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What’s the right video length for social media?

Social Media - 5th December 2021
Capturing company b-roll for PR

With the average person spending up to two and half hours a day on social media, there is only so much content we can consume before we lose interest. 8020 account manager Kayla Wilkins explores why it’s so important to use https://www.8020comms.com/team/michaela-wilkins/the right video length for social media.

What’s the right video length for Instagram?

Instagram is an entirely visual platform that enables users to upload photos and videos to their grid, Stories and Reels. Videos can vary in length from three seconds to 60 minutes for IGTV videos.

We recommend a 60 second video for Instagram but be aware the average person will only watch the first three to 10 seconds. So make sure your key messages comes in early.

What’s the right video length for Facebook?

Facebook videos can be up to 240 minutes long, but we would strongly advise against that.

Instead, videos should be between 15 seconds and two minutes in length, unless you’re discussing a complex topic. It’s important to put your best imagery up front to capture the audience and optimise each video for mobile.

What’s the right video length for Twitter?

Twitter users are accustomed to short snappy videos, so upload a video that is between 30 and 45 seconds long. You need to make sure you’re getting straight to the point and keep your topics digestible.

What’s the right video length for LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is for business-orientated users and has become a popular platform for all types of video content.

For this platform, we advise your videos should be between 30 seconds and two minutes long. Longer videos do quite well on LinkedIn, but you need to ensure your audience understands why they should keep watching within the first three seconds.

Finally, for all social media platforms make sure your content is accessible by adding captions or subtitles. You should also always use images and b-roll footage to keep the video interesting.

Read our blog on why you should integrate video as part of your PR strategy.

Ali Gibson