How Long Should My Video Be? Advice From a Video Company

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The length of your video depends on varying factors. This article reveals each of them.

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How does length affect your video?

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Often when making brand videos, businesses fail to understand how the length of their video is a key factor that has a crucial impact on audience engagement, and the overall quality of the video. The viewers’ watch-time is greatly impacted by the length of the video. The average attention span of a human in 2023 has decreased to 8 seconds.

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The amount of content in a video depends heavily on how long it is. Short videos (such as product videos) usually contain small and concise snippets of information, that are quick and easy to digest; while longer videos (testimonial or corporate videos) demand full attention from the viewer. The platform that the video is posted on affects the maximum length that a video can be. For example, a viewer may visit YouTube to watch longer videos and Instagram for shorter ones.

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Different types of videos tend to have dedicated length ranges. The length of a video can be as short as 20 seconds or up to several minutes, or in very rare cases, even hours long. For example, product advertisement videos are usually under 30 seconds long, whereas pitch videos and testimonials can go on for several minutes. In this article, we will go over how long your video should be, length limits for different video platforms, length of a video depending on its type, tips to use video length to your advantage and some stats based on how viewers are affected by video length.

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Video length depends heavily on the type of video

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As we mentioned earlier, the length of the video depends on what the video contains content-wise and what it aims to give to the audience. Here are various types of videos and their typical length:

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Corporate Videos:

Corporate videos represent a business as a whole. It informs consumers of a brand’s values, what they offer and other details. These kind of videos should be kept reasonably short: somewhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.  This is ample time to carry across your message effectively, without causing the viewer to lose interest.

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Product Videos:

Product videos focus on a specific product. The aim of a product video is to showcase the look of a product and outline its qualities or benefits. This can be achieved in under 30 seconds with short, well edited videos. Product videos consist of various scenes including shots of the product from multiple angles, and creative shots which incorporate the product in a contextual way.

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Testimonial Videos:

Testimonial videos are seldom utilised by businesses in their digital marketing campaigns. Positive reviews given by previous customers, usually other businesses, are important and highly attractive to potential future customers. Testimonial videos have a flexible length depending on several factors including: your product, the target market, and the platform that you release it on. When consumers see others expressing their experiences with your business in a positive way, it enhances your businesses internet presence.

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Event Videos:

Event videos and event promo videos contain short clips and snippets, highlighting the best parts of a particular event. They are a great way of connecting with your audience and useful when finding any necessary changes or improvements that can be made to your next event. Event videos are usually around 1 minute. In this time, the event highlights are edited together smoothly and overlaid by suited music. A good event video should let the viewer feel the energy of your event without having been there physically.

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Pitch Videos:

Pitch videos are quickly becoming a preferable alternative to PowerPoints and other forms of business pitches. They are undoubtedly more compelling than reading or listening without any active engagement. Pitch videos are usually no more than 3 minutes. All the necessary information is included within that timeframe. There are usually infographics included in pitch videos, creating a more immersive experience.

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Platforms have different video length specifications

The platform you decide to post your video on, ultimately depends on the length and type of your video. Different platforms have a length limit, which means that certain type of videos can only be posted on specific video platforms. Here are some of the most popular video platforms and their video length limit:

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What is the video length limit on YouTube?

YouTube is an extremely versatile platform in terms of video length and type. There are no restrictions of video length on YouTube, they can be as long as 12 hours. With the Google ads feature, businesses can play their ads before and/or during videos to reach a wider audience. According to Wyzowl, approximately 694,000 hours of video is watched on YouTube every minute!

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How long can Instagram videos be?

Unlike YouTube, Instagram has stricter limits on video length and it is not suitable for some video types. You can also post your video multiple ways depending on its length. For example, if you want to post a product video or an event video which are usually under 60 seconds, you can upload it as a regular post. Longer corporate videos however, have to be uploaded as IGTV videos, which can be as long as 15 minutes. You can also post your video ads as stories, but these have a maximum time limit of only 15 seconds.

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What is the video time limit on Facebook?

Facebook is similar to YouTube in the types of videos that are uploaded on the platform, although Facebook has a shorter video time limit than YouTube, which is 4 hours. Event videos are common on Facebook, but all types of videos can be posted here. You also have the option of posting your video on your Facebook story, which can allows a maximum video length of 2 minutes.

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How long should TikTok videos be?

TikTok acted as the catalyst in blowing up short-form video content, which was already growing rapidly. As a result of its success, YouTube and Instagram hopped on the train and introduced YouTube shorts and Instagram reels, both of which have garnered a massive positive response as well. Videos on TikTok can be up to 10 minutes long. However, we recommend that you use this platform for shorter videos under 1 minute, such as product and brand videos.

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The recommended length for LinkedIn videos

LinkedIn supports videos that are 10 minutes long. Corporate videos are usually posted on this platform as they can appeal to other businesses looking for partnerships and potential employees. Videos uploaded should stay reasonably short, preferably under 3 minutes. Posting videos on LinkedIn is a great way to improve your brand presence online.

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Using video length for maximum engagement

Most video professionals agree that the optimal length of a marketing video is 1-2 minutes long. Most viewers hope to gain information from a company’s video in the shortest time possible. The phrase ‘Quality over Quantity’ is accurate when it comes to your video. Whatever you hope to achieve through your video is only possible by catering your video to the correct audience and making sure that they connect with it.

In today's world, humans have a shorter attention span than we had a decade ago, so capturing the viewers' attention can be a challenging task. That is why the first 5 seconds of your video are undoubtedly one of the most significant parts of the whole video. Hooks at the beginning of your video are major when it comes to ensuring that the viewer decides to watch the whole video.

Once you have grabbed their attention, your next focus should be to effectively carry out your message. The majority of your video will be spent on your message. The energy at the start of the video should not be lost throughout it. In a 1-minute-long video, each second is valuable when it comes to sending an impactful message.

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Video Length Statistics

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1.) Nearly 60% of people agree that they are less likely to watch a longer video.

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2.) Videos with around 26 seconds on average receive the highest number of comments on Instagram.

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3.) According to LinkedIn, video ads are most successful when they are less than 15 seconds.

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4.) According to Google, 73% of videos made by brands are under 1 minute long.

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5.) A study by Wistia in 2016 found that videos under the 2-minute mark receive the most engagement.

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6.) A Vidyard survey found that 68% of people watch the whole video, if it is under a minute long.

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7.) They also found that only 4% of corporate videos are between 10 and 20 minutes long.

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8.) Videos around 15 seconds are recommended by Facebook.

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Conclusion

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The length of a video helps people decide whether or not they want to watch a video. Even though different types of videos have different lengths, a common trend is that all of them are kept reasonably short. We hope this article has developed your understanding of video length and helped you to determine how long your next video will be.

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