How long should my video be?
We are regularly asked by our clients, ‘How long should my video be?’. That can be a tough question to answer, as it depends on the company, its target audience, distribution platforms and what the client wants to achieve from the video.
That said, we do have some rules of thumb. Generally, our attention for content can be quite short and any information needs to be distributed quickly and concisely. So, shorter communications tend to be more effective and impactful
Here are some of our top tips for video lengths across our most popular video formats:
Corporate Videos
Some businesses are complex, some less so, some are local, and others global. Therefore, their requirements differ, however our opinion is that a 90 second to two-minute video tends to work well for all. Audiences generally stop watching videos in general after two minutes, so, if you can cut content and make a video even shorter, we would recommend you do so.
Testimonials
People generally watch video testimonials about your business to gain further trust in what you do. Potential customers want to achieve this quickly and easily. Our advice is that your individual video testimonials are around 30 – 45 seconds and you also have the option of putting together a 60-second montage of testimonials containing multiple soundbites.
Event videos
Coverage of an event should show what happened and why somebody may want to attend next time. An event video needs to demonstrate real value if people are going to give up their time to be there in the future. We would recommend event videos to be fast, punchy and engaging and 60-seconds to two-minutes in length.
Product videos
When buying a product, decisions are usually made quickly. Statistics shows that a decision is often made within the first 6-seconds of watching a product video. For this category therefore, we advise 60-second videos with 15-second cut-downs also being made available to audiences.
Meet the Team
These videos are designed to highlight your company and the people who make it what it is. Therefore, they should be warm, welcoming and enjoyable. A 30-second video introduces your people and leaves the audience enthused and wanting to know more.