5 Tips To Help You Stop Losing Engagement With Your Explainer Video

So, you’re about to start developing your next animated explainer video and want to make it highly engaging. You’re on the right track! Without engagement it’s unlikely that your viewers will remember anything about your content and act in consequence. In this blog post we’re going to share with you 5 killer tips to stop losing engagement with your animated marketing video. But before that, we’re going to give you some valuable information on how important video length is to get great engagement with your marketing video. Let’s get started!

Understanding The Importance Of Video Length

People are constantly being bombarded with lots of information and stimuli, to the point that their attention span is shorter than a goldfish’s. What do we mean? The average attention span has decreased to 8.25 seconds. Quite surprising, right? This means you have to think strategically -and creatively- to get to your audience with compelling and engaging content that quickly gets their interest and helps them remember what you want them to remember.

With this in mind, you have to pay special attention to the duration of your marketing video, since there is a strong connection between video length and engagement. Didn’t you know that? And it’s not we at Yum Yum who are saying so. Stats support it! Just take a look at some data revealed by Wistia, one of the most popular video hosting sites on the net:

• Keeping your video under 2 minutes will help you keep your audience’s interest and attention. Videos up to 2 minutes perform really well in terms of engagement.
• Between minute 2 and 3, engagement starts to drop.
• Between minute 6 and 12 there is another chance to connect with the viewer.
• From minute 12 on, stay alert…as every minute loses engagement from viewers.

Can We Talk About “A Perfect Length” For Your Marketing Video?

Remember that your goal is to keep your audience engaged. And if you want to do things right, you might be asking yourself if there is a “perfect length” for your marketing video.

First thing you have to know is that cutting down every video to fit the “2-minute standard” would be a mistake. Keep in mind that there are some videos that need more minutes due to their essence and, of course, in order to meet their goals. So forget about cutting down your 8-minute video to fit 7 minutes, because it won’t make a huge difference in terms of engagement. Also, forget about trimming your 10-minute video to make it last the ideal “2 minutes”. It’s unnecessary. And in the next few lines you will learn why…

Just like a TED talk video usually lasts around 15 minutes, or a pitching video is not more than 2 minutes, you have to give your marketing video the right length. Based on what? On different factors. Specifically: the content, the target audience who will watch the video and the overall context. Let me be clear on this:

The type of content

You have lots of possibilities in the world of video marketing: explainer videos, tutorials, testimonials, documentaries, how to videos, company story videos, and so many others. Remember that depending on the type of video that you develop, the length may -and should- vary.

The target audience

You need to have a clear idea on who you want to approach and what action you want them to take, as this will also impact the length of your video. It’s not the same to educate, than teach, or just inform.

The context

The devices and platforms your target audience will use to access your video are also important, just like their expectations. For example, according to Hubspot, those videos that are up to 5 minutes in length are widely chosen on smartphones. If we talk about social media, the ideal video length on YouTube seems to be 3 minutes. Also, focus on your target audience’s expectations: the title of your video, the thumbnail that you use, the platforms in which you spread it, will determine what your viewer will “expect” from your video: to be short or to be long.

Popular Video Formats And Lengths

Now that you know that the duration of your video will vary depending on these 3 factors, it’s also important that you know some common video formats and the suggested lengths for each one. Check out this data revealed by The Next Web:

• Tutorial videos should be between 45 and 90 seconds. More than 2 minutes will make the viewer lose interest and focus.
• Creative commercials should last between 15 and 59 seconds.
• Crowdfunding videos should last around 2.5 minutes. In this type of video, the viewer knows that he’s about to “learn” about a specific project and that this requires a little more time.
• Customer Testimonial videos last between 60 and 119 seconds. Just like in the previous example, here the viewer also has a “previous interest” about what the speaker has to say, and is willing to invest a little more time on it.

The Right Length For Animated Explainer Videos

Now we’re getting closer to our point, hum? 🙂 As you may know, explainer videos have some unique characteristics that make them stand out from other types of marketing videos. And they also have one specific goal to achieve: they aim to explain a business idea in just a matter of seconds, by resorting to attractive, inspiring and memorable designs and animations. The main purpose is to explain the what (what the company offers), the how (how the product will solve a specific pain point of the audience), and the why, (why that product is the best alternative in the market).

Due to their essence and idiosyncrasy, explainer videos shouldn’t be long. The idea is to get to the audience with a brief, compelling and persuasive message that quickly grabs their attention and encourages them to take action. Check this great example:

[video_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n7PksCnNH8″]

Despite this, and depending on the type of animated video you pick out, the niche in which your company works, and the stage of the buyer’s journey in which you will use the video, the length could vary. But, from a general point of view, keep this premise in mind: animated explainer videos should last between 60 and 90 seconds. That’s the ideal length, the perfect timing to pass out your key messages while you keep your audience entertained and engaged, without losing views.

5 Killer Tips To Avoid Losing Engagement With Your Animated Marketing Video

And finally we get to “the” point! 🙂 So far you know that each specific type of video should have an appropriate length. You also know that explainer videos in particular should last between 60 and 90 seconds. But how can you get the most out these precious seconds? We have some useful tips to show you how you can stop losing engagement, and boost it…with the timing you need.

So, in order to stop losing engagement (and, what’s better, to boost it!) try to follow these helpful guidelines:

1. Start your video by communicating the main problem that your audience has, and that you intend to solve. Make it in an attractive, clear and straightforward way. This will be vital to grab your audience’s attention and keep them hooked.
2. Make sure you fully customize your explainer video. This will make your viewers feel connected with the characters, landscapes and backgrounds that you present on screen, and will increase their interest and trust towards your proposal.
3. Make your video high quality. Provide it with the best quality in every single stage of the animated video production process. This is the only way you will get a highly engaging (and effective) marketing video.
4. Give your explainer video the right length. As a reference, 160 scripted words in English is equal to one minute of video or so. If you want to make a 90-second video, you will then need 240 scripted words. You can complement this information by downloading our free eBook on “How to write a script for an explainer video”.
5. Hire a professional video production company who can help you through each of these stages. A multidisciplinary and talented team will be your key partner to get to a high-end marketing video and get the ROI you expect.

At Yum Yum we have many years of experience in developing fully custom explainer videos for different companies, from several niches and industries. We are also 100% detail-oriented, since we are convinced that dedication, focus and an eye on the details in every stage of the production process are the key to get to a successful result. If you need help with the production of your next explainer video, feel free to contact us. We’ll be glad to hear from you.

In Summary

It seems that there is a strong relationship between video length and engagement. The “2-minute video” can to be a good alternative, but the truth is that “the perfect length” for any marketing video depends on many different factors, as we’ve seen.

Talking about explainer videos in particular, they should have a specific length. And of course there are also some other considerations you should bear in mind if you want to avoid losing views and boosting engagement, by using different resources we’ve explored in this article.

We hope this information has been useful, and we invite you to surf our video marketing resources section to get some complementary information about explainer videos!