Note: this post was originally written in August 2023, and was updated with new data in July 2024.

Video remains the dominant content format on social media, so we’re always asked about optimizing the experience. The most common question we get from clients: how long should my videos be?

As your team’s investment in visual storytelling grows, determining the optimal video length for your audiences can be a helpful way to boost the performance of paid social campaigns. Let’s look at CI client data to see how different video lengths play out across Meta’s platforms.

A TAILORED ANALYSIS FOR ARTS MARKETERS

The general consensus among marketers is that Meta videos should fall somewhere between 1–2 minutes. After that point, completion and conversion rates tend to drop off.

However, there isn’t much guidance out there when it comes to organic videos versus paid, and certainly none that looks specifically at content created by arts organizations. So we dug into our clients’ campaign data for answers tailored to our industry. Does the typical video length recommendation hold true for the arts?

For this analysis from our Cultural Compass study, we looked at paid social media campaigns in aggregate over the last year and prioritized efficiency in driving purchases and page views (real results for your organization!) instead of engagement or virality.

THE VIDEO SWEET SPOT

One key result we analyzed was hold rate, which looks at the rate for the ThruPlay metric on Meta, which shows videos viewed to completion, or at least 15 seconds. Hold rates contribute to understanding the overall engagement and interest levels of users. A high hold rate indicates that users are genuinely interested in the content and are willing to watch a significant portion of the video. In contrast, a low hold rate may suggest that the video fails to maintain user attention after the initial hook.

While the traditional advice is usually that shorter videos are better on social media, our findings suggest otherwise—or that, at least, that isn’t the whole picture. The shortest video bucket (1-9 seconds) had the lowest video hold rate, so there does seem to be such a thing as “too short.”

We saw spikes in the results across page view rate, engagement rate, and video hold rate around one minute and two minutes, and the sweet spot seems to be somewhere around or between the two. Our results aligned with conventional wisdom when it comes to video length!

The ideal length of your video ultimately depends on the strength of your content; if you’ve created a compelling story, people will stick with you for longer. Use the amount of time you need to showcase your story in the best possible way—but if it makes sense and works for your storytelling, try to stick to around or between 1 to 2 minutes when possible.

WHAT TO AVOID

Considering using a video that falls outside of that sweet spot? Whether it’s very short (1–15 seconds) or very long (120+ seconds), leaning too far in either direction puts campaign performance at risk.

• Don’t lose people early. We all know that social media users have short attention spans, but a blip of content with no clear purpose will likely lose folks quickly. Given Meta’s multimedia experience, an especially short video is likely unsatisfying, so take full advantage of your storytelling potential.
• Don’t stretch it out unnecessarily. On the flip side, don’t feel like you need to fill time to lengthen a video. You don’t want your video to be too long; we saw a significant drop-off in page view rate after two minutes. Plus, the budget you need to deliver brand lift from longer ad lengths has been found to be 2x – 5x more. Focus on grabbing attention while showcasing the most compelling parts of your programming.
• Carefully consider long-form content. Longer videos had results all over the map, suggesting that length isn’t necessarily a deterrent when a video is truly fascinating. If you’re unsure whether your audiences will go for a longer video, conduct an A/B test with a shorter clip to see which performs better.

THE TAKEAWAY: KEEP IT SHORT AND SWEET

Ultimately, the strength of your video content matters above all—but when in doubt, between 1 to 2 minutes is a good guideline.

And remember: Video length is just one factor in campaign performance. Don’t gloss over the importance of expert storytelling and creative messaging. If your video is compelling enough, it will hold people’s attention no matter the length, so make sure you have a solid concept to drive clicks and increase conversions.