How Long Should Your Social Media Video Be?

The Definitive Answer: A blog about how to best post videos to reach the largest audience.

As you might expect, video is the most engaging media to post on social media. But how long should your social media video be? Quick answer: there’s no definitive answer. But there are some tips you can follow to get the best chance of engagement.

Audience and message balance is king.

You can find blogs on video length everywhere and they are useful but… They will tell you attention spans are short and anything over 2 minutes is uneconomic. What they don’t take into account is context. For example, people quite happily sit in a cinema for 3 hours if the film is good enough. So consider what your audience on each platform will be expecting.

But how long should your social media video be?

TikTok allows up to 3 minutes, Twitter 2 minutes 20 seconds and Instagram 60 seconds – they are fun-packed bursts of content. You’ll need a simple message, easily understood and quick to convey.

Facebook allows up to 240 minutes but still, people are expecting fast, disposable information, updates about their friends and videos about cats. Attention spans aren’t really very long and selling at people during their own personal time isn’t likely to get a positive reaction. So treat it as a B2C platform, make your message light and interesting but don’t go into massive detail.

As LinkedIn is a B2B platform your audience is far more receptive to business messages, more detail, serious topics and you get up to 10 minutes for your video. They’ll also invest more attention if you pique their interest. Here you can share explainer videos, product launches, business values etc. with a caveat… give your audience enough that they want to know more but don’t give them so much that they have no reason to contact you.

So, start with your message and audience. Getting that right will determine your platforms and maybe point you towards having multiple versions of your message.

Double-check your message rings true throughout the video and don’t forget a call to action. like this one: 

To discuss your video requirements call us on: 01604 621600 or email: studio@ar-media.co.uk

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