What Shorts is actually good for
Shorts is YouTube's largest discovery surface right now, with an enormous and growing volume of daily views. Its real strength is introducing new viewers to your channel, not generating standalone ad revenue, since Shorts RPM runs well below long-form video RPM on a per-view basis.
The growth pattern that works
The most effective approach treats Shorts as a funnel into long-form content and channel subscription, not a separate content line. A Short built from a long-form video's strongest moment, with a hook that makes the full video worth watching, does more for channel growth than a Short designed purely to go viral on its own.
Where the content actually comes from
Rather than filming Shorts as a separate project, the most efficient approach repurposes existing long-form video: highlight-worthy moments extracted, reframed to vertical, and captioned specifically for the Shorts feed's pacing and completion expectations.
What this means for revenue strategy
Because per-view Shorts economics are thin, treating Shorts purely as an ad-revenue play tends to disappoint. The stronger play is Shorts for reach and discovery, paired with monetization through long-form ad revenue, brand deals, or products, diversified rather than concentrated in the format with the weakest per-view payout.