Video length and best practices

Most people watch video on their mobile with ‘Sound Off’ so it is important that the viewer can still understand what it is about, without the volume.

Captions

You can adapt your video for sound off, by adding captions (this can be done in Canva) or adding subtitles (you can do this for around £1 per minute of footage using Rev.com)

Videos Specs

Facebook advises that shorter video is most effective (ideally 15 seconds or less) however, the length shouldn’t be prescriptively confined by those boundaries. It’s more important that the video is engaging, holds people attention, works for sound off, and conveys the message of the story than it is to make sure it’s the “correct” length.

I personally find videos at 30-60 seconds work exceptionally well, but the intro MUST be immediate – if there’s even 1-2 seconds at the start where nothing is happening, that’s it, you’ve lost them.

Important things to note

• You may need to remove certain placements if your video is too long (Instagram feed, being a common one)
• If your video is 60 seconds but your data tells you nobody is watching beyond 20 seconds, but your product doesn’t come in until 26 seconds, you have a problem to fix
• Try and make sure your brand / product appears at the start. Your logo at the start and the end helps reinforce the brand.