2 minutes or less online
Two minutes and seven seconds.
That’s the average length of time people spend viewing videos on Twitter, according to “Online Video Best Practices” (PDF), a new study by TubeMogul, Brightcove and DynamicLogic.
The researchers analyzed the average viewing time of more than 100 million random video streams on social networks and search engines. Among the takeaways:
1. Avoid the 2-minute mark.
Twitter was the only video source that broke the 2-minute mark. Average viewing times were:
- 1:54 on Yahoo!
- 1:50 on Facebook
- 1:27 on Google
- 1:09 on Bing
2. Avoid the 1-minute mark.
Talk about short attention span theater. According to a study by Visible Measures:
- Almost 20 percent of viewers abandon an online video after 10 seconds.
- More than 40 percent abandon it after a minute.
Visible Measures studied the abandonment rate of 40 million videos during 7 billion viewings.
Want visitors to finish your video? Keep it short.
Tip: You might also advertise your short video’s length — (1:15), for instance — to encourage viewership.
3. Don’t surprise friends, followers and fans with large files.
Use abbreviations like PDF, VID and PPT to identify links to large downloads.
4. Time it right.
The shelf life of online videos has dropped dramatically since 2008. Your video will get most of its views in the first week. So your time your release right and publicize your video fast.
| Attention drops off steeply Online videos reach percentage of 90-day view total sooner | ||
| 2010 | 2008 | |
| 50% of 90-day view total | 6 days | 14 days |
| 75% of 90-day view total | 20 days | 44 days |
| Source: “Online Video Best Practices” | ||
5. Consider your objectives.
Choose repurposed TV spots for awareness, according to “Online Video Best Practices,” and made-for-Web videos for persuasion.
| Made-for-Web videos sell more products | ||
| Repurposed TV ads | Made-for-Web videos | |
| Intent to purchase | .8% | 1.4% |
| Brand favorability | 1.2% | 1.6% |
| Brand awareness | 2% | 1.9% |
| Message association | 2.2% | 2.1% |
| Online ad awareness | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Source: “Online Video Best Practices” | ||
Targeting young adults? Go with custom content. Some 2.8 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds planned to purchase the product after viewing made-for-Web content.
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Sources: “Twitter Video Streams Watched for 2 Mins,” Marketing Charts, Nov. 11, 2010
Alex Mindlin, “Drilling Down: Short Attention Spans for Web Videos,” The New York Times, Oct. 11, 2010
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