording / phone footage / my face / gameplay}}
Videos I've posted and their results: {{views, watch time, clicks, or "none yet"}}

1. Pick the 3 best formats for this product from: silent demo, pain hook (licensed stock clip of the problem),
   before/after, satisfying, loop, challenge, race, photo carousel, how-to, hot take, Gen Z voice-over, POV,
   trend remix, listicle, dev story, green screen, reply to a comment. Prefer formats I can render without filming
   if I say so. Say why each fits.
2. Write 10 hooks (on-screen text + spoken line), each under 12 words, specific and visual.
3. Write one 15–45 second script per format, with a timeline:
   hook (0–2s) → problem (2–6s) → product (6–20s) → result + CTA. Include on-screen text for every line.
4. Give me a 3-week posting plan (~9 videos) and a log table with: views, % watched to end, shares, profile
   visits, link clicks, installs.
5. Write the rule for keeping one format and dropping the others.
6. For each script, list the footage: my screen-recording scenes, licensed stock clips (Pexels / Pixabay) and free
   music. Never suggest re-uploading other creators' videos or baking a copyrighted song into the file.

Example output

Illustrative example. Numbers are made up to show the format.

Menu-bar app that cleans messy copied text on macOS.

Format Video Views % watched to end Link clicks Installs
Before → after "Pasting from PDFs is broken. Watch." 2,400 41% 38 12
Stop doing X "Stop retyping text from screenshots" 9,800 22% 15 3
Speed run "Cleaning 10 messy pastes in 8 seconds" 1,100 55% 21 9

Verdict: keep before → after (best clicks and installs per view). The stop doing X video got the most views but few installs: the wrong viewers. Next 2 weeks: 6 before → after videos with different source apps (PDF, Slack, email).

Common mistakes

  • Judging by views. Views without watch-through or clicks are an audience that won't install.
  • A slow start. Logos, intros and greetings in the first 2 seconds cost you most of the viewers.
  • Changing everything every video. Change one thing (the hook) so you learn what works.
  • Posting daily, burning out in 2 weeks. 2–3 good videos a week for months beats 30 rushed ones.
  • Hiding that it's your product. Disclose it; "I made this" is also a stronger hook than pretending to be a fan.
  • Sending viewers to a desktop-only page. They're on a phone. Link to the store or a mobile page.
  • Borrowing a viral clip. Re-uploading someone else's video gets the post taken down and the account struck. Use a licensed stock clip of the same feeling, or Stitch / Duet in the app.
  • Automating the wrong formats. Auto-render is great for demos and before/after; story and reply formats still need a real person.

Credits

Written by @nvminhtu. Rules: TikTok Branded Content Policy, TikTok Community Guidelines, FTC Disclosures 101 (checked 2026-10-02). Platforms don't publish their ranking formulas, so this skill relies on what you can measure.