How long should your video be: a length guide by platform

Every time someone asks me how long a video should be, the answer is always the same: it depends on where it's going to live. A video made for Instagram doesn't work the same on YouTube, and a LinkedIn video with the length of a Reel falls short of explaining anything in depth.

At A0Studios we record pieces for founders, brands and marketing teams who then distribute that content across several platforms at once. The most common mistake isn't image quality or the script: it's treating all platforms the same when each one rewards a different rhythm.

Why length changes so much by platform

Each platform optimizes to keep you on it, not on yours. Instagram and TikTok reward the percentage of people who watch the whole video, so a short clip with high retention weighs more than a long one that half the audience abandons after ten seconds. YouTube, by contrast, measures total watch time, and there an eight-minute piece that's well watched adds more than three one-minute clips.

The intent of the person on the other side changes too. On Reels and TikTok people discover content without searching for anything specific. On LinkedIn they look for authority and professional context. On YouTube they look for an answer or a tutorial. And on your own website, the visitor is already deciding whether to trust you, so the video has to convey that fast, not entertain.

Length is not the goal. It's a consequence of how much you need to achieve that goal without losing the viewer along the way.

How to do it well

Reels, Shorts and TikTok

In short vertical video the real window is between 15 and 45 seconds. The hook has to appear in the first 2-3 seconds or most people won't reach second 10. If the message needs more than 45 seconds to make sense, it's almost always better to split it into two pieces than to stretch a single one to a minute.

LinkedIn and B2B content

On LinkedIn the range that works best is 60 to 90 seconds for native video with no outside support, and it can reach 3 minutes if the content has clear value: a framework, a concrete data point, a case explained step by step. Vertical or square format takes up more space in the feed than horizontal, and that helps retention.

YouTube and video for your own website

On YouTube, pieces of 6 to 12 minutes with a clear structure (short intro, development, close) tend to perform better than standalone clips, because the algorithm rewards accumulated watch time. For video on your own website, the logic is the opposite: 20-40 seconds, with sound off by default and the main message in the first 5 seconds, because nobody lands on your landing page looking for entertainment.

Common mistakes

• Recording one long video and cutting it the same way for every platform without rethinking the hook for each one.
• Stretching a Reel to 90 seconds because "there's more to say" when attention was already lost at second 5.
• Posting a video made for TikTok on LinkedIn, with music and pacing that don't fit a professional feed.
• Measuring success by length alone and not by retention: a short video watched in full by 80% of viewers is worth more than a long one almost nobody finishes.
• Not leaving time in the session to record supporting takes that let you get several lengths from the same content.
• Putting the data point or the conclusion at the end of the video when the platform rewards it appearing in the first seconds.

Frequently asked questions

If you need to get pieces for several platforms out of a single session without losing naturalness in any of them, at A0Studios we plan it that way from the script. Get in touch via /#contacto.