The Right Video Length for Your Marketing Content
In yesterday’s blog post, “Beginner’s Guide to Video Marketing” we discussed the power and impact video content can have on consumers. But we didn’t cover what an ideal video length would be.
Of course, the right video length is dependent on the purpose of the video and the business behind it. It’s a common question, how long should your video be?
We see marketing campaigns all the time. Search engines, websites, email and social media platforms all heavily feature some form of advertising. It seems like it’s getting harder and harder to grab the attention of a target audience, but this simply calls for more innovative marketing strategies.
It’s actually a well-known statistic (and an amusing one) that humans have the same-ish attention span as a goldfish. 20% of people actually read articles from start to finish (as a blogger it’s pretty heart-breaking to know by the end of my post 80% of you will be gone …) Whilst this statistic is relevant to written copy, it’s safe to assume that consumer’s attention span for video content is pretty similar.
As a business you should know that keeping your audience’s attention is absolutely crucial to being successful. So, when you create your own video content you need to consider how long it should be to have maximum impact.
Our attention span obviously depends on the content. Some things are more interesting to watch … so don’t assume every video you post will have a 20% viewing from start to finish.
What Wistia Found …
Under 2 Minutes is Key
According to Wistia, videos up to two minutes long get the most engagement. So a 10 second video would achieve a similar engagement level to a 90 second one.
2 minutes is actually a lot to play around with, but at the same time it doesn’t take a large amount of your watcher’s time.
Over 2 Minutes is the Danger Zone
People begin to drop of after 2 minutes, but it shouldn’t make much different if you’re just a few seconds over.
Over 6 Minutes and You Could be In Trouble
Engagement really starts to drop after 6 minutes into a video. But if you think your video is worthy of over 6 minutes, then go for it.
Over 12 Minutes is Pushing it
After 12 long minutes … you probably won’t have many viewers left.
Don’t forget we’re on the go a lot, and 12 minutes is actually pretty demanding to sit and watch.
Coming to an End …
If you made it to the end of our article, well done! Be proud you have an attention span better than that of a goldfish …
With our short attention span in mind, it’s probably a good idea to not keep your key-selling-points to the end of the video. From start to finish your video needs to be promoting your key selling points, it needs to be engaging right the way through so wherever viewers begin to watch it (some may skip to the middle or end) you’re making a good impression.
Our Final Answer
If only there was a definitive answer to the right length of a video … sadly there isn’t. The general consensus (and best recommendation) is to keep it under 2 minutes. Having said that, there are two key variables to consider …
1. How long will it take to get your message across?
2. Will a longer video ensure you achieve the greatest impact?
Don’t panic if you’re video is longer than the recommended 2 minutes, because some videos will warrant longer than that. As long as it’s going to interest and engage your viewers, your video length can technically be however long or short you want.
Why not check out our Digital Marketing Terms Glossary?
About the author:
Marie Harwood is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Different Gravy Digital, Hale, Cheshire.
Different Gravy Digital are a full service Digital Marketing Agency operating in the Hospitality & Leisure, Financial Services, Legal & Property sectors. Products and services range from; 3D & 360° Tours, Website Design & Build, Social Media, Video Production, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Content Creation, Email Marketing, Online Feedback / Review Systems and Paid Advertising (Google, Bing and Social Media).
Contact Details:
marie@differentgravydigital.co.uk
0161 706 000
120a Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2UN