Explainer Videos from Sparksight, Inc on Vimeo.

Explainer Videos Are Too Long

It’s true. And although having a video on your homepage could increase conversion by 64%, if the video is too long to watch, that isn’t going to happen.

We know the benefits of having an explainer video: 75% of executives are watching videos on business sites at least once a week and after watching, 39% call the vendor! But the clock is ticking. How many calls are you missing out on because your explainer video is too long?

Explainer Vid graph

How Long Should Explainer Videos Be?

Per the above chart, at 30 seconds 85% of your viewers are still watching. This is the commonly used length for commercials and advertising but maybe your product, service or story needs more breathing room.

We recommend the 1:15 mark, when you still have 78% of your viewers. Or just under two minutes when 65% are still watching. However, the average length of explainer videos requested from us is 2.5 minutes, at which point (as we see above) only HALF of the viewers are still watching!

Is the extra time worth losing more viewers? Remember, you have visuals telling your story too so there is always room to slim down the wording. Why not spend the money on higher quality animations that engage as opposed to longer ones that just follow the voice over?

Less is more, especially in explainer videos. Remember, the longer the video, the sooner people start to lose inter–

Interested in commissioning an awesome new animated video? Check out our new Sparklers Campaign for a great deal on your next animation. Be sure to act fast, this deal ends August 15th!

2 responses to “Explainer Videos Are Too Long

  1. Thanks for the info – but where is your data coming from? Is there good methodology behind it?
    I ask because there is more than one reason I quit watching a video.
    Lots of them stink to high heaven. Poorly produced or some coder talking to a webcam with no real thought to his audience, etc. Choppy animations of CGI stick figures that begin “Here’s Fred the director sales…”)
    Are you SURE this isn’t another ‘post hoc ergo propter hoc’ conclusion?

    1. Hi Michael, thanks for your comment!

      Many of the stats are pulled from a wonderful study done by Wistia on viewer retention. All the data in this article is based off of attention span and patience, but I like your suggestion of seeing a study based on other elements as well!

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