A marketing video should be as short as it can be while still telling the viewer whether you can help them. Cut the intro, cut the fluff, and match the length to the platform.

Cut the Intro

Nobody cares about your intro. A logo animation, a slow open, a welcome message from the founder: the viewer skips past all of it. They showed up wanting to know if this will help them, so answer that as early as you can. Consider your own viewing habits, do you watch intros on YouTube or skip through the first 20 seconds?

Where the Extra Length Comes From

I've worked on a lot of marketing videos where leadership got involved. The intro gets added first. Then the middle fills up with extra information because everyone has one more thing that has to be said. By the end, the call to action has grown into a paragraph.

Every addition makes sense to the person asking for it. The viewer never sees it that way. They don't know your company history and they don't know what was cut. They only want to know if you can help, and every extra sentence sits between them and that answer.

Put yourself in the viewer's seat and throw out the fluff.

Video Length by Platform

There's no single right length. The platform sets the pace.

YouTube

YouTube can always run longer, but the extra time has to be earned. A video that gives prospects information they can use gets that room. A video that only sells does not.

Instagram and TikTok

Keep these short. People scroll fast on both, and the video has to deliver quickly.

LinkedIn and Facebook

Either direction works on both. LinkedIn can run longer or shorter depending on the content, and Facebook is the same. The message decides the length.

Judge the Video on the First View

When I edit a long video, I cut it tight from the start. I don't show the client a long version first. Then I tell them that the first impression from a single view is the most accurate way to judge a video.

If you watch a video ten times, which no real viewer ever will, you start adding details. Nobody will miss those details, and each one makes the video longer and hurts the views.

What I Ask Before Deciding Length

Length comes out of the discovery call at Pierson Studios, and how to make a video for marketing covers the process from start to finish. Before anyone picks a number, I get answers on these:

The purpose of the video
The audience
The call to action
The main platform or channel
The marketing plan for the video
How the video gets into the market
Whether there's a follow up plan

Those answers set the length. A video built for Instagram with one clear call to action needs very little time. A YouTube video meant to educate prospects can take more. Working that out before the shoot saves a lot of cutting in the edit. Planning also protects the budget, and what a corporate video costs covers what drives the price.

Key Takeaways

A marketing video should be as short as it can be while still showing the viewer how you can help them.
Skip the intro. Viewers want to know right away if the video is for them.
Extra length usually comes from leadership adding more information to the middle and the call to action.
YouTube can run longer if the video gives prospects information they can use.
Instagram and TikTok should be short, while LinkedIn and Facebook can go either way depending on the content.
Judge the video on your first view, because real viewers only watch once.

How long should a marketing video be?