🎥 Before Creating Your Viral AI Shorts: You Must Read This Guideline: Types, Captions, Visuals, Music...

Introduction

Short videos are everywhere these days on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts and for good reason. They grab attention fast, keep people engaged, and have the potential to reach millions in minutes. As someone who's created hundreds of these videos, I can tell you, they work.

The beauty of short videos is that they’re easy to watch and quick to share. People love content that delivers value fast, whether it’s something funny, inspiring, or educational. With the help of AI, creating these videos has become even easier. From generating captions to editing clips, AI tools can save you time and make your videos stand out.

In this part of the playbook, you’ll learn several elements of creating short videos that people want to watch and share. If you want to go straight and generate your own videos right now, click here and see the step-by-step guide to get a full faceless AI videos. But we recommend you to go through this first to ensure the best result.

We’ll cover the types of videos that work, how to write captions that grab attention, tips for visuals and music, and even step-by-step editing tutorials. By the end, you’ll have everything you need to start creating short videos that can boost your reach, engagement, and even your brand.

I. Types of Short Videos That Grab Attention

To get started, let's talk about the different types of videos you can create. There are so many options, like trends, transitions, lip syncs, before-and-afters, talking to the camera, pointing to text, and more. But, there are 5 main categories you should focus on. Understanding these categories will help make sure your shorts bring value and will make the creation process easier for you. It will also give you a solid framework with lots of creative ideas.

1. Motivational Videos

First up is the motivational videos. When it comes to motivational videos, the possibilities are nearly endless. The goal of these videos is simple: to motivate your audience to take action. You want your viewers to feel like, “Wow, I really needed to hear this today,” or “This gave me the push I needed to get started.”

=> The best motivational videos inspire viewers to make a change, even when they’re cozy on the couch (which is always tempting!). Like this:

Motivational shorts can either be based on a personal story, which helps build a connection with your audience, or simply a powerful audio (like the AI voice clone I told you) that evokes the feeling you want to share, combined with your video footage. Some of my favorite creators for motivational content are jayshetty and the project50days. Their videos give people hope and courage to work toward their dreams.

If you’re in the self-help niche, for instance, you could create a video with a message that encourages people to prioritize their health. This could be a simple text overlay on a soothing background clip or a direct-to-camera talk using your avatar (not your face).

Another way to motivate is by sharing workout or transformation videos. This can be just what your audience needs to get off the couch and into the gym. You can also share home workouts or before-and-after videos using AI tool. If you want to go the storytelling route, try a "story time" short, where you talk about a past experience that taught you something valuable, or share the struggles you faced to get where you are today. This helps your audience relate more to you and might give them the extra push they need. Like this one:

If you're a business owner, you could show a before-and-after of where you started and what you've achieved. The possibilities really are endless. And to give you more ideas, you can visit our community for more examples. So don’t forget to check it out!

2. Inspirational Videos

The second category is the inspirational videos. When we talk about inspirational videos, we’re referring to videos that make people think, “Wow, I feel inspired to try something new today,” or “This is so good, I really want to go there one day,” or even “I want to have that same thing.”

=> Inspirational videos aim to give people a sense of possibility. You want to inspire them, open up new ideas, and show them opportunities they might not have thought of before.

For our AI Fire accounts, we like to use this category to inspire people to wait for AI tools or AI courses that’s worth looking for or to encourage them to believe in their AI dreams and put in the work.

If you’re in the food niche, for example, you could share an amazing restaurant and inspire your audience to visit. If you’re in fashion, you might share outfit ideas, like Liora does.

In the travel niche, sharing beautiful destinations can inspire people to travel there, or you could highlight a hotel they should stay in.

If you’re in the lifestyle niche, you can create POV (point of view) videos. For photographers, you might want to inspire people to take more photos, visit a specific location, or even book a shoot with you. There are so many ways you can inspire people through your story, your tips, your recommendations, or your talent.

An inspirational videos spark a fire in your viewer, making them want to take action, whether that’s booking a flight to explore the world or taking that first step to improve their life.

3. Entertaining Videos

The next category is the entertaining videos. Technically, all shorts should be entertaining in some way: they should keep the viewer interested until the very end. But for this category specifically, we're talking about content that's funny, playful, or so cute it could make you cry. Examples of entertaining shorts include comedy skits, funny animal videos, or bloopers, and these can come from pretty much any niche.

For example, during the holidays, you can join a few challenges like the ones shown here.

Challenges are not only entertaining, but they also encourage your audience to engage, comments, or stitch your videos. You could start a new challenge or join an existing one. Personally, I also love sharing latest AI memes with my audience, which is another great option for entertaining shorts. Things don’t always go as planned, and that’s fine and they’ll love it!

You could also create short skits, which are basically short comedy sketches, or lip-syncing videos using your AI avatar like this.

If you're a clumsy person or someone who just has bad luck but a good sense of humor, you could create storytime videos and tell funny stories, like how you struggled with stomach problems after eating Asian cuisine 😂

Once again, the options in this category are endless, but they all have one thing in common: they aim to put a smile on people's faces. These shorts bring some lightness to people's day, especially when it's easy to get bogged down by all the heavy things happening in life and the world. Plus, they're a lot of fun to make!

4. Educational Videos

The next category is the educational videos. When we talk about educational videos, we don’t mean you have to be an educator. You can be a creator, a brand, or even a business, and still educate your audience about something in your niche. The goal is to share value by teaching your ideal audience something.

There’s always something to teach in every niche. For example, you could share a hack to solve a common problem when using ChatGPT like AI Fire did, give a tip on how to do something better, or clear up a misconception that people often have.

If you're in the travel niche, you might teach people how to book cheaper flights. If you're in beauty, you could show people how to care for their hair. If you have an animal account, you could offer tips on how to train a puppy. If you’re a business owner, you might educate your audience about the benefits of your product or the origin of your resources.

As with the other categories, there are many ways to share educational shorts. You could create a tutorial teaching people how to color grade videos or how to take better video shots. Or, if you’re in the gardening niche, you could teach people how to care for their plants while they’re on vacation. The possibilities are endless, and it's all about sharing knowledge in a way that benefits your audience.

Another option for educational videos is pointing videos. In these, you simply point at the screen while different text boxes with facts about your topic pop up. No matter what type of educational shorts you create, remember to stay authentic.

Don’t forget to include your personality! Just sharing dry facts can get boring quickly, so make sure your videos stay interesting and unique. If you do this well, these videos will help establish you as an expert in your field, which is always a great achievement.

5. Aesthetic and Satisfying Videos

Now, for our last category, we have oddly satisfying and aesthetic videos. These two types have a lot of overlap, which is why we’re grouping them together. Aesthetic shorts are all about the visuals - those small, beautiful moments which can be generated in seconds by Midjourney. Think of pouring a nice cup of coffee next to a fresh bouquet of flowers in the morning, a campfire crackling near a mountain lake, or sweet clips from your favorite moments on a trip with your partner or best friend.

Oddly satisfying videos are another type. Have you ever come across a video of someone cutting food, filling a container to the top, or peeling stickers off something? You might have stopped scrolling because the visuals or the sounds were so satisfying. These types of videos can be mesmerizing. When creating aesthetic or oddly satisfying videos, the focus is on the sensory experience. Whether you're walking through a market full of colorful spices or listening to an egg sizzling in a pan, the goal is to make your audience feel like they’re experiencing the moment with you.

Try using LoudMe's AI sound effect generator, for example, you can even produce hyper-realistic sound effects for games, films, podcasts, and more.

These types of videos let your viewers escape reality for a while. Some examples are ASMR videos, like unboxing or cooking videos, or even a cat eating something. Though they might sound odd, people love them! You could also create a satisfying shortcut of a flower blooming or clouds drifting across the sky, or show a part of your morning routine, like preparing coffee. There are so many sites for pre-made videos like these:

Aesthetic and satisfying videos are great for grabbing attention and hooking your viewers. The content itself might not be super exciting, but the sensory experience keeps people watching. Depending on your niche and what you want to focus on, you can choose to specialize in one of these categories or mix and match over time.

=> Once you’ve decided which categories to focus on, you can start thinking of the different types of videos to create.

We suggest writing down all your ideas and organizing them. Once you have a list of ideas, set up a framework for yourself. This is something I do to stay organized. With the five main categories and their different types of videos, you’ll want to lay them out and see how you can space them out over time. For example, you don’t want to post 10 before-and-after videos in a row. It’s tempting to keep creating the same type of Reel if it performs well and goes viral, but this can make your audience get bored of your content.

Instead, spread out the content so your audience always has something new to discover. This keeps them excited to see your next post and curious about what you’ll come up with next. If your account is based on a specific concept, though, you might want to stick to one type of content for consistency, but that’s up to you.

If you want to vary your posts, it's important to have a clear strategy and a framework to help guide you. My framework includes different video concepts, like one-scene videos, transition videos, trending videos, funny shorts, or videos based on big events like OpenAI’s new o3 model. I then use this framework with the different types of shorts I create to make sure my posts stay diverse and interesting.

II. Writing Captions That Stop the Scroll

1. What makes a good caption?

When most people think of short videos, they focus on the video itself, but what about the caption that goes with it? Do captions really matter? What should you write? Should it be long or short? Can it just be a few hashtags? These are all great questions, and in this video, we’ll make sure to answer all of them.

Captions are the first thing people notice when they see your video, so they need to grab attention instantly. A strong caption can make someone stop scrolling and engage with your content.

Let’s start by talking about what makes a good caption. A good caption is one that tells a story, makes people laugh or cry, or gets them nodding their heads because they feel understood. Captions are more than just words and hashtags, they should make people feel something. Whether it’s making them think, laugh, or reflect, a thoughtful caption creates a window into your world and sometimes even into theirs.

For example, AI Fire often use captions about feelings, experiences, or relatable, surprising things.

These are different emotions that people experience when they read our captions, but the key is that they make people feel something. And when you make people feel something, you provide value. When your videos provide value, they usually get more saves.

As you’ve learned in this playbook about the algorithm, the more saves and shares a video has, the more likely platform will push it to the Explore page and Reels tab, resulting in even more views. Your caption can also influence how someone perceives your video. It can make the difference between someone just watching your video and scrolling past or actually reading the caption, commenting on your post, and hitting that follow button.

From the start, we’ve always aimed to create thoughtful captions that explain what our posts are about, share lessons and stories, and help connect people. We want our audience to feel included in our world. This, we believe, is one thing that sets us apart from other accounts and creators who take shortcuts with their captions.

Don’t just let your video do the talking, make sure your captions are engaging, written in your own voice, and truly represent who you are. They should come from your heart. Of course, it’s not always easy to come up with a good caption every day, and you don’t have to write a novel for it to be engaging or thoughtful. You just need to provide value to your audience.

2. How to Get a Perfect Caption

So, now you understand that captions are important, and a good caption is one that makes someone feel something. But how do you actually achieve that? We like to categorize our captions into 6 different groups. You can stick to just one category, or mix and match them, which is what we personally like to do.

No. 1: Value-added captions. These are personal thoughts on a topic in your niche, inspirational stories, and educational captions. These types of captions are great for positioning yourself as an expert and building a connection with your audience. For example, if you're a travel influencer, you could list out your top recommendations for the city you're featuring. If you're a fashion influencer, you could caption your Reels with tips on how to combine different colors or share the latest trends.

No. 2: Personal Captions: These include life updates, personal stories, or lessons learned through trials and errors. Sharing these deepens your connection with your audience and makes you more relatable. When you open up, you help people feel less alone and give them insight into your life.

No. 3: Engaging Captions: These captions focus on creating interaction by asking questions or touching on trending topics. They provoke discussions and are great for boosting engagement in the comments. This category works well with others, like value-added or personal captions.

No. 4: Entertaining Captions: These captions include jokes, funny moments, or embarrassing stories. They're great for showing your personality, making you more relatable, and putting a smile on your audience's face. These can be fun and help engage your followers. Take this pic as some examples:

No. 5: Call to Action (CTA) Captions: These captions encourage people to take a specific action, like liking, commenting, sharing, or following. CTAs help direct your audience to take action, whether it's engaging with your content or signing up for something.

No. 6: Promotional Captions: These focus on promoting a product, service, or account. When writing promotional captions, always make sure to explain the value it brings to your audience. Rather than just listing product features, connect it to the benefit for your followers—how it improves their life or solves a problem.

Depending on your niche, some of these categories will make more sense than others. If you're a creator, personal or educational captions might resonate more with your audience, while a brand account might focus on promotional captions to drive sales. However, all types of accounts can use a mix of these categories.

When you’re just starting, it might make sense to use value-added and engaging captions to build trust and connect with your audience before jumping into promotional ones. It's easier to ask for action once you've established a relationship with your followers.

Now, let’s talk about caption length.

• Instagram allows up to 2,200 characters, including spaces and emojis.

• YouTube allows up to 100 characters, including hashtags.

• Facebook offers a generous character limit of 63,206.

• X with 280 characters maximum and not more than 2 hashtags.

• For LinkedIn post, the limit is 3,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

But, remember that just because you can write that much doesn’t mean you have to. The length will depend on your message. For photo posts, longer captions tend to lead to higher engagement, as we've noticed on our personal account. But for short videos, shorter captions tend to work better, typically around 3 - 5 sentences. People prefer fast-paced content and don’t want to spend too much time reading, especially since they have to click "read more" to see the full caption.

Short captions, like a sentence or two, can be effective and get people to take quick action, such as commenting or liking the post. The advantage of this is it won’t distract from your video, but the downside is it may not provide as much value or connection. Longer captions give more context, value, and personality, and can help create a stronger bond with your audience. However, they also risk covering up the video, especially if the caption isn’t engaging enough to keep people reading.

=> We suggest experimenting with both short and long captions. For example, I keep my captions short and related to my video, with a little surprise or call to action. If you’re a long-caption writer, you can explain things in more detail, share tips, or start a conversation. This can help provide more value and improve retention, as people may stay longer on your post.

Next, we’ll talk about how to structure your captions. 

• The first element is the headline, which is the first sentence. It’s crucial to make it compelling and interesting, so people want to click “read more.”

• The body of the caption should provide valuable information, but be mindful of readability. Use line breaks to avoid a large chunk of text, making it easier to read.

• The outro should encourage engagement, like asking a question or making a statement that provokes a reaction.

Other tips include using relevant hashtags to help the algorithm, using emojis to make your captions more relatable, and writing in your brand voice. Always proofread your captions, and if needed, use grammar check tools like Grammarly.

III. Tips For Your Videos Cover Photos

The next thing we want to discuss is cover photos for your videos. You’ve already learned that cover photos are not the ultimate things, but there are some other things to consider like what makes a good cover photo, and if it should relate to your video. These are all valid questions, and by the end of this chapter, you'll have answers to them.

Let’s start with the basics: your cover image should always be in the 9:16 format, or 1,080 by 1,920 pixels. But if you keep your video on your main grid, only a square part of the image will show, which is 1,080 by 1,080 pixels. So, if you decide to use an image as your cover, keep in mind that only the square section will appear on your grid.

Now, let’s talk about the first question: Are cover photos important? Well, the answer is - it depends. When people are scrolling through the Reels feed, they won’t see your cover photo. Your video starts playing directly. The same goes for the Explore page, where the cover photo doesn’t show up either. So, in these situations, it doesn’t matter much what your cover photo is.

However, your cover photo will show up on your profile and in your Reels section. If someone visits your profile, they will see these cover photos, so choosing the right one could make the difference between them clicking to watch your Reel or moving on. So, cover photos do matter in some cases.

When it comes to the cover image itself, there’s no right or wrong approach, but there are four options you can choose from:

• Create a cover photo specifically for your videos: You can shoot a separate image while making your video. If you record your video with a good camera, you can also take a screenshot and use that as your cover. If you shoot the cover separately, you have more control over the composition and can ensure the quality and style fit your grid. Remember, your cover should still be in 9:16 format, but when it’s posted, only the square part will show, so leave enough space around the edges to avoid cropping. If you’re using AI tools like us, creating another cover photo is such a piece of cake.

  

• Use a frame from your video: Instead of staging a separate photo shoot, you can use a frame from your video as the cover. This is similar to what people do on TikTok, and it’s becoming more popular. AI Fire does this sometimes, our cover photos aren’t always perfect, but they capture an authentic moment, which creates curiosity and encourages people to click on the video. This style is a great way to keep things real and get people interested in your video.

  

• Use a cover image unrelated to your video: Another option is to use a cover photo that doesn’t match your video at all. Laurandnicolas often do this, showing something completely different from the content of their videos. For example, they might post a picture of a green bag, even though their video is about something else. This works well if you want to showcase your creative work or your portfolio. Brands and hotels may prefer this approach because it gives them a curated look, especially if they want content that matches their aesthetic.

  

• Design a custom cover: This option gives you endless possibilities. You can add text to your cover photo to give people an idea of what the video is about. If you prefer not to use an image, that’s fine too. For example, you can create cover photos that are just text. Adding text to your cover can immediately communicate what the video is about, helping people decide whether to watch.

Finally, if you’ve already uploaded a video and you’re not happy with the cover image, you can change it later. To do this, based on each platform, you can click on the three dots on the top of your videos, tap on edit, and then click on your cover image. From there, you can choose a new photo from your library.

To sum it up, there’s no right or wrong choice for cover photos. Each option has its pros and cons, so experiment with what works best for you and your audience. Once you figure out what resonates, stick with it to create a consistent strategy for your content.

IV. Choosing the Right Music

1. The Power Music Can Have Over Your Reels

Music can make or break your video. It’s the perfect way to set the tone and convey the emotion you want your video to have. As Hans Zimmer, the famous film composer, once said, "If you talk to any director, they will say music is 50% of the movie”. You don’t need to get into complicated music terminology, but we’ll cover a few simple terms that will help you with your videos.

First, let’s talk about major and minor keys. This is pretty straightforward - major is happy, and minor is sad. So, music in a major key sounds happy, and music in a minor key sounds sad. Happy and upbeat music works really well with videos that feature people dancing or moving or interesting stories, as it gives the action a sense of purpose. It’s perfect for light-hearted, playful shorts. Using happy songs can create a feeling of celebration and fun, helping to capture the energy of your content.

=> On the other hand, upbeat, triumphant music can shift the mood of your video from cheerful to motivational and inspiring.

Imagine a video where a woman walks out of her house and steps into the driver’s seat of a nice car. If happy music is playing, it suggests that life is good and she’s about to enjoy a fun day. If motivational music is playing, it gives the feeling that she’s a go-getter, she’s already got a nice car, but there’s still more she wants to achieve. The right music helps set the story and emotion behind your visuals => We can imagine all of this without the woman even saying a word or making a sound, just through the music.

If we use gentle, quiet music, it shifts the focus. Instead of the action, we start paying attention to the details—what she’s wearing, what kind of car she drives, what her house looks like, and the setting around her. The scene becomes less about what she’s doing and more about the environment and her emotions.

Now, if the music is more subtle and classic, maybe something played on the piano, it draws attention to the aesthetics of the video, making the focus more on the beauty of the surroundings and the woman’s experience. So, choosing the right music is crucial, as it can completely change the meaning and feel of your video.

2. Find Trending Audios

Trending audio is one of the easiest ways to boost the visibility and appeal of your short videos. When you choose a popular sound, your video is more likely to appear on the “For You” page (TikTok) or in the suggested Reels feed (Instagram).

Besides, people often search for videos with specific sounds they like. If your video uses one, it gets included in that sound’s pool, increasing the chances of being discovered by new viewers.

We’ll show you how to find trending audio for your Reels on Instagram, both on the Explore page and in the Instagram music library. The process is pretty simple, but we’ll walk you through it so you can make the most of it and do the same with other platforms.

First, open the Instagram app and tap the second right button to go to the Reels Explore page. On this page, you’ll notice the name of the song or audio at the bottom left of the screen. If you see a little upward arrow next to the audio name, that means it’s trending!

If you want to see which Reels are using that specific audio, just tap on the song name. This will open a page showing you all the Reels created with that audio. It’s a great place to gather ideas for your next Reel. At the top of the page, you'll also see the name of the audio, the person who created it, and how many Reels have been made using it.

If the number of Reels using that song is still low, you have a better chance of going viral. If there are already hundreds of thousands of Reels using the audio, your video might get lost in the mix. The less competition, the better!

Once you find the trending song, you can either save the audio to use later or start creating your Reel right then and there.

Finding trending audio in the Instagram Music Library is also easy. To access it, tap the music note icon on the main screen where you create a Reel. This will take you to a new screen where you can search for music, view your saved music, see featured audio, and check out audio recommendations for you.

In the “For You” section, Instagram will suggest music it thinks you might like. If you look closely, you’ll see how many videos have already been created with each song, and you’ll also see the little arrow indicating whether the song is trending.

You can press the play button next to any song to listen to it right away. At the top of the screen, you’ll also find the option to import music. When you click this, you can choose any video from your phone’s camera roll and use the audio from that video in your Reel.

This is a super cool feature because it allows you to extract audio from any video you have—whether it’s something you filmed, downloaded from TikTok, or screen-recorded from YouTube. Here's how it works:

1. Tap on the music icon and click on "Import."

2. Choose the video with the audio you want to use.

3. Once selected, you’ll see the audio length at the top.

4. You can then film a new clip or import images and videos from your gallery.

5. If you choose a video, the audio from that clip will automatically be muted, and the audio from the first video you selected will be added.

And that’s it! Finding trending audio in Reels and the Instagram music library is straightforward. But what if you want to use a song that’s not available in the Instagram Library? Just import it from other platforms.

3. Match Your Video To The Beat

Matching your video to the beat makes your content more engaging and professional. It helps keep viewers hooked and enhances the overall impact of your video. Take this video as an example.

The creator took a bunch of photos and synced them to the beat of the music. This means that every time the beat changes, the photo switches to a new one, creating a rhythm between the music and the visuals. This allows his viewers to have an interesting viewing experience and it also gives his video a really dynamic vibe.

Alright, now let’s use the auto beat feature in CapCut to make that happen.

• Open CapCut and start a new project by importing your video clips. This could be a series of shots from your latest property walkthrough or a neighborhood highlight or AI-generated videos like us.

  

• Tap the audio button at the side bar and select sounds. Choose your background music either from CapCut's library or upload your own track.

  

• Once the music is added, tap on the music track and select beats. Turn on the “Beat Detection” option and adjust the intensity to set the gaps between the beat marks.

• When you’re happy with the settings, hit check. CapCut will automatically create beat markers to sync with your music.

  

• Now, align your video clips with the beat markers to create a dynamic and engaging video that flows with the music.

• Once everything looks perfect, hit the export button and save your video.

  

And that's it! In just a few seconds, you’ve created a captivating video that syncs with the beat. You transform simple content into something captivating that viewers will want to watch repeatedly

Conclusion

Creating short videos is all about finding your unique style and staying consistent. Don’t overthink it, just start with one idea and build from there. Use the tools and tips we’ve shared, and remember: it’s not about being perfect; it’s about connecting with your audience.

Every video you make is a step toward improvement. Some might flop, and that’s okay. The key is to keep experimenting and learning what works. Over time, you’ll find your rhythm, and success will follow.

Now it’s your turn! Pick a type of short video, use what you’ve learned here, and create something today. Share your work, engage with your audience, and most importantly, enjoy the process.