YouTube is rolling out Clips to ten times more creators, a feature which allows users to grab short, shareable snippets from full length videos.
Unlike YouTube Shorts, a feature that the company has been pushing hard lately, Clips is not a new way to create videos. Clips is a new way to repurpose existing content.
When a channel has the Clips feature enabled, users can grab a specific block of time from one of the channel’s videos and turn it into a shortened highlight.
The feature is only a few months old at this point, and currently in limited alpha testing, but its one that content marketers should pay attention to.
Here’s more about YouTube’s Clips and how it can benefit marketers.
YouTube Clips: All the Details
YouTube Clips give users the ability to clip an exact moment from a video and share it with others. This can help creators get more mileage out of their content and potentially reach a wider audience.
Clipping is massively popular on other video platforms like Twitch, as it lets users intuitively share brief highlights from videos that may be hours in length.
On YouTube, Clips can range from 5 to 60 seconds in length. When a clip is generated it can be shared with a unique URL that links back to the creator’s channel.
Every time a viewer clips a video and shares it they’re helping the creator gain more viewers. Creators can also clip their own content and share it if they wish.
When Clips was first introduced this past January it was originally intended for live streams only. YouTube has since relaxed those rules and enabled Clips for regular video uploads.
Clips was previously limited to a small test group. Over the coming weeks it will be rolled out to “ten times” the number of people who originally had access.
Admittedly it’s hard to know what that means without knowing how many people were in the test group. YouTube says priority will be given to gaming channels, which is another indication YouTube is trying to mirror the success of clips on Twitch.
Along with a wider rollout, YouTube is upgrading Clips with a public view count, which lets other users see how many times a particular clip has been viewed.
How to Create a YouTube Clip
When a channel has the ability to create Clips, a new button will appear underneath the video viewer next to the upvote and downvote buttons.
After clicking the “Clip” button, a window will appear where users can select an exact block of time, add a title, and instantly generate a clip.
Users can create a clip either by entering timestamps of the beginning and end, or use YouTube’s visual slider.
Clicking “Share Clip” will create a URL that can be distributed to friends or shared on social media.
I tested it out using YouTube’s announcement of the expansion of Clips, and here is the result.
How meta is that? A clip about Clips!
It’s worth noting that I tried to embed the clip in this article but it didn’t work. Perhaps that’s something for YouTube to work on as Clips progresses through the development phases.
Look for the ability to create Clips next time you’re watching your favorite creator on YouTube.
