Do Short Videos Sell? How to Use Reels, TikTok and Shorts to Get Customers

The video starts with a hand knocking on a floor tile with its knuckles.

Tock. Tock. Then the same hand knocks on another piece, apparently identical. The sound is different. Hollower.

A woman's voice, off-screen, says: "Hear that? The second one is coming loose from the subfloor. If the installer on your job doesn't run this test, you'll find out six months from now."

That was it. Forty-one seconds, shot standing up, between stacks of porcelain tile boxes, at the back of Zeke's flooring store. Tina, the stock clerk, filmed it on her own phone on a Thursday afternoon, because a customer had asked the same question three times that week.

The same week, the store had published its anniversary campaign video. A drone over the storefront, an epic soundtrack, a model walking barefoot on marble flooring. Produced by a production company, with a production company's budget.

At the end-of-month meeting, Zeke wrote on the whiteboard how many people had come into the store mentioning each video.

The campaign video won on views. Tina's won on everything else.

The Short Answer

Short videos sell when they answer a real question from someone close to buying and are published consistently, not as a one-off event. Reels, TikTok and Shorts work as an acquisition channel when the video shows the product in use, teaches something the customer needs to know and ends with a clear next step, like visiting the store, requesting a quote or sending a message. A beautiful video with no usefulness generates reach; a useful video, repeated every week, generates customers.

An acquisition channel is any path by which a customer reaches you. Short video is one of them, and one of the cheapest to test: the equipment is already in your pocket.

Tina's Video, Second by Second

It's worth looking closely at why those 41 seconds worked, because almost none of it was luck.

Seconds 0 to 3: a sound, not a brand. The video doesn't open with the store's logo or a "Hey, everybody." It opens with a tock that makes you want to hear it again. People scrolling stop at what looks strange or curious, not at what looks like an ad. Seconds 3 to 12: the contrast. Two identical pieces, two different sounds. The viewer's brain understands the problem before any explanation. Seconds 12 to 30: the consequence. "You'll find out six months from now." This is where the video stops being a curiosity and becomes a topic for someone who's renovating. People who aren't in the middle of a project keep scrolling. People who are watch to the end and send it to the installer. Seconds 30 to 41: the next step. Tina ends by saying: "If you like, bring a piece of your flooring in and we'll test it with you." No price, no promotion. An invitation to come to the store.

The anniversary campaign was prettier in every second. But it didn't answer a single question from someone with a project on hold, waiting to decide.

Ivy and the Video That Went Viral Once

Across town, Ivy had a tile and surfaces store of the same size. And she had lived through a similar story a year earlier.

A video of hers showing a restored vintage tile surpassed everything the store had ever posted. For a week, the phone didn't stop ringing. She was happy, helped whoever she could and waited for the next video to go viral.

It didn't. Neither did the one after. Ivy posted two more, without consistency, and concluded that it had been luck.

Zeke, at the end of that month, reached a different conclusion. He didn't ask how to repeat the success. He asked how to turn it into a channel.

The difference between the two is the difference between a winning lottery ticket and a paycheck.

How to Turn Short Video Into a Sales Channel

Zeke didn't hire anyone. He did three things with the team he already had:

1. He set up a question notebook. Every question a customer asked at the counter, Tina or the salesperson wrote down. First step: keep a notebook or a phone note at the register and log for two weeks the questions that repeat. Every question is a video.

2. He created a workable calendar. Three videos a week, all shot at once on Thursday afternoon, in the same corner of the stockroom. First step: choose a fixed day and place and shoot several videos in one session. Consistency is worth more than production.

3. He posted the same video everywhere. Reels, TikTok and Shorts accept the same vertical format. First step: shoot once and publish on all three. Each platform reaches different people, and the effort is nearly the same.

In addition, two formats pair well with short videos:

A YouTube channel with longer videos. The short ones attract; the long ones explain. A ten-minute video on "how to choose flooring for an outdoor area" keeps being found in search for a long time. First step: gather your five most-viewed shorts on one subject and shoot a complete version.

A live Q&A. Once a month, half an hour answering questions live. First step: announce the live a week ahead in your shorts and bring the questions from the notebook to answer.

To measure, Zeke did the simplest thing in the world: the salesperson started asking every new customer "how did you hear about the store?" and wrote down the answer. Views are a platform number. A customer who walks in saying "I saw the tock-tock video" is a register number. In thirty days of routine, he knew which topics brought people and which only brought likes.

If your profile already has followers and still doesn't sell, the problem is usually similar to the anniversary campaign's: lots of reach, little usefulness. It's worth reading what to do when Instagram has followers but doesn't sell.

Which Side Are You On

There's a kind of business owner who waits for the perfect video to get started.

And there's another who shoots Thursday's useful video, even with a box of porcelain tile in the background.

The first invests in one campaign a year and hopes. The second posts three times a week and measures. A year later, the first has a beautiful video. The second has a channel.

But it's worth saying what Zeke learned right after: short video is only one channel. A good one, but one. His store still needed referrals from installers, reviews on Google, partnerships with architects. The video brought new people; the other channels made those people come back and refer others.

The 100 Acquisition Channels Guide, by Luiz Philipe Campos, shows that whole map. 100 channels in 10 parts, and one of them is just social media and video: short videos, a YouTube channel, Instagram as a storefront, customer-generated content, content creators, lives and live selling. The other nine cover referrals, partnerships, search, ads, prospecting, communities, platforms, offline and PR. For each channel: what it is, a practical example, the first step to test it, who it works best for and what it costs to try. And two bonuses so you don't do what Ivy did: a spreadsheet to score channels and choose your first three, and a 30-day, day-by-day plan to launch the first with consistency and decide whether to keep it, adjust it or swap it.

Next step

Don't depend on a single way to win customers

Everything in this article works better when new customers arrive every month. Most businesses depend on two or three channels and suffer when one of them slows down. The 100 Acquisition Channels Guide shows 100 ways to win customers, a practical example of each one and the first step to test it spending little or nothing.

• ✓The 100 channels, one by one, from the best known to the ones almost nobody uses
• ✓A practical example and a low-cost first step for each channel
• ✓A simple way to choose the channels that fit your business now
• ✓Bonus: Channel scorecard
• ✓Bonus: 30-day test plan

Get the 100 acquisition channels guide for $49

One-time payment · Instant access · 7-day guarantee

The PDF lands in your inbox at the moment of purchase. It costs less than a team lunch, and the channel in this article costs zero to test: a phone, a customer's question and a Thursday afternoon.

If it doesn't suit your business, Hotmart refunds your payment within 7 days.

Zeke, Tina and Ivy are characters created for this text.

Frequently asked questions

Do short videos sell, or do they just get views?+

They sell when they answer a real question from someone close to buying, show the product in use and end with a clear next step. Videos made only to entertain or to show off the brand tend to generate reach without generating customers. Posting consistency matters more than production.

How many short videos should I post per week?+

The right number is the one you can keep up. For a small business, shooting several videos at once, on a fixed day of the week, and publishing them over the following days is usually more sustainable. Test with the same frequency for at least thirty days before judging the channel.

Is it worth posting the same video on Reels, TikTok and Shorts?+

In most cases, yes. All three platforms use the vertical format and reach different audiences, so posting the same video on them increases reach with little extra effort. Track where your customers come from to know which one deserves more attention.

Where can I find other ways to sell besides social media?+

The 100 Acquisition Channels Guide gathers 100 channels in 10 parts, such as referrals, partnerships, search, prospecting, communities, platforms and offline, each with an example, a first step and a cost to test. It comes with a spreadsheet to choose your first three channels and a 30-day test plan. Access is immediate through Hotmart, with a 7-day guarantee.

Does it work for my type of business?+

Yes. The channels cover local businesses, service providers, online stores, B2B companies and professionals. The guide helps you pick the ones that fit your case.

How do I receive the guide?+

Right after payment, Hotmart sends the access to your email. You can read it on your phone, computer or print it.

What if I don't like it?+

You have a 7-day guarantee. If it isn't for you, ask for a refund through Hotmart within that period.

The 100 Acquisition Channels Guide

100 ways to win customers without depending on a single source of sales

Get the 100 acquisition channels guide for $49

One-time payment · Instant access · 7-day guarantee