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Creating a corporate video is like crafting a great first date: you want to impress, be memorable, and know when to wrap it up. Too short and you’re forgettable. Too long and you risk becoming the person who won’t stop talking about their fantasy football league. Let’s break down how to strike the right balance with your corporate video — and when it’s okay to stretch the timeline for the sake of story and substance.
How Long Should A Corporate Video Be? Jason Marraccini says “Ninety Seconds”.
How Long Should A Corporate Video Be? Jason Sirotin says “Sixty Seconds”.
The reason you’re making the video should drive everything, including the run-time. That said, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy that answers how long should a corporate video be. So, we figured we’d provide a few theoretical examples that show how you should approach this decision.
Let’s say a startup in the renewable energy space is preparing to launch Series A funding. They want to introduce their mission to investors while also appealing to talent. A crisp 2-minute overview video that showcases their founding story, core product, and company culture hits the sweet spot. It’s long enough to inspire confidence and short enough to respect viewers’ time.
A healthcare company trying to fill dozens of nursing positions might produce a 90-second day-in-the-life style recruiting video. It should spotlight employee testimonials, facilities, and perks — keeping it fast-moving, visually rich, and emotionally driven.
An airline producing a safety and compliance module for flight attendants needs to deliver precision instruction. A single module could reasonably be 8-12 minutes, broken into bite-sized chapters (e.g., fire safety, emergency evacuations). Each section should include visuals, narration, and perhaps interactive elements like quizzes.
Different people consume content differently. Think about who’s watching and where they are in their journey. Everyone might have a different answer to “how long should a corporate video be,” but if you can anticipate needs you can better craft your message to meet their expectations.
For example, say you’re a C-Level executive trying to pitch a new B2B SaaS platform to a board of directors. Your best bet is a sleek, 60- to 90-second explainer video with sharp graphics and an executive voiceover that delivers the core value proposition and ROI upfront.
That approach won’t always be the golden rule, though. Let’s think of another example here: say you’re spearheading internal communications at a large retailer. You’re tasked with outlining a complex new initiative — say, explaining a new point-of-sale system — a more detailed, step-by-step walkthrough might span 3 to 5 minutes. That’s fine if it’s framed as a helpful training video.
However, as you shift from internal-facing to external-facing content, it usually behooves you to shrink your total run time (that’s TRT, as we say in the biz).
What’s that?! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. NO! It’s another example?!?
Say you’re a national coffee chain launching a new cold brew product might make a playful, 45-second promo featuring lifestyle footage, mood music, and a quick nod to sustainable sourcing. Entertain first, inform second — that’s the core ethos that has come to dominate the consumer-facing corporate video landscape over the past decade+.
Ok, now we know just how much your audience affects your TRT. Duh, of course, obvious.
However, perhaps slightly less obvious is just how drastically where it’s deployed (i.e. which platform it lives on) can shift the answer of how long should a corporate video be.
How exactly does each platform affect these TRTs? Glad you asked!
Let’s say a food startup wants to build buzz for its new plant-based jerky. On TikTok, a 15-second visual recipe or a funny taste-test challenge will outperform a 3-minute “about us” video. TikTok as a platform was built on snappy, digestible, and by-and-large disposable content. That is shifting a bit currently, but more on that in another post…
A consulting firm showcasing its recent client success story might create a 90-second video with motion graphics and a call to action to read the full whitepaper. LinkedIn users are primed for professional insights, so slightly longer content can still perform well.
However, more than any other platform LinkedIn is all about added value. Longer TRTs give you more runway to impress, but languishing with fluff will only turn viewers off. Can’t stress that enough!
A robotics company might want to place a 3-minute hero video front and center on its homepage. This can serve as a deeper introduction for users who are already interested enough to visit the site.
Some subjects can be explained in 30 seconds. Others times… not so much.
There’s a stark difference between an internal comms video that explains new PTO best practices and a brand story documentary that details the very core of the company.
A biotech company debuting a new diagnostic tool needs to explain what the product does, how it works, and why it matters. A 5-minute video with narration, B-roll of the lab, and expert commentary would feel appropriate.
For a municipality launching a new recycling initiative, a 60- to 90-second animated explainer video could visualize the “how” and “why” of the program effectively.
For new employees, onboarding videos might need more room to breathe. A welcome message from the CEO, a tour of the office, and HR policy explanations could run 6 to 10 minutes — ideally segmented with clear chapter breaks.
You’ve got 8 to 10 seconds to convince people not to click away. That’s it. It’s like speed dating with your audience.
In that spirit of immediacy, let’s get right into how this can work for or against you:
You don’t need to guess. You can answer how long a corporate video should be — specifically your corporate video — by using analytics and A/B testing to refine what works.
A beverage company testing two promo videos — one 30 seconds, one 90 — finds that the shorter version gets more clicks, but the longer version drives more conversions on product pages. Result: Use short on social, long on the website.
An educational software provider sees that 60% of viewers drop off after 1:30 in their 3-minute onboarding video. Trimming fat and tightening the intro boosts completion rates to 75%.
A real estate company notices that viewer engagement spikes every time a homebuyer testimonial appears. They revise the script to include more storytelling and human faces earlier in the video.
How Long Should A Corporate Video Be? Trey Gregory says “Thirty Seconds”.
In the end, corporate video isn’t about cramming everything in — it’s about delivering just enough to educate, engage, and inspire. Your audience is busy. Respect their time by tailoring your message to the platform, the purpose, and the person on the other side of the screen.
Want help finding that “just right” length for your next video? ECG Productions has decades of experience helping brands get their message across with punch, polish, and precision. Let’s talk.
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How Long Should A Corporate Video Be? Jordan Nowlin says “Two Minutes”.
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