“How long should the video be?”
It’s one of the first questions we get asked on almost every project. And unfortunately, there isn’t a magic number. A good video can be 15 seconds, 90 seconds or 10 minutes. The right length depends on what the video needs to achieve and where people are going to watch it.
There’s no single right answer, only the right length for the job
A video’s length should be driven by its purpose and where people will watch it, not by a rule of thumb.
A six minute company overview and a 15 second Instagram ad are both corporate video, but they’re solving completely different problems. The question isn’t “how long should a video be?” It’s “how long does this video need to be to do its job?”
We often find that the runtime becomes clearer once we know what the video actually needs to say. Sometimes that means 90 seconds. Sometimes it genuinely needs four minutes.
A rough guide by video type
These aren’t hard rules, but they’re a useful starting point when planning a project.
Social media ads and cutdowns: 8 to 30 seconds
These are designed to stop the scroll and get a message across quickly. They don’t need to tell the whole story. Their job is often to create enough interest for someone to keep watching or find out more.
Explainer videos: 60 to 90 seconds
Long enough to explain what you do and why it matters, without asking too much of the viewer. This can work particularly well for homepage and landing page videos.
Recruitment videos: 90 to 180 seconds
Enough time to show culture, people and what it’s actually like to work somewhere, without turning into a documentary. Candidates want a feel for the place, not a full HR briefing.
Brand and company overview videos: 90 to 180 seconds
This gives you enough time to tell a story about who you are, what you do and why someone should care. But there’s no need to force everything into two minutes if the story genuinely needs longer.
Case study and testimonial videos: 2 to 3 minutes
People watching these are often already interested in what you do, so they’re more likely to give you a little more time. The goal is proof, not just a sales pitch.
Training and educational videos: as long as the content requires
This is the exception to keeping things short. Training content should be as long as it needs to be to teach the material properly, ideally broken into shorter modules.
The general rule worth remembering
If you’re unsure, lean shorter rather than longer.
It’s far easier to cut a script down to the essentials than to stretch thin content out to fill time. A tight 90 second video that keeps people engaged is generally more effective than a four minute video padded with information that doesn’t need to be there.
But shorter isn’t automatically better. The goal is to find the point where the video has said what it needs to say, and then stop.
Where is the video going?
The platform matters as much as the video type. A video built for a paid social feed needs to work with sound off and grab attention quickly. A video on your website can afford a slightly slower opening because the viewer has already chosen to be there.
Always think about where a video will actually be watched before deciding how long it should run.
The short version
Match the length to the job, not the other way around. The best video length isn’t necessarily the shortest possible length. It’s the length that gives the audience everything they need, without giving them anything they don’t.
If you’re planning a video and aren’t sure what length fits your goal, that’s worth working out before you start filming, not after.