Video is king when it comes to the specific types of content users post to social media. More video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years. However, while posting social media videos are a great way to engage your audience, posting extremely long videos may deter them. For years now, marketers have been debating the ideal social media video length, and our team created a quick guide that you can use for posting to every platform.
Before we jump in, it’s important to note that you should tailor your social media video to fit each platform. Aside from video best practices, some channels have relatively short length requirements to ensure that your audience maintains attention when viewing the video. Thus, if you are not customizing your video length for each platform, then you are not fully catering to your audience.
Facebook (~ 1 Minute)
Facebook videos can be up to 240 minutes long, but that doesn’t mean that you should use all of these minutes. It best to keep your video within the one-minute range. These videos can be informational, instructional, or just a glimpse into the company culture. You should also make sure that your video is optimized for mobile. In fact, 88% of Facebook users access the social network from a mobile device. In addition, you should also optimize your video for if the sound is turned off as 85% of viewers on Facebook are watching with the sound off. You can simply do this by uploading Facebook captions along with your video.
Instagram (~30 Seconds)
Before creating your Instagram video, it’s important to keep in mind that there is a limit of 60 seconds for the feed and 15 seconds for stories. However, while this is the limit, we don’t recommend using the full 60 seconds. Studies have shown that viewers who watch the first 3 seconds of a video are most likely to finish it. Also, videos that are an average of 26 seconds receive the most comments on Instagram. We recommend keeping your Instagram videos to about 30 seconds.
YouTube (6-8 Minutes)
We recommend that you keep your YouTube videos within the six to the eight-minute mark. This is for a variety of reasons, but a major one being the magnitude of the information. If you time yourself reading a 1,000-word blog post, it will come out to roughly six minutes. Six to eight minutes should be able to cover the information that you are trying to convey. Also, we would much rather you create potent, short content instead of long, repetitive content. However, if you are trying to demonstrate a technique, show an installation, or make a recipe, we recommend extending the length.
Twitter (~45 Seconds)
While Twitter’s video length limit is 2 minutes and 20 seconds, we don’t recommend that you use the full length. We recommend keeping these videos short and making them around 45 seconds.
Social media videos are a great way to engage your audience, grow your following, and establish your company as an industry expert. Keeping these videos to a length that will engage the viewer will help build rapport and grow a loyal following.
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