YouTube Shorts has rolled out a range of new tools to encourage and inspire content creation.

The six new features give creators a range of new capabilities on the platform, such as the ability to go live with Shorts, remix footage, add effects to videos and use stickers.

In addition, the social platform is trialling a new mobile-first vertical live experience that aims to improve reach by giving visibility to live creators in the Shorts feed.

Why we care. Brands will have the opportunity to get even more creative with their content output as they experiment with different features, which could help to improve engagement. The new mobile-first vertical pilot could also help brands to improve their reach by sharing live videos in the Shorts feed. Improved reach and engagement should in practice help brands to achieve more conversions and therefore a better ROI.

What’s new? The six new features rolled out on YouTube Shorts are:

• Collab – This new feature allows creators to film a Short alongside other YouTube or Short videos in a side-by-side format. Multiple layout options are available.
• Q&A stickers – Content creators can use this new feature to ask viewers questions. The audience can then leave their replies in the comments section, enabling creators to give them a shoutout as they can see who left the response.
• Mobile-first vertical live – This new feature is what will allow live creators to get discovered in the Shorts feed. YouTube is hoping this will enable creators to connect live with a new audience and build communities in a more modern way.
• Creation suggestions – YouTube can now automatically bundle the audio and effects from a Short you may be remixing. The platform can surface the same audio time stamp from the Short you just watched, and add the same effect as a creation suggestion. Content creators also have the option to mix and match.
• Shorts playlist – Creators can now save Shorts to playlists directly onto YouTube.
• Transform horizontal videos to Shorts – This new feature is being trialled in the coming weeks. Users will now be able to choose a video to remix and adjust the layout, zoom and crop to turn it into a Short.

Why now? YouTube Shorts are now viewed by more than 2 billion logged-in users a month. Given its sharp rise in popularity, it’s little surprise that Google is acting to improve the YouTube Shorts experience, as it seeks to make it a rival to TikTok and Instagram Reels – both of which recently launched new features to improve the user experience for its content creators.

What has YouTube said? YouTube posted a statement announcing the new tools on its official blog. A spokesperson said:

• “We introduced Shorts to give creators a lightweight and fun way to create and share short-form videos on YouTube, and continue to expand on the ways that creators can easily tap into their creativity.”
• “From remixing tools that help creators leverage content from across YouTube’s billions of videos worldwide in new, original content to expanding the YouTube Partner Program so creators can join and earn money from their Shorts, we want to make it easier for anyone to join in and create what they love.”
• “YouTube Shorts are now being watched by over 2 billion logged-in users every month, and today we’re introducing new ways to spark imagination and creativity.”

Deep dive. Read YouTube’s blog post in full for more information about its new tools.