Over the years, explainer videos have proved to be a great medium for engaging, educating and converting potential customers.

Placing an explainer video on your landing page meant that you could reap conversion rates of 20% or more. In fact, the highest explainer video conversion record noted till now was for CrazyEgg, a SaaS tool that got 64% conversion hike and $21,000 extra revenue per month.

Apparently using explainer videos turns out to be more effective than manuals and FAQ pages. 36% of businesses believe that they have received less support queries once they incorporated explainer videos in their business strategy.

Plus, visitors who watch a product video are 85% more likely to buy your product or service., proving yet again that explainer videos can be very effective in persuading or pushing the audience through the marketing funnel.

Well, there’s more to the magic behind explainer videos. But one major factor that continues to dictate how your video performs is the timing. 

When it comes to explainer videos, the length of the video can also decide the outcome.

Timing: Are You Rushing Or Are You Dragging?

An average explainer video can be anywhere from 30 sec to below 5 minutes.

Considering how the attention span of humans has dwindled over time (it’s 8 seconds now or maybe less), the length of your video becomes crucial in dictating your video’s success.

90 seconds or less is the sweet spot for most.

If the video is too short (under a minute), you might miss out on some important, juicy detail of your product. If you are trying to cover every function and features about your product, the video can turn out longer (over 90seconds).

If you look at the above graph carefully, it is easier to point out the significant drop in viewer’s attention as the video length increases.

So how long should your video be?

Pointers to Help You Decide On the Ideal Length For Your Explainer Video

A suitable length for your explainer video is largely dependant on the purpose you are going to serve with it. We will run you down with the goals and requirements that dictate the duration you should go for.

30 seconds?

A 30 second explainer video is effective if you are at the first stage of the marketing funnel and your goal is to create brand awareness.

Videos of this duration can be used for giving a teaser/trailer. They also work well as Youtube or Facebook ads.

Such videos can be very effective in helping you earn potential customers as the attention span for such videos is higher than that of others. This means that the viewer is more likely to watch the entire video if it fits the 30 second duration.

We created a short 30 second video (actual video length was around 90 seconds) for Rankwatch to help them with a Youtube ad. Here is a glimpse:

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60 seconds?

A 60 second video can help you narrate your brand story.

These videos allow you to introduce the pain point and also give a glimpse of how you are going to address it.

Take a look at this Demo Day (explainer video) pitch we made for SwiftComply:

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90 seconds?

This length is suitable when your product is complex or when you are at the evaluation or purchase stage of the marketing funnel or when you are giving an overview of your brand.

Also, in case you are using the whiteboard animation style for your explainer video, then a video longer than 60 seconds is justified.

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This 90 second explainer video we created for Rankwatch helped them reduce their bounce rate from 62% to 35% and they also saw a 27% increase in signups, more than what they had expected from an explainer video.

90-120 seconds?

Now that you are aware about the attention span for a video longer than 90 seconds, you really need to focus on optimisation if you are going with this length.

Utilise the first 30-60 second window to give your message so the audience always goes with the takeaway even if they do not watch the entire video.

Such videos not only address the pain point but also go beyond to explain benefits.

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If your product uses some latest technology which isn’t known to your audience then you can go for videos that are longer than 90 seconds but make sure that the content is attention grabbing.

Beyond 2 minutes??

In case you are finding it difficult to squeeze in the content within 2 minutes, you can consider a video of longer duration.

A video longer than 2 minutes can be used once you have already engaged your audience with short duration videos. Once you have managed to get the customers on-board with short introductory videos, now you can experiment with the length.

But yes, keep in mind that beyond the 2 minute mark, the attention span of your audience becomes almost half of what it was for a 30 second video.

Here is a short 4 minute film we made for Apollo.

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For longer videos, focus on communicating the main message in the first 60 seconds or early. As you can see, the main message of the video (Integrated Healthcare Delivery System) is introduced in the first 40 seconds.

This way even if the user fails to watch the entire video, he gets the gist.

Conclusion

Stats clearly point out to the fact that greater the video length, higher is the chance that your audience will lose interest.

However, in trying to cut short the video, many brands fail to deliver the intended message. This is one mistake you should try to avoid.

A good explainer video strikes a fine balance between timing and content. It means that the intended message is delivered in just the right amount of time. Like we said, an explainer video can be anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes, the effectiveness of it comes down to how you have utilised that time window for communicating your message.

By: Bhavna Sultana

Content Strategist at Crackitt