How long should your video be?
There is no catch all answer to this question but there are some rules of thumb that will help you determine if your video is too long and ultimately destroying your marketing efforts.
YouTube gathers a lot of data on user viewing habits. The video giant looks at signals that indicate how long people spend watching a video, how many videos are watched to completion, when people click out early and so on. It has been shown that videos that are 2 – 3 minutes long perform better than videos that are 10 minutes in length. While people are hungry for information, they want it focused and to the point.
Here are some quick rules to apply that will help you create a video that engages people (without boring them) and create content that is focused and relevant.
Vanity Is A Deadly Sin
Just because you have something amazing to say or a point you always like to make, doesn’t mean that you have to say it. Keep your content relevant to the topic in hand. If what you have to say doesn’t help advance your message or clarify a point, or worse, if it distracts from your marketing message, leave it out, you don’t need it.
Cut Without Mercy
Always review your video content. If there is a word that you can cut from a sentence without adversely affecting the meaning of the sentence, cut it. You may need several revisions to trim your content but you will be surprised at just how much you can whittle out when you put your mind to it, without sacrificing the message.
The Boredom Test
Always get somebody to look over your video, ideally somebody who is not involved in its production. Observe them watching your content. When do they bomb out and start to tap their fingers or look at their watch? When you see these types of distractions you need to cut the content. Either rework it to make it more engaging or end your video at this point and continue your content in Part 2.
Timing Is Everything
You don’t have to explain the meaning of life in your video. Use your video as an overview or summary tool. Spend just enough time setting up a point and delivering it to pay off. Avoid the tendency to over-explain. Your video is a success if you have left your viewer eager for more information … cue your call to action!
Three Is The Magic Number
Three is a good number to illustrate a point or subject. It’s just enough to be memorable rather than overwhelming and not so few as to be weak and flimsy. If you can explain your subject, point or topic in three easy bullet points, your content will be awesome. If you find you need to put in five, six or seven point, you’re including too much information and are in danger of loosing your viewer.
Obviously the video length will in part be determined by the content objective. A demonstration or instructional video could be 30 minutes long and still be engaging, while a 30 second video on how to pop a wine cork correctly every-time might be just as engaging and effective for its viewer.
The point is that there is no perfect time or length for a video. This article has outlined some editing techniques that will help you keep your video content concise and on topic, so that your reader identifies with the material and reacts positively to it.
Regards,
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I enjoyed this post – your personality and humor come out! And your tips here is spot-on
Brandi
These are great rules to follow! Attention span doesn’t go over a few minutes. Knowing this, I have posted long videos in my last series. But I’m just test-running an informational video package.
I would not suggest going over 5 minutes. Thanks for this helpful info.
Donna
Excellent tips, keep it clean and to the point!
Great post clint, I just did my first video and plan to do more, this will surely help me.
With the improvements in the internet over the past few years especially in regards to band width one of the merging trends is video marketing. Sites like YouTube have become that popular having over a million views a day. Now you may have thought that video sites were only for showing short movies or videos of people doing silly or weird stuff for entertainment purposes only.
Videos are a great way to market your business or opportunity what ever it may be. The great thing about it also is that it is FREE. We all know the advantage of cutting costs and increasing cash flow when you have a business. Advertising or marketing can be a very expensive component of your business.
Mike
Loved the vanity one – I thought that was going to be about getting your hair straight (:-)) – but it is so true. People are in such a rush these days and one of the first things I look at is how long the video is. If it’s longer than 5 mins, then unless the topic grabs me immediately in the first few seconds, then it doesn’t get watched!
Great post!
Nicky
Good pointers here Clint! Guess that’s why you’re in the top 50 blogs! I try to keep my vids at about 2:30.. unless it’s a ‘how to’.
Clint,
Great information. I never realized there were so many nuances for video marketing.