One of the most important decisions you’ll have to make when creating videos is what length to make your video. The ideal size for a video depends on the goal you want to achieve and the audience you’re trying to reach. In general, audiences do not respond well to lengthy videos. Not only are people’s attention spans decreasing, but they are also becoming busy. Therefore, videos must be to the point and short, especially for web material.
The holy grail is often 60 seconds or fewer. However, there are a few things you need to take into account when making this decision. In this blog post, we’ll look at some of those factors.
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Platform
Consider your distribution platform and where you intend to market your video. Not all video platforms are the same. Various video platforms have different video length restrictions. For example, while the average duration of an organic YouTube video is 15 minutes, Facebook permits up to 240 minutes; however, the site recommends 3+ minutes for maximum viewership.
On the other hand, Instagram has multiple ways to post a video; you can post a video as a story of a maximum of 60 seconds, a reel of 90 seconds at the most, or an Instagram live that can go for 4 hours max, or a feed video that can go up to 60 seconds. Even a TikTok can last for 10 minutes.
Related: 5 Steps To An Effective Social Media Video Marketing Strategy
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Audience
Every marketing choice you make should start and conclude with identifying your target demographic and what people want or need. Unfortunately, TikTok and Instagram, with their short-length videos, have reduced their viewers’ attention spans.
Furthermore, people utilise social media in a variety of ways. For example, there is a significant difference between a student who spends most of their spare time on the internet, a child whose parents open Youtube to distract them, and a career woman with a hectic schedule.
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Purpose
Is the video being used for training purposes? Is the video a short film? Are you attempting to launch a new business? Training films should be long enough to provide all the essential material but not so long that they annoy the trainees or dilute your message. For example, a firm’s opening video should give a sense of the company without rambling on to the degree where the viewer loses interest.
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Information
Remember that if the information does not contribute to your video, it is driving people away from it. It’s convenient to add all your information on whatever topic you’re making a video about. However, including many elements can make your video longer than necessary. Not only are people’s attention spans decreasing, but they are also becoming busy. Videos, especially for online platforms like Instagram Reels and TikToks, must be to the point and short. Two minutes of a good video can outperform five minutes of a mediocre one.
The objective should drive both the video content and the video length. For example, if your video elaborates on a topic your target audience has experience with, get right to the point quickly and don’t occupy their attention with irrelevant material.
You never want the viewers to be tired after viewing the video; too brief with excessive information feels hurried, while too long with little interaction feels dull. Testing your video on yourself is a wonderful way to see whether it is too long. Feel free to experiment with different lengths. Analyzing statistics on previous videos you’ve released will help you understand how long consumers watch your content.