Every campus has one. The glossy, cinematic video takes months of planning, thousands of dollars, and countless hours to produce: 

• Drone shots of the campus at sunrise.  

• Slow pans through state-of-the-art labs.  

• Students sharing heartfelt reasons why they chose the university. 

It premieres with a splash. The hero video on the homepage, the big feature on social, maybe even a campus event.  

For a few weeks, it feels like everyone is talking about it. And then, just as quickly, the buzz fades. The video gets buried on YouTube, tucked into a landing page, or forgotten altogether.  

It doesn’t have to be that way.  

Your long-form videos are too valuable to fade after launch. They are the foundation of your storytelling, not a one-time showpiece.  

And that’s where short-form video comes in—the solution to giving one of your biggest investments a second life and a much wider audience. 

Why Long-Form Video Still Matters 

Before we proceed, let’s be clear: long-form video is a worthwhile investment. 

When a prospective student, parent, or alum wants to understand the heart of your institution, nothing beats a five- or eight-minute story.  

Long-form lets you build emotion, highlight multiple perspectives, and connect to the deeper “why” behind your brand.  

These videos often become the centerpiece of admissions events, donor campaigns, or major announcements for good reason, as they carry weight and authority. 

Think of long-form video as part of your storytelling foundation. The problem isn’t with the content itself; it’s with what happens after the premiere. 

The Fade-Out Problem 

Most long-form videos follow the same lifecycle:  

• A big launch 

• A brief wave of attention 

• Then a slow fade 

This isn’t because the video isn’t good. The issue is platform fit. 

Your traditional-aged college prospects spend most of their online time on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. These platforms reward quick, vertical-first videos that hook viewers in seconds. A great example of this is the 9-second “holy airballlll” short by the University of Iowa, which received over 121,000 views.

As Rob Clark, Director of Advancement Media & Strategy at Greenville University and author of Growing Your Influence: Social Media Strategies for a New Generation points out, universities often upload their beautiful, horizontal long-form videos directly to social media.  

However, “platforms won’t push them out” if they aren’t optimized for vertical-first consumption. It’s like trying to screen a feature film on a Times Square billboard. Impressive production, wrong format. 

Why Students Aren’t Discovering Your Long-Form Content 

It’s not that students don’t care about your stories. They just don’t find them in the ways we expect. 

Gen Z and Gen Alpha live in short bursts of content. A 2022 survey found that 40% of Gen Z use TikTok as a search tool, right alongside Google. That means they’re not typing “XYZ University admissions video” into YouTube. They’re stumbling upon 20- to 30-second clips in their feeds and deciding whether your school is worth a closer look, like the example below from the University of Alabama. 

By the time a student chooses to sit down and watch a full admissions film, they may have seen dozens of shorter videos first. Short-form video is the splash, the quick hit that grabs attention and makes people curious enough to go deeper. 

Short-form clips act like trailers or teasers for your longer pieces. They’re bite-sized, optimized for scrolling, and designed to spark curiosity. Long-form video is the deep dive where your audience gets the full story.  

The Untapped Gold Inside Your Long-Form Videos 

This isn’t an either/or conversation. Long-form and short-form work best together. Clark puts it simply: it’s about “putting the right content in the right place at the right time.”  

Every long-form production is a wellspring of reusable moments: 

• The shot of a faculty mentor walking alongside a student. 

• The student who says, “This campus feels like home.” 

• The drone footage of a Saturday game day. 

Those aren’t just filler or B-roll footage; they’re scroll-stopping assets waiting to be repurposed. An eight-minute admissions film can easily turn into half a dozen Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or TikToks, each tailored for different audiences. 

Think of long-form as your content library. Each short-form video remix is a new way to keep that story alive. 

Southeastern Community College’s YouTube Short of their business graduate, Erin Wagner, “I know you can do this” video testimonial is one such example of a longer form video turned short.

What the Data Says About Short-Form Video Effectiveness 

Marketers outside higher education already knows the power of short-form video. A few highlights worth noting: 

• 78% of consumers prefer short videos for learning about products or services. 

• TikTok and Reels of 15 to 30 seconds consistently drive higher retention rates than longer content, with viewers staying engaged through the majority of clips. 

• Video is expected to make up 82% of all internet traffic, with short-form leading the charge. 

And Clark’s own experience underscores the point: “Quantity leads to quality.” His family brand, That Tall Family, has posted thousands of short-form videos. Not every clip went viral, but one of the least expected ones reached over 225 million views.  

You don’t always know which story will resonate. But by repurposing and testing multiple clips, you give your audience more chances to connect. 

Future-Proofing Your Strategy 

The old video marketing model was simple:  

• Launch a video 

• Celebrate it 

• Move on 

But with a limited budget and reduced staff, higher-ed marketing teams can’t afford one-and-done anymore. The new model is lifecycle-based: 

• Launch the long-form piece as your centerpiece. 

• Repurpose into 15–60 second clips. 

• Distribute those clips across popular social platforms. 

• Use analytics to see which stories spark engagement. 

• Feed that learning back into your next big production. 

The trend lines all point in the same direction. Social-first storytelling isn’t optional anymore. It’s where your audience lives. For colleges and universities, that means the stories you tell in short, scroll-stopping formats carry as much weight as traditional campaigns.  

Your university’s long-form videos are too valuable to leave on the shelf. They deserve a second life. One that extends their reach, multiplies their impact, and keeps your stories in front of the audiences who matter most. 

So, the next time you invest in a big campus film, remember that it’s not just a one-time premiere. It’s the start of a library of stories, each one ready to inspire, engage, and be discovered again and again. 

Ready to give your long-form videos a second life? Let Stamats help you repurpose your stories into scroll-stopping short-form content that reaches more students, parents, and alumni. Connect with our team today. 

Sources: WyzOwl, Descript, SocialPilot