How Long Should Your Video Be?
3 Questions to Ask Yourself
The question of video length is one of the top queries asked of us before any project we take on (even our own!). When it comes to the specific topic of web video, everyone seems to agree that shorter is better, but there is a lot of disagreement over what short means.
Here are three questions we always ask our clients to determine how long their video should be:
- Is your video promotional or entertainment at heart?
Now be honest. You may want your ‘office tour’ video to be entertaining, but that’s not the same as setting out to produce a piece of entertainment. Take this short film, “The Gentleman’s Wager” from Johnnie Walker, as an example of branded entertainment.
This video was produced to promote Johnnie Walker, yes. But the primary goal of the video itself is to entertain us. If making your audience laugh, cry, cheer, or scream is your number one objective, then you have much more lenience when it comes to length (the sequel to this short, “The Gentleman’s Wager Part II” doubles the runtime of this first one!).
On the contrary, if your goal is to explicitly get the word out about your brand/cause/product/etc, then we fall back on shorter is better.
2. Will the video be shown to a captive audience?
The days of forcing audiences to sit through your 60-second TV spot during their favorite evening program are at an end. When folks are online, they have the power to shut you up the moment they grow indifferent to your caterwauling. If your primary audience is online, shorter is better.
A captive audience, however, is one that is generally unable to stop watching because their hands are not at the controls (i.e. private event, fundraiser, pre-roll at a movie theatre, TV spots, etc).
Captive audiences are almost a myth today. In the age of technology folks don’t leave their smartphones at the door. They always have the power to tune out your projector in favor of their Facebook timeline. But maaaybe you can squeeze a little extra time out of them if it’s an engaging story.
3. Are you aiming for new customers or deepening already-established relationships?
An audience of folks who already know you and are invested in your service/brand/product will be much more willing to sit through extra time than a group of passersby who happen upon your video online.
There is a diehard audience out there that will sit down to watch a 45-minute web documentary on the yearly production of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout. The brewery made this film to deepen an already-existing relationship they had with these folks. They didn’t care if new customers didn’t watch because those people weren’t the audience.
By contrast, Chipotle (owned by McDonald’s) wanted to earn the trust of audiences who cared about sustainable agriculture and ethical farming (a new customer base for them). So they made one of my favorite pieces of branded filmmaking ever, “The Scientist.”
This question also informs the content of your video. If you’re aiming for new customers, you can’t hit people with features/benefits or details & data points. You have to hit them where they live — and quickly, as the below graphic illustrates.
Ultimately, there is no right answer to the question of length. It largely comes down to how effective you are at the art of brevity. What is the shortest possible way to say what you have to say? Be economical with your audience’s time. In the end, each second you waste of their time will be hours of your time, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to cut out all the fat.
Now I’m gonna sit back and watch that 45-minute beer documentary again… ;)
