How Long Should Your Sales & Marketing Videos Be?

It’s not news that video is essential to any sales or marketing strategy. Brands use video across platforms, industries, verticals, and mediums, making it one of the most diverse forms of content one could produce. And while video topics vary from brand to brand, many companies still have trouble nailing down video length best practices. 

Keep in mind that the length of sales and marketing videos will entirely depend on the type of video you’re producing, the platform for which you are producing it, and your unique business objectives. 

Customers’ engagement and attention both have expiration dates that you need to be mindful of when creating video content.

No matter the length of your video, approximately 20% of viewers will disengage in 10 seconds or less. And engagement rates continue to decline as the video goes on. 

The question: How long should your sales and marketing videos be?

The simple answer: As short as possible. 

Ultimately, optimal video length depends on the medium with which your audience is viewing and engaging with your content. 

Is the video on social media? Your website? In an email? You’ll need to create different videos for each medium. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of suggested video lengths per medium:

• Instagram: 30 seconds
• Twitter: 45 seconds
• Facebook: 2 minutes
• YouTube: 2 minutes
• LinkedIn: 15-30 seconds and no more than 5 minutes
• Email: There’s no right or wrong length, but the shorter the better. Try to keep it to 45 seconds.

With this information in mind, you have to create and curate engaging content that gets your point across in the amount of time allotted. 

4 Video Length Best Practices

How do you get people to watch the entirety of your video? Here are a few simple tactics for creating compelling and engaging videos that keep viewers dialed in.

1. Make it personal. 

If you received a short video created just for you, with your name on it, with a real human talking about something you struggle with, would you be more inclined to watch it?

Of course, you would. Because it’s personal. It’s thoughtful. It shows that the sender did their research, took time to find out what your pain points were, and sat down and created a video just for you. 

Personalization matters. Personalization is engaging. Want to make videos that people will actually watch? Make them as personal as possible. 

2. Make it short and specific. 

If you have a lot of things to say, consider writing a blog. Video is meant to be concise. Pick one topic, do your research, write a script if you need to, and record it. Don’t jump from subject to subject or try to pack a blog post worth of information into a video. Determine which easily-digestible snippets you want to include and go from there. The shorter the better. 

3. Put the compelling information upfront. 

Remember, you have about 10 seconds to grab your viewers’ attention before they move on to something they find more interesting. That being said, put the hook at the beginning of your video. You are far more likely to keep them engaged if they know exactly what they are getting into. Consider asking a question that you will then answer or naming a solution to a pain point before telling them how exactly you will solve the problem. 

A word of warning: do not use click-bait to get people to watch. A surefire way to kill any prospective trust is to waste a viewer’s time. They likely won’t finish the video or any other video you may send to them. 

4. Tell a story. 

Facts and figures certainly have their place in sales and marketing videos. However, your videos should tell a compelling story, not just spit statistics at the viewers. Give a verbal case study of a client who has seen success with your product or create a best practice video for how to use your product. Create a space for your viewers to feel included in the story for them to stay engaged. 

Ultimately, it takes a bit of trial and error to determine which video lengths work best for your brand and your brand story. Keep track of how long viewers are watching and tweak your strategy from there. In no time, you will find the optimal video length to keep your viewers engaged. 

Need help creating compelling sales and marketing videos for your brand? We would love to help you get started.