YouTube Shorts for Small Creators

When brands think about short-form creator campaigns, they usually default to TikTok and Instagram Reels. But the data tells a different story for one specific segment: small creators under 50k followers. For this group, YouTube Shorts quietly delivers far more reach than TikTok or Reels—often by an order of magnitude.

The Numbers: Shorts vs. TikTok vs. Reels for Small Creators

For creators in the 5–10k follower range, the view disparity can be dramatic:

• YouTube Shorts: Often 5-15k average views per video
• TikTok: Typically 1-2k average views
• Instagram Reels: Similar to TikTok for this tier

Even as creators grow into the 10–50k follower tier, Shorts often leads with 2-3× the views that TikTok delivers in the same band. In other words, if you're working with smaller influencers, Shorts is frequently where their content gets amplified the most.

A big driver: a significant portion of YouTube Shorts watch time comes from non-subscribed viewers, meaning the algorithm actively pushes content beyond a creator's existing audience. TikTok has the engagement crown, but Shorts is quietly winning on raw impression volume for smaller accounts.

Why This Matters for Brands

Most influencer budgets are still optimized around TikTok and Instagram, but this data suggests a clear opportunity:

• Underpriced impressions: You’re paying “small creator” rates while getting “big creator” reach on Shorts.
• New audience access: Shorts exposes content to viewers who aren’t already following the creator, effectively functioning like a built-in prospecting channel.
• Longer tail of discovery: Shorts live inside the YouTube ecosystem, benefiting from search and recommendation over time, not just a 48-hour viral window.

For app installs, music promotion, or consumer products, this means a single short-form asset from a nano/micro creator can quietly rack up tens of thousands of views on Shorts alone.

The Catch: Engagement vs. Exposure

The tradeoff:

• TikTok: Higher engagement rates, deeper community interaction, more comments and culture.
• YouTube Shorts: Lower interaction per viewer, but far higher view counts for the same-sized creator.

The smart move isn’t either/or. It’s to:

1. Have creators publish on all three platforms, not just TikTok and Reels.
2. Use Shorts as your reach engine and TikTok as your engagement engine.
3. Track performance separately: impressions and view-through on Shorts, engagement and sentiment on TikTok, and social commerce behavior on Instagram.

Takeaway

If your influencer strategy ignores YouTube Shorts for creators under 50k followers, you’re likely leaving cheap reach on the table. TikTok might drive the comments and culture, but right now, Shorts is where small creators punch far above their weight in views—and where brands can quietly scale awareness at a discount.