How long should a video be?

You can read all over the internet that videos should NEVER be longer than two or three minutes.  When we get asked the same question, our response is “a video needs to be as long as it needs to be,” length should be the last thing on your mind. There’s no doubt that most videos are about three minutes long since that tends to be the limit of many people’s attention.

Consider for a moment your own video viewing experiences.  You’ll think nothing about sitting through a two hour movie but a two hour presentation streaming on the web is definitely another story.  On the other hand, if you found a great how-to video, maybe on fixing a clogged sink, you’d probably watch all of it to hopefully prevent you from calling a plumber.  Always let the content drive your program length.  If you have a lot of content that you think people will enjoy, consider making multiple smaller videos. There’s even a chance that Google will rank you higher because you have many videos vs. just one long video.

Of course you also need to consider your audience.  If you want video for a trade show, be sure it’s something solid that will hold people’s attention and hopefully drive them to talk to people in the booth after watching.  The shorter length will give more people an opportunity to see the entire clip vs. losing them to a long video.

And when you’re ready to research price, we always caution people to watch out for deals that advertise a low “cost per finished minute” or special rates for thirty or sixty second videos.  Broadcast television marketing still requires people to think in short time blocks but that’s not the case with the Web.  Over the years, we’ve created hour long programs at a fraction of some of our more complex thirty second videos, it’s all priced on what the client needs.  If you think about it, your website is your own 24/7, on-demand, broadcast network.  People can now view your content on their own time, when and where they want it.  In some cases, you might want to give people the ability to download your clip so they can share it with others, you can’t easily do that with TV.  Also keep in mind that recording and editing a one hour seminar can often be significantly less expensive than producing a complex, thirty second commercial.

Web video vs. TV Video Advertising

One of the main challenges with buying TV time is you have to get lucky with your audience. Did you buy enough media on the right channels and during the right times to get your business noticed? With the Web, your video content is up 24/7. If you’re like most, you go to the web when you need products and/or services. Having great video on your site greatly increases your natural search engine results. According to eMarketer it’s 52% easier to get a first page ranking through video than via any other optimization strategy

The following article says it all.
http://www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/tv-online-video/

We offer a number of video solutions for all budgets. Call today to learn more: 978.338.5699

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