Optimal Social Video Lengths Vary by Creator Type, Region

New research from Tubular Labs reveals that social video length plays a bigger role than many brands and creators may realize — and choosing the right duration can be a make or break element for racking up views and engagement. There’s also no one-size-fits-all guideline: Optimal lengths for brands may be different for influencers, and there’s variation across platforms as well as regions of the world. A few insights from Tubular’s analysis: 

• In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, brand videos on YouTube that are under 30 seconds long have gotten the most views on average over the last year (~120K). 
• But for APAC influencers, videos 30-60 seconds and 1-2 minutes rack up the most views. Tubular notes, though, that APAC influencers are posting more 0-30 second Shorts, highlighting a growth opportunity. 
• Meanwhile, APAC media companies are mostly uploading 2-5 minute videos on YouTube — but shorter ones (under 30 seconds) are garnering the most views.

Going a bit deeper, Tubular looked specifically at the Food & Drink category on Facebook for EU vs. APAC creators, uncovering some key trends. 

• In Europe, Food & Drink creators primarily upload 2-5 minute videos — but 5-10 minute videos earn 6% more views, and have 236% less competition.  
• 2-5 minute Facebook Food & Drink videos are most popular in APAC as well, with creators posting them a staggering 424% more often than the average of all shorter formats. But the winner for views in this area is 5-10 minute videos and clips under 30 seconds. 

Get more insights by downloading Tubular’s 5 Steps to Video Length Optimization guide here.