Size has always been a matter of concern, especially if it is a business video made for product or service promotion as it has to be captivating and eliminating boring content.
The best length of the video depends upon the kind of video that is produced and how you want to promote it on different channels. Different channels like YouTube, Facebook, or SnapChat, have a different ideal length of videos. If your marketing objectives are unique, that will require a video length of different sizes.
Different kind of videos is useful for promotion purpose. If the chosen type is an animated explainer video, shorter is always better.
Let us consider the optimal length of an explainer video for product and services promotion on the various digital platforms.
Videos and associated digital platforms
This is the age of online video, and people tend to watch videos on different digital platforms and different devices such as desktop, tablet, or even mobile devices. So, it is very important to consider the optimal length of the video, which would be viewed on most platforms.
If your business video content focuses on online viewership, it has to consider various aspects such as whether to make it live on the home page? If it is a seasonal campaign, whether it should be alive on the landing page to increase the sales? Is it for the awareness creation on Facebook or is created for leads on YouTube, accordingly its length will vary.
Every scenario has different objectives and the purpose that helps to decide the optimal length of the video.
Findings of the studies conducted
In the year 2018, Hubspot analyzed videos that were posted on different social media platforms to check out which length performs the best for each channel in terms of attracting and engaging the viewers. The results were as follows:-
1) Instagram- 30 seconds
2) Twitter – 45 seconds
3) FaceBook – 2 minutes
4) Youtube – 2 minutes
According to LinkedIn, the videos for the B2B companies should be made for 15 to 30 seconds time span, but if the content necessitates it could be for 5 minutes too.
The main objective behind the video
The main factor that determines the length of any video is the objective or the goal behind the video.
As every prospective client does not review all the mediums, it is essential to keep videos content different on a different channel.
If the duration of the video would be too long, the chances increase that the video production company would try to rope in too many information in the same, which is certainly not desirable in promotional videos.
The main objective of the video is to present different facets of your company. If the length were short and crisp, it would be comfortably viewed by clients. It is better to divide the content of the videos into smaller segments of videos, which could be 2 to 3 minutes long. Even this length can be optimized for different channels as per the requirement.
There are different types of videos that require a different period. Some illustrations will explain the concept better:-
1) Explainer videos
These kinds of videos are the most widely used kind of corporate videos that can be designed according to the needs of the business house. A good explainer video provides ample information to encourage people to indulge in buying the product or the services you intend to sell. If such videos can explain the product in a short period, it would be shared and viewed more by prospective clients.
2) Company Training videos
Such videos need to have the in-depth objective of welcoming the new employees, teaching new skills, or introducing a new concept among the company’s employees. So, this can be a longer video but need to be very engaging to keep the viewers hooked till the end.
3) Trade show videos
This videos are the one that is meant to be shown at the event or can be the one which is played on a loop on the booth’s back wall.
The videos played at the event are meant to engage the audience who are already interested in learning more. So they can be longer providing in-depth information and are usually not shown on social media as these are used by the sales team or by the company’s website.
The videos which are played in the loop have the motive of attracting the clients so they have to be short and quick so that whosoever visit the booth can learn more about the product in an instant. Content of such videos should be crisp and flashy.
Keeping the length optimal for audience
The optimal length of the video is very important because it ensures audience engagement. Video for the corporate purpose should be pinpointed to the audience and able to find their drop-off points. Hence the videos object has to be clearly defined and conveyed in video within the given timeframe.
Audiences respond differently to different videos depending upon the media they are watching, for example, Twitter or Instagram videos have to be shot as the viewer there are accustomed to shorter updates whereas YouTube videos can be longer because the audience there likes to view the details, share and search the content.
It has been found out that the perfect video length is that before which the audience tends to give up viewing.
Stated below are a few tips for optimal video length choice:-
1) Give due importance to the first impression
The first impression is very important even in engaging the prospective clients and audiences. It was found in the study that if the audience loses their charm within the first 10 seconds, they will probably switch over to the other option and 20% of the viewers do the same. 33% of the audience will shift after 30 seconds, and 45% will quit watching the video buy one minute mark if it is not engaging enough.
2) Engaging storyline
An engaging storyline line is very necessary for long videos to hook the viewers. Have a great opener, strong visuals, and eye-catching character design to keep the audience engaged. The golden rule is ‘Always better to be a bit longer and more interesting than being shorter and boring’.
3) Have Short loading time
Studies have found out that videos that take longer than 2 seconds to load lose their audience, and this abandonment rate increase, approximately 5.8 % more for every second the loading wheel takes, extra. So, if your site is slow and your video takes too much time to load probably, you need to shift over to another video host.
4) Captivating video thumbnails
An engaging and robust thumbnail can promote the interest of audiences even before they start playing the video. Audiences may be enticed through powerful images or/and appealing titles. If the viewers can make out that they will get to learn something new, they are compelled to start the video.
Conclusion
Animated explainer videos are very powerful sales tools, so the content in the same should be very engaging and crisp to keep the customers hooked till the end. It should be short and to the point so that people will be inspired to watch it again, share and like.