Let\u2019s cut right to the point \u2014 the best length for most explainer video<\/a>s is one minute or less. That\u2019s a general guideline, but it\u2019s not the full story. More broadly, the ideal video is exactly as long as necessary for your audience and your goals. So the question becomes, how do I know how long that is?\u00a0<\/p>\n Different platforms, messages, and audiences need different video lengths. If you are aiming for distribution to broadcast, cable or OTT<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to fit the outlet\u2019s specifications. Most expect 15-second, 60-second, or 30-second explainer videos. Digital platforms are more flexible, but trend toward micro-content even if they allow longer-form videos.<\/p>\n This guide will help you find the optimal video length for all kinds of social media platforms, marketing goals and distribution plans. We\u2019ve even organized the most important points into a handy infographic.<\/p>\n Video attention spans have shrunk over the last few years. Back in 2016, a study by Wistia found that audience engagement drops off after about 2 minutes. Then, the 2023 version of the study<\/a> found that average engagement dropped around the 60-second mark. In 2025, Wistia reported<\/a> that videos of 1 minute or shorter achieved 50% engagement, while those over 5 minutes had just 38% engagement.<\/p>\n This means shorter is usually better. A good portion of your audience will hang around for about five minutes, but will start to drop off steadily after that.\u00a0<\/p>\n However once someone is really interested in what you have to offer, your videos can get much longer. Long-form videos of 30 minutes or more delivered the highest-quality leads in the Wistia survey. That makes sense, because only those who are really interested in your product or service are likely to stick around that long.\u00a0<\/p>\n All this shows that people don\u2019t automatically walk away after 60 seconds. Yes, some people will leave, but you still have the bulk of your audience. If your video needs to be five minutes long. Make it five minutes long. Plenty of people will stick around.\u00a0<\/p>\n As long as you\u2019re offering something useful and entertaining, your ideal audience will stay engaged. The goal is to deliver a clear message in an entertaining way without tangents or fluff.<\/p>\n There are a few limitations to the Wistia data that should be pointed out. Wistia is a video software and hosting company<\/a> that works mostly with businesses. Their data includes about 1.1 million videos that have not been segmented based on audience, goals, or industry. That means we\u2019re dealing with averages here. In short, your results may vary.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the following sections we offer general principles and detailed guidance based on your goals and planned distribution platform.<\/p>\n Your video should be exactly as long as it needs to be and no longer. That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019re aiming for a specific number of minutes or seconds (unless you\u2019re making TV ads). Instead, you should focus on how to make your message clear, concise, and engaging. These best practices will help.<\/p>\n If someone has never heard of your business or product, you may not commit to a long video.\u00a0 On the other hand, videos for your established audience can be much longer as the Wistia data shows. In general, videos for people higher in the funnel should be shorter than those for committed audiences.<\/p>\n If you are making a healthcare video<\/a> about your target audience\u2019s life-threatening disease, it stands to reason that they will be more willing to grant you their time than if you are telling them about your new flavor of popcorn. Higher stakes and more invested audiences buy you some extra time.<\/p>\n If you are making a video for an event or a training<\/a> session, your audience is at least somewhat captive. You can afford to go a bit longer than in a purely digital application, where clicking away is always a possibility. That doesn\u2019t give you a pass to ramble, though. Keep your video tightly focused so your audience stays engaged.<\/p>\n From social media to self-hosting, the platform will determine how long your video can and should be. Don\u2019t just create a video and blast it out on every channel. Know from the start where you intend to share it. You might even create cut-down versions of longer videos<\/a> to fit different platforms. We examine ideal video lengths for each platform in detail below.<\/p>\n length: 15, 30, or 60 seconds<\/em><\/p>\n We start with Broadcast, cable and OTT<\/a> platforms because they have the clearest guidelines. You will need to fit their preset ad slots with videos that are exactly 15, 30 or 60 seconds in length. Talk to your video producer about creating three different versions of your video to make sure you can cover any and all of these ad slots.<\/p>\n Length: 1-30 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re embedding a video on your website or directing viewers to your Wistia, Vimeo, or another hosting page, assume that most of the audience will stick around for 1 minute and your most invested audience members (i.e. best-qualified leads) will stay longer. Just remember, the longer the video, the more valuable it must be to hold audience attention.<\/p>\n Every social media platform has length guidelines based on what the platform is capable of hosting and what it thinks its audience wants to see. When selecting an ideal video length for social media platforms, keep best practices in mind. Here are some of the more common platforms and guidelines for each.<\/p>\n Ideal Length: 15 seconds<\/em><\/p>\n Facebook feed video ads<\/a> can be as long as 241 minutes. That\u2019s minutes, not seconds. So theoretically, you could have a Facebook ad that runs for 4 hours! We don\u2019t recommend doing so, since the ideal length of facebook video ads is more like 15 seconds. This length allows your video to loop multiple times<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In-stream video ads (that is, ads played while someone is watching another video) can be no more than 10 minutes and should be much shorter to avoid annoying your audience. In that case, you\u2019re serving an ad to someone who is actively watching something else. Minimizing the disruption is a smart strategy. Besides, the 10 minute rule only applies on mobile. On desktop, you have just 15 seconds to get your point across.<\/p>\n Optimal Ad Length: 15 seconds<\/em><\/p>\n Instagram Reels can be up to 120 seconds long<\/a>, but we recommend keeping ads much shorter. Mata, which owns Instagram, loves to stress that videos from Facebook can easily be repurposed as Instagram ads, so keep that in mind when planning your video ads across both platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also consider the fact that videos in an Instagram feed loop continuously. You may be able to get away with faster action and trust that people will keep watching if they don\u2019t quite catch it all the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Optimal Length: 15 seconds<\/p>\n Threads is the latest offering from Meta. It tends to be more text-based, but you can share videos as long as 5 minutes<\/a> organically on the platform. Testing of video ads on Threads<\/a> began in May of 2025 so best practices are still developing. For now, it\u2019s probably best to aim for the same 15-second guidelines that apply to Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n Optimal video length: 10 seconds<\/em><\/p>\n LinkedIn video ads can range between 3 and 1,800 seconds long. However, buried in the video ad tips section of the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions guide<\/a> you\u2019ll find the advice that you should \u201cshow what you want your audience to see\u201d in the first 10 minutes of the video. Ideally, you\u2019ll pack the most important information into those first 10 seconds even if your video runs slightly longer than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n LinkedIn\u2019s data from 2018 found that people tended to watch videos under 30 seconds. But that was several years ago, and attention spans may have shorted since then, so 10-15 seconds may be a better choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ideal Length: 9-15 seconds<\/em><\/p>\n There\u2019s some tension at TikTok<\/a> over how long videos should be. Users seem to want<\/a> shorter videos, around 30 to 45 seconds. However, the app has been pushing for longer and longer videos, mostly in an attempt to get more ad revenue. Ads cap out at 60 seconds<\/a>, but 9-15 seconds is probably the smarter choice to meet audience expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\nHow Long Should a Video Be?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/figure>\nSo What Does This Tell Us About the Ideal Video Length?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How to Choose the Best Length for a Business Video<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Know where your video fits in the marketing funnel<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Know your audience<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Know the context<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Plan your video length based on your platform<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Broadcast and Streaming Television Ads<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Self-hosted videos<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ideal Video Length for Social Media Platforms<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ideal Length of Facebook Video Ads<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Instagram: How Long Can IG Reels Be?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What About Threads?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
LinkedIn Video Length<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Average TikTok Video Length<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Length of Video On Twitter (X)<\/strong><\/h3>\n