Online video is quickly taking over as a priority for both content creators, businesses, brands, and individuals around the world. More people are watching online video now than ever before. At the same time, attention spans are growing shorter and immediate call-to-actions are key. Throw mobile usage into the mix and you’ll quickly realize how fast and critical video content is becoming for everyone. This is why it’s so important to not only have a video content within your own marketing and outreach but to also have a reliable video production company you can rely on as well. Lets look at what 17 video marketing experts have to discuss about the best video length time.
With all of that in mind, it’s extremely important to understand best practices for creating videos for your audience keeping their video attention span statistics in mind. This isn’t just about the type of video and content you are creating, it’s also about finding the perfect length as well. Shorter videos are better always. To help with this process, we’ve asked 17 different online marketing experts and content creators how they decide on the perfect video length for their content.
17 Experts Answer “What is the best length for online video?”
We all have a terribly short attention span these days, so the shorter a sales video, the better. A generic sales video targeted at people coming into contact with your product or services for the first time should be about 40 second. This is short enough to keep them interested and long enough to entice them to find out more information about your product or service.
A sales video for people who are already interested in your produces can be longer than 40 seconds. However, you should bear in mind that time is of the essence, video duration of about 2 or so minutes in length should do the trick.
But it is not an axiom. For example I know many bloggers who create long case study videos and promote them as online sales video. The conversion is very high. But this method usually work for very targeted audience. When people look something more general, they tend to watch only short videos.
For example Wista research says that average engagement depends on how shorter your video is: https://embed-ssl.wistia.com/deliveries/79f7417fe1268a624c141d19d28249e402ca7538.bin
Evgeniy Garkaviy – Morak.com
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In my experience, to maximize engagement and ensure your complete sales message is actually watched, your videos should be kept below 2 minutes. Several studies have found that engagement rates significantly fall after 2 minutes of watch time. However, for many products/services (especially high-priced ones) 2 minutes is a very short time to compel prospects to act. According to some analysis done by Wistia, attrition rates level off after 6 minutes and remain constant until 12 minutes. So, if you are unable to get your message across in under 2 minutes, then a video between 6-12 minutes in length is probably the sweet spot.
James Reynolds – Veravo.com
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Sales videos need to be short and sweet. No more than two minutes. A good sales video is like an elevator pitch. You only have a short amount of time to capture your audience’s attention, explain what you have to offer, and show why they need to act on the offer now. Often people feel they need longer time to explain their product offering, if that is the case there is something wrong with your offer. Two minutes is actually an extremely long amount of time. Think of commercials on TV which are on average 20-30 seconds. In that short time the advertiser is able to do all they need. The reason for the longer video online is build a stronger case for your product and look less like a TV ad and more like an infomercial. People are inundated online with ads and ignored them, so to stand out there has to be a bit more to the sales video. This is where the two-minute rule of thumb comes from; where the video is long enough to be more than just an ad and short enough to maintain the viewer’s interest.
Allan Pollett – Allanpollett.com
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I think that ideally, online sales videos should be short and sweet, under one minute. Most people will quit viewing a video after just 10 seconds, so you also need to make sure you really pack a good punch in those first few seconds and try to either catch their attention for longer, or include as much relevant information as you can; or, ideally, both!
Lilach Bullock – Lilachbullock.com
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1-3 minutes in my experience. I use a video for seo-hacker.net and qeryz.com and we kept both to less than 3 minutes. Both videos have increased our conversion rates significantly. I guess people get bored easily especially when they’re browsing on the web. A social media site or another video streaming site is just a click away. You have to engage your users and it’s tough to do that for more than 3 minutes at a time effectively
Sean Si – SEO-hacker.com
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That really depends on what you’re selling. Sometimes that can be short – maybe 30 seconds, and other times it really needs to be longer – maybe 3 minutes. They each have their place. You have to think about your audience and what they expect. Are they looking for a $5 product? Then probably keep it shorter. Are they looking for a $5000/month service? Then you may need a bit more context to move them further into your funnel. Figure out your audience and their expectations – then set your time based on that.
William Harris – Elumynt.com
When you start to think about video creation and marketing, it’s quite similar to that of email. Just like when you send out an email to a list or even to someone directly, you want to have a great headline that grabs their attention and stands out in your inbox. The first few seconds of your video needs to have that same concept. Grab the attention of your viewer and keep them interested for as long as possible — which is ultimately the answer to this question. If you aren’t sure how long a video should be, simply watch it for yourself and see where you start to lose interest or fall asleep. The same will probably be true for your audience. In the world of video and today’s dwindling attention spans, shorter is often better.
Tim Bourquin – Afteroffers.com
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The length of time for an online sales video is best around a minute or so. Salesy videos need to be short and to the point or they flop. The harsh truth is that if you can’t convince someone to buy and show them how it works within 60 seconds, they’ll leave. (This is why you back up video with other elements, like informational CTAs).
Harris Schachter – Optimizepri.me
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I’ve found that lengths can vary, depending upon subject matter. From a promotional point of view, when we promote our videos, the promotion runs for two weeks. From a sales point of view, we see that some of our back titles which are 2-3 years old still sell; which amazes us because all our videos revolve around technology training. But from a duration point of view, some of our videos are as short as five minutes, others are as long as an hour.
Yes, today’s society seems to be infected with ADD, but our training allows people to improve their job skills, book more work and generate more revenue. We’ve found it best to take the time to explain clearly what they need to learn, why they need to learn it and how it works. Fast-pace, excessive humor, and over-the-top graphics are fine to catch people’s attention. But, once we’ve got their attention, we need to slow down to allow them time to learn. And this is as true for student under the age of 30 as it is those over 60.
Larry Jordan – Larryjordan.com
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Online sales videos should be sixty seconds or less. Studies are showing that we now have attention spans shorter than goldfish, so the sooner you can grab a viewer’s attention, get your message across and get them to act, the better. We typically take one concept and cut it into :60, :30 and :15 versions, then test each across paid promotion / advertising platforms, email and social media.
David Murdico – Supercoolcreative.com
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It depends on a few different factors, and anyone who tries to say otherwise is simply offering an “average” answer or service. It depends on: cost of your product/service, target customer, the offer itself, and how much information is required to make the decision. You should make it as long as it NEEDS to be and no longer. Be succinct and clear. The more expensive the purchase, the longer it will likely need to be to increase conversions. But test, test, test.
Arman Assadi – Armanassadi.com
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5 minutes seems to be a sweet spot for me. I found that anything less than 5 minutes didn’t work as well because I allowed my fear of people “not having enough time” (if people want what you have to offer, they will make time for your videos) affect my video creation energy. Either I rushed the video or even if I created a masterpiece, the energy I felt/lent to the video was off and I had diminished results.
Many entrepreneurs sell from a place of fear versus love. Many sell from a manipulate space versus from a space of clarity and detachment. 5 minutes is my sweet spot but like every piece of advice in this roundup, see what feels right to you, create the video from a place of fun, joy and passion, and you will pinpoint the right time frame to enjoy the process and most benefit your audience.
Ryan Biddulph of Blogging from Paradise
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Video length is a tricky topic to handle. In the end, I think it really comes down to the call to action and what you are trying to get out of your audience. For example, if we are talking about sales pages with a purchase as the call to action, some explainer or walk-through videos go beyond 30+ minutes on a landing page. I think this is extreme, but I imagine the numbers have been tested time and time again, and that’s what they are the length they are.
However, let’s say you wanted to promote a mobile application or game. These videos are usually around 15 to 60 seconds, mostly because people have a short attention span and will phase out after too long. At the same time, it’s much easier to convince someone to download a free app, versus pulling out a credit card and having to purchase something.
The video length needs to be as long as it should be to portray your message and get your audience interested. I would personally create three different videos, split test them all and compare results. That’s really the only way to give the best answer possible.
Montgomery Peterson – OriginalColoringPages.com
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I am not a big believer in generic answers to these kinds of questions. I tend to believe that the ideal length for a blog post or video is the length it needs to be. The only real add on to that would be to keep it as short as it needs to be. You have to engage your audience in the first 30 seconds or stats show you will lose around 30% in that time. If you have not hooked the user by 60 seconds then you will have lost around 50% of your audience. Cover what you need to cover and no more. It can be hard to assess these kind of videos yourself so ensure you have video analytics and can determine where users are getting to on the video. If people are dropping off then tighten it up. Ultimately, if you can, try and run the whole video at no more than 3 minutes and ideally as close to 60 second as possible. We are all just so, busy, busy, busy.
Marcus Miller – Bowlerhat.co.uk
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Asking for the ideal length of a sales video is like asking what is the ideal length of copy on a sales page. The ideal length for either video or copy depends on the audience and the product. If I’m buying a t-shirt, I don’t need a lot of details. In fact, throw too many details at me, and I’ll probably leave. But ask me to buy any type of machine, and you’ll pay dearly for leaving details out. That being said, I don’t want all those details in video. Some people might, but I much prefer reading details. Use video to show me how something works, so that I can imagine using it. But be concise, because if there is any fluff or sales pitch (beyond a reasonable call to action), I’ll feel like my time is being wasted and I’m being held hostage…and you’ll lose me.
David Leonhardt – Thgmwriters.com
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I would say it depends on what type of product you are trying to sell and what all information is needed to put in the video. However, I would say, keep the sales video length as less as possible because no one likes to watch long videos. You need to be clever enough to put everything in a short video so that it shares everything the users need to know. I think 1.5 to 2 minutes video is more than enough.
Atish Ranjan – Techtricksworld.com
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Before creating a video or even thinking about how long it should be, you need to start thinking about why you are creating the video in the first place and what your ultimate goal is. As someone who has created hundreds of online training and tutorial videos, I’ve personally found that shorter videos work better than longer ones. Not only is it better for my audience, it’s also easier to create — this is especially true when creating courses or trying to walk someone through a process. Provide short videos to get the excitement and engagement going, then walk them (in baby steps) through the process in a multi-part video series. This also works well for lead generation and online marketing… give them a taste to get them started, then require some form of engagement or action to access the rest of the videos.
Zac Johnson of Blogging.org
Creating the Perfect Video Content for Your Audience
Through each of the expert tips and video resources mentioned above for video length best practices, it’s clear that every website, brand and business needs to invest more time and effort into their video production. Not only is this something you can put into action on your own websites, landing pages, and marketing campaigns… but also through mobile marketing and application as well.
At AnimatedVideo.com, we’ve helped thousands of clients create original video content that fits within their budget. Take the time to request a quote through our site and we will walk you through our five-step video creation process to create exactly what you are looking for.
