Analyze for: $ARGUMENTS
The Core Trade-Off
| Factor | Shorts | Long-Form |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Discovery engine | Revenue + authority |
| RPM | $0.01-$0.06/1K views | $1-$30/1K views |
| Audience | Cold, browsing | Warm, subscribed |
| Algorithm | Fully decoupled (2025+) | Separate evaluation |
| Retention target | 70%+ (100%+ = replays = best signal) | 50%+ |
| Evergreen value | Low (feed-driven) | High (educational = 80% views 6+ months post-upload) |
| Production | Low effort, high volume | High effort, quality-focused |
Key stat: Creators posting BOTH formats grow subscribers 3x faster (YouTube internal data).
The Growth Funnel
Short → Attention → Long Video → Subscriber → Revenue
- Shorts grow the audience
- Long-form earns ad revenue
- Brand deals, courses, products do the heavy lifting
- One deep-dive video earns as much as 10 viral Shorts
Shorts-Specific Rules
Ranking Signals (Different from Long-Form)
- Swipe-through rate
- Loop rate (above 100% retention = replays = best possible signal)
- Shares
- First-second engagement
SEO (Different from Long-Form)
- Rank on: audio, hashtags, hashtag-search combos
- NOT traditional titles and descriptions
- Trending audio gets 2.5x more views
Retention Benchmarks
- 70%+: Healthy
- Below 50%: Structural problems
- Above 100%: Replays — the strongest signal
Max Length
- Now 3 minutes (2025 extension)
- Collaboration feature: up to 5 co-authors
Monetization Threshold
- 1,000 subscribers + 10 million Shorts views in 90 days
- OR: 4,000 watch hours from long-form (standard YPP)
Decision Framework
When to Use Shorts
- Reaching new audiences in a new niche
- Testing a topic before investing in a long-form video
- Repurposing best moments from long-form (extract the rewatch "bumps")
- Building subscriber count quickly
- Trending audio is relevant to your niche
- You have a tip that can be delivered in under 60 seconds
When to Use Long-Form
- Topic requires depth (tutorials, courses, explainers)
- You want ad revenue (10x+ higher RPM)
- Building authority in your niche
- Creating evergreen content (80% of views come 6+ months later)
- You need watch hours for monetization threshold
- The video has a natural narrative arc
When to Use Both (Most Cases)
- Release the long-form video
- Extract 3-6 Shorts from the best moments
- Shorts drive discovery to the long-form
- Long-form drives revenue and subscriber loyalty
Output Format
## Format Recommendation: [Topic/Goal]
### Recommended: [Shorts Only / Long-Form Only / Both]
**Reasoning**: [why this format for this content]
### If Shorts:
- Hook style: [trending audio / text overlay / face-to-camera]
- Target length: [15s / 30s / 60s / 3min]
- Hashtag strategy: [relevant hashtags]
- Volume plan: [X Shorts per week]
- Success metric: [views / new subs / loop rate]
### If Long-Form:
- Target length: [minutes]
- Evergreen potential: [high/medium/low]
- Watch hour contribution: [estimated WH per 1K views]
- Revenue potential: [RPM estimate for niche]
### If Both:
- Long-form first, then extract [X] Shorts
- Shorts angle: [what slice of the long-form works standalone]
- Cross-promotion: [how Shorts reference the full video]
### Content Calendar
| Day | Format | Topic/Angle |
|-----|--------|-------------|