Explainer videos are surprisingly similar to cakes. There are a lot of ingredients; each type has a different recipe, it always pays to think about who will be enjoying it before you begin and, most importantly, when you get it right, the results are delicious.

When it comes to explainer videos, a key consideration is video length. While we’d love to say, ‘all videos should be x seconds long’, it isn’t so clear cut. It all comes down to those ingredients. After all, if the cake hasn’t been baked for long enough or has the wrong type of flour, then it will not live up to expectations.

The ingredients

Before we even think about the optimal video length to choose, we need to consider what is going in to it. These five ingredients are key parts of the mix, and each brings important characteristics to the final video.

Your brand

A strong brand is the result of a lot of hard work and becomes linked to a certain style and set of values. This makes it a great way to connect with an audience but also means they could have certain expectations about the explainer videos and comms that are linked to it.

Your audience

We bring this up A LOT, but that is because it is an essential consideration at every stage of the explainer video creation process. Keeping in mind what your audience likes and responds to is a must. This will have an impact on the length of the video but also plays a role in aspects such as calls to action, characters, cultural references, voiceover choices and the style of language.

The content

The substance and heart of any video, thinking about the method of delivery that your content needs to do it justice, obviously has a big part to play in the development and final form of your explainer video. Different messages need different approaches and getting it wrong could undersell your message or reduce the impact of your video.

The placement

Another major force in the development of your video is where you are going to use it. Will it be placed on a landing page, uploaded to YouTube or is its main placement on social media? Each of these brings different possibilities and conventions, and these will play their own role in shaping your video.

The plan

Finally, where does this video sit in your wider strategy or the sales funnel? Does it have a specific part to play in a bigger plan or will it be a stand-alone video?

Short videos vs longer videos

Now we can start to think about the best explainer video length. Short videos and longer videos both have their own pros and cons.

There are a lot of statistics out there about attention spans being shorter, and frankly, some of the sources seem a little dubious. One thing that can’t be argued with is that today there are a lot of things fighting for our attention. This can give a short video an edge, delivering its message and any call to action in full before a viewer has skipped it or shifted their focus. Research from Wistia has shown that two minutes is the optimum explainer video length before viewer engagement takes a significant drop. Videos at this length work well earlier in the sales funnel. If you can say everything you need to say, and, crucially, say it well in two minutes or less then this is great, but some messages just won’t work in that timespan.

This is where longer form videos come in to their own. It’s no good fighting for someone’s attention with a short video if it doesn’t actually get across what it needs to say. Luckily, Wisita’s research found something else. Whilst average engagement drops from 70% to 50% by the time you reach minute six of a video, it doesn’t drop again until minute twelve. This means if your hook or content is strong, you can hold a viewer’s attention long enough to go into a subject in depth and give a full explanation. Longer form videos give you the time and space to tackle complex or big subjects in the detail they need, sitting comfortably towards the end of the sales funnel without feeling rushed or incomplete.

A closer look

A good explainer video is tailored and bespoke in every way, and this should include its length. Those ingredients we mentioned at the start combine uniquely every time, so the length of your explainer video should take the time it needs to deliver your message well, while still engaging viewers.

There is research into video length best practices depending on your use, but we would always balance the research with the unique needs of your message.

Videos designed exclusively for social media

It will come as no surprise that the fast-moving pace of social media networks has influenced the videos that are designed for it. Videos that are designed specifically for social media are best when they are short and direct. Sprout social have done research into the ideal video lengths for social media:

• For Facebook, most people will watch videos under 15 seconds to the end but research also shows that videos between 2 and 5 minutes get good engagement;

• When it comes to Twitter, the recommended video length is 15 seconds;

• On LinkedIn, videos under 30 seconds work best if brand awareness and consideration are your goals, but longer videos with more complex messages received as many clicks as their shorter counterparts;

• Over on Instagram, shorter videos perform better, wth 26 seconds being a sweet spot.

Explainer videos

When it comes to explainer videos, there are a few important factors like topic, purpose and position in the sales funnel that will play a role in deciding the optimal video length. With all this in mind, 60 - 90 seconds has been found to be a good length when explaining something and holding audience attention. The nature of explainer videos means you can say a lot in 90 seconds to engage viewers, but while this works well for simpler messages, explaining something more complex clearly needs more time.

We believe quality is equal to time, both in production values and in how well an explainer video shares messages or information with viewers. High quality explainers are good for the audience, and for the way your message and brand are received. While 90 seconds is a good target to aim for, it shouldn’t be at the expense of poor communication. We recommend keeping things as short as possible without compromising quality. This balance can be tricky; sometimes splitting a larger video into small sections can help get around issues.

How-to videos

There are always exceptions to the rule however, and how-to videos fall into this category. This is a massive genre of highly focused explainer video content and Sprout Social recommend three to six minutes, with longer lengths dependent on how engaging the information is.

Thought leadership videos

Achieving ‘thought leader’ status is a big achievement and takes a lot of work. Videos help in a big way as you share your insights and ideas with audiences, explaining them in the detail they need while also making them very shareable. Similar to how-to videos, these can comfortably stray longer than the 60-90 seconds recommended for explainer videos (although the rule of making a video that’s only as long as it needs to be still stands).

Some points may just need a minute or two, but a thought leader with something insightful and nuanced to share could create a video between 10 and 15 minutes long to inform and engage viewers. YouTube is an ideal home for these videos, with the average video length being between 13 and 14 minutes long. These videos are a great way to share ideas; the 2020 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study (Edelman) found that 48% of people surveyed spent an hour or more per week engaging with thought leadership content while 87% of people surveyed said that content which covers a topic they are currently working on makes it compelling.

General guidelines

Whether it’s a short video for social media or a 15-minute deep dive into a topic, explainer videos are a great way to share information in an engaging and memorable way. This is because they are great at combining information streams (particularly in formats such as whiteboard animation) to deliver lots of information quickly and to provide added depth, context and nuance. There are a few golden rules, however, which work for videos regardless of length.

• We’ve already covered this, but not making the video longer than it needs to be is a must, and dividing a video in to separate parts can help with this.

• Know your audience; where do they spend their time? What styles and video lengths do they respond well to?

• More and more, making sure a video can work well with or without sound is important.

• Always start with a strong hook and for shorter form videos, deliver it in the first three seconds.

• When you’re planning a video, 140 words of script equals a minute of video.

• Don’t forget about any accessibility considerations you might need to build in to allow your people to access your video fully.

The best explainer video length for your piece is always a unique consideration that combines what you want to say, who you want to say it to and where you want to say it. However long your video, it needs to be able to communicate your message well and to engage viewers.

We hope this post has provided some video length best practices and helped you plan your next video. Of all the types of explainer video, whiteboard animation is our specialty. We love how it combines scripts, illustration, cultural references, emotion, animation, onscreen text and a voiceover to make messages engaging, memorable, informative and entertaining.

If you have a message, idea or information you’d like to share and think whiteboard animation might be the right fit for you, we’d love to talk about how it might look and work. Book a discovery call today!