This Blog Is Short for a Reason
Shorter is better in the digital video world. That is the study summation by Wistia in research on engagement vs. video length.
The study revealed three basic ideas for video length of digital assets by studying more than 500,000 videos and 1.3 billion shares:
- 1-2 minutes is the preferred video length for maximum engagement
- There is significant engagement drop-off in the 2 to 7 minutes range
- 7 to 12 minutes is constant and retains 50% of engagement
So let’s keep this short. Yet, if you want to create a 1-to-2-minute video, how long can your script be? As you can see, you have only 300 words max. (This blog is just over 150 words, or a little more than 1 minute of video copy.)
Keep it to 1 to 2 minutes, and you’ll optimize your video engagement. But make every second count if you go over 2 minutes.
Mark Mathis III is chief creative & strategy officer, partner and cofounder of AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.