How to Pick the Perfect Length for Your Brand Video

John Bulloch
Nov 25, 2019
2 min read

Video Length Basics

Knowing how long your video should be really comes down to what your video’s ultimate goal is.

When you’re trying to raise awareness of your brand and get your company’s name out there to new people, you’re in the attract stage of the marketing.

Here, people don’t necessarily know your brand, and you’re trying to introduce yourself to them.

At this stage, you want your video to be short and attention-grabbing. Videos here should be less than a minute long with bright, bold graphics and a very short pitch about your products or services. Don’t weigh your videos down with a ton of details or complicated information – your audience will tune out and likely scroll right past your video altogether.

If your audience is already familiar with your brand, they’re likely in the consideration stage of the buyer’s journey, and you’re trying to engage them with interesting information and provide value. That means your videos here can be a bit longer – somewhere between one and three minutes. Keep the right balance in mind. You want to provide value, which can take a bit longer to do, but still be interesting, engaging, and unique.

If you’re trying to convert users into an actual purchase, you’re in the decision stage and your video content should be more directed. You’re telling your users exactly what you want them to do and why, which is why videos here should be less than two minutes along. In that time, you want to hammer home your final value proposition and how the viewer can complete their purchase action with a clear call to action (CTA).

Need more direction? We’ve made over 600 videos since our launch and here are the trends we see followed most often when it comes to length.

Videos 15 Seconds and Less

Common videos include:

Social Content VideosBloopers/OuttakesTips and Tricks VideosPromo VideosAnd more…

Videos 16 to 60 Seconds

Common videos include:

Product VideosHow To VideosBrand VideosCommercialsAnd more…

Videos 1 to 2 Minutes

Common videos include:

Brand VideosCase Study VideosTeam VideosEvent VideosAnd more…

Videos 2+ Minutes

Common videos include:

TestimonialsProduct ReviewsTutorialsProduct/Service DemonstrationsAnd more…

Wrapping Up

Obviously, this isn’t all inclusive – some videos will break these rules, and we didn’t include every single type of video out there. Take these as guidelines, if anything. Knowing how long certain videos typically are gives you a great standard to go by. But more important than considering length right off the bat is knowing your audience’s behavior.

What mindset are they in when they’re watching your video? Are you offering enough value for them to stick around longer? How much time and engagement does your CTA require?

This is what should ultimately dictate your video’s length.