YouTube has announced some updates to its BrandConnect creator monetization pathway, while it’s also got some new updates for Community Posts in its latest feature update.
But first off, YouTube has provided an update on its transfer of all videos under 3 minutes in length to Shorts, in order to give it more Shorts content.
Back in October, YouTube announced that all videos up to three minutes in length would soon be re-classified as Shorts, and listed as such within YouTube’s system. After many questions from creators, YouTube then clarified that this would only apply to new uploads, and would not be retrospectively applied to older clips.
And now, after a gradual roll out in each region, YouTube says that it has completed this process.
“We finished rolling out updates that make your Shorts [of between] 1 to 3 minutes in length appear as such across the “Subscriptions” tab Channel pages and YouTube Studio. These videos have moved into the short shelf on the “Subscriptions” page they’ve also moved into the “Shorts” tab on the channel page and YouTube Studio.”
So now, every video uploaded to YouTube that’s less than 3 minutes long will be a Short, and will be eligible to be displayed in the Shorts feed.
Which could improve your potential of getting views, considering Shorts now drive more than 70 billion daily views in the app. But it is an adjustment, which will impact your stats.
YouTube further notes that if you don’t want your shorter video uploads to be considered as Shorts, then you can upload your videos in wider aspect ratio (e.g. 16×9), which will ensure that they don’t get re-classified as a Short.
On another front, YouTube’s also making it easier to upload videos created outside of YouTube, by enabling creators to tap into Shorts tools for externally recorded content.
“Now, when creators share a video to YouTube from another app, on both Android and iOS, they’ll have direct access to Shorts creation tools, meaning that they can easily trim, add details, and enhance their video before publishing, just like they can when creating videos directly in the YouTube app.”
That’ll make it easier to utilize externally recorded content within the YouTube process, and get even more Shorts flowing into YouTube’s system.
YouTube’s also rolling out an update to its quiz option for Community Posts, with creators now able to add images to their quiz questions.
YouTube added quizzes for Community Posts back in 2022, and this update will make them more engaging, which could help to drive more conversation among your Page fans.
Also on Community Posts, YouTube’s adding new text style options within the post composer, as well as “Dream Screen” for posts, which will enable users to generate new images based on a prompt they add.
So you’ll have another way to utilize AI within your YouTube process, which could help you create more engaging, interesting posts for your community.
YouTube says that Dream Screen for posts will initially be available to creators with posts access in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, before an expanded roll out in future.
Finally, YouTube is also making it easier for creators to tap into its BrandConnect offering, which aims to connect brands with creators for content partnerships.
BrandConnect, which YouTube launched back in 2020 (renamed from “FameBit”), alerts creators to potential branded content partnership opportunities, and enables them to pitch brands with their ideas, in order to facilitate monetization pathways for creators.
And now, BrandConnect will be available from within YouTube Studio itself.
Creators who are eligible for the BrandConnect program will now see a dedicated tab in YouTube Studio under the “Earn” tab, where they’ll be able to sign up enable and access BrandConnect features.
That’ll make it easier for more creators to sign-up for monetization opportunities, which will also enable businesses to tap into a broader range of creative talent for their promotions.
Some interesting updates in YouTube’s latest release, which could relate to how you make best use of the app.
