{"id":829,"date":"2020-01-10T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maestrodev.wpengine.com\/?p=829"},"modified":"2023-03-09T21:09:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T21:09:21","slug":"how-long-should-your-video-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maestrolearning.com\/blogs\/how-long-should-your-video-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Length: 4 Tips That Will Help You Boost Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

When possible, keep the length of the videos you produce to under 2 minutes, or from 6 to 12 minutes for intentionally longer content. Now that you\u2019ve got the TL;DR version, keep reading to find out how we arrived at this decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did we tell you the main point of this post in the first paragraph? Well, how often do you finish reading an entire article? What\u2019s the likelihood that you\u2019re going to finish this one? We hope the probability is higher than average, but we\u2019re hedging our bets because <\/span>according to a study by marketing experts, Sumo,<\/span><\/a> they found only 20% of people read articles from start to finish. This made us wonder, if so few people finish the articles they start, how does that translate to video? It\u2019s understood that <\/span>people are more likely to watch a video than read<\/span><\/a>, so does that mean people are more likely to watch an entire video?<\/span><\/p>\n

Video length and engagement: let’s look at the data<\/span><\/h2>\n

According to video experts, Wistia<\/span><\/a>, the length of your video has a ton of influence on whether the audience will stick with it or not. When studying viewer engagement in relation to video length, they thought that the trend would look something like Figure 1: not linear, but an array of exponential decay.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"average<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 1: Average Viewer Engagement vs. Predicted Video Length<\/span><\/p>\n

Image sourced from <\/span>https:\/\/wistia.com\/learn\/marketing\/optimal-video-length<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

However, after studying 564,710 videos and more than 1.3 billion plays, Wistia found that the relationship between average viewer engagement and video length (in minutes) actually looks like Figure 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"average<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 2: Average Viewer Engagement vs. Actual Video Length<\/span><\/p>\n

Image sourced from <\/span>https:\/\/wistia.com\/learn\/marketing\/optimal-video-length<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

As you can see, after 2 minutes there\u2019s a sharp drop in engagement, declining from about 70% to just above 50% between the 6 and 7 minute marks; from there, engagement remains relatively steady with a slower decline until video length reaches 12 minutes, where it again begins to drop more rapidly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did we lose you?<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in other words, videos shorter than 2 minutes have the greatest engagement\u2014this is the ideal length for most videos. Videos between 2 and 6 minutes lose viewers rapidly. Videos longer than 6 minutes, but shorter than 12 minutes, maintain a relatively steady viewership, making this range the ideal length for longer content. After 12 minutes, viewer engagement again begins to decline more rapidly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related<\/h5>

4 Ways to Use Video Throughout the Sales Cycle<\/p><\/path><\/svg><\/a><\/div>\n

When it comes to content, quality matters<\/span><\/h2>\n

Now that you know the importance of video length, there\u2019s one more element to consider: quality. Quality is what hooks your audience and draws engagement. Before you put all your effort into creating videos only of a certain length, consider video quality, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean a quality video needs expensive filming equipment; rather, it means you need to focus on great writing, planning, and execution. By using these 3 elements to create quality videos, you\u2019ll hook your audience earlier, and this means that even if your content needs to be longer than the ideal 2 minutes, you can still boost engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

You need to hook your audience in the first few seconds\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whether your video is 2 minutes or 12, the key to boosting engagement is to hook your audience early\u2014if you don\u2019t get to the point quickly, your audience will hit the back button. Though there have been <\/span>studies that suggest the human attention span has decreased to a mere 8 seconds<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>evidence that supports these claims isn\u2019t exactly statistically sound<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the answer you\u2019re looking for\u2014and what we\u2019d recommend\u2014is to try to hook your audience within the first 8 seconds for social media video content, and within 20 seconds for most other types of video. If you don\u2019t hook your audience by then, you\u2019ve probably lost them. Though it might be tempting to build up to the main point, today\u2019s audience wants you to get to the point right away; after that, you can expand and explain. Now you know why we began this post with the conclusion!<\/span><\/p>\n

Another way to think about creating a catchy hook early on is to remember how you approached writing research papers in school\u2014the thesis statement needs to be in the first paragraph, followed by the supporting information. As a bonus, when you place the important information first and keep it focused, <\/span>it\u2019s easier to cut away the excess<\/span><\/a> from your supporting content, allowing you to back up the facts all within a few minutes. Your viewers will thank you for being concise.<\/span><\/p>\n

4 key takeaways on video length<\/span><\/h2>\n

So, video length, quality, and the hook all play important parts in engagement. But since attention spans are short\u2014you might have even skipped right to this part to see what our full conclusions are\u2014we\u2019ll wrap up with the 4 key tips you should remember next time you produce a video:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Keep videos shorter than 2 minutes to achieve the most viewer engagement.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Remember that engagement drops off sharply between 2 and 3 minutes.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. If your content necessitates more time, aim for 6 to 12 minutes.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Longer videos are more expensive and take more time to make. If you\u2019re producing a video that\u2019s longer than 12 minutes, make sure the content actually requires that amount of time and that it\u2019s really worth the cost.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Pause for a moment and think critically about the videos you\u2019re creating for your marketing, training, and\/or sales efforts. Are they 90 seconds, 8 minutes, or a cumbersome 15 minutes? The effectiveness of your content relies on the length and quality of video, and after a certain length, every second counts.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When possible, keep the length of the videos you produce to under 2 minutes, or from 6 to 12 minutes for intentionally longer content. Now that you\u2019ve got the TL;DR version, keep reading to find out how we arrived at this decision. Why did we tell you the main point of this post in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3869],"tags":[],"role":[3891],"class_list":["post-829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-experience-design","role-instructional-designer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVideo Length: 4 Tips That Will Help You Boost Engagement | Maestro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everyone agrees\u2014attention spans are getting shorter. So how does that translate to video? 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