If you’re looking for the latest statistics on short-form video, you’ve come to the right place.
Short form video is a hot topic right now, and we wanted to take the time to compile some of the most interesting stats about it so that you can feel confident in your decision to use this growing medium.
Whether you’re an executive or an entrepreneur, there are plenty of benefits to using short-form video in your marketing strategy. From increased user engagement and brand loyalty to increased sales and traffic, short-form video can help you get the results you want.
We hope this list of short-form video stats gives you a better idea of why this is such a powerful tool for businesses like yours! All of the information is presented in an easy-to-digest format so that you can spend less time reading and more time putting it into practice!
General Short Form Video Statistics
1. 54% of companies leveraged short-form video in 2022
(HubSpot)
HubSpot’s 2022 Marketing Industry Trends survey found that 54% of marketers were already investing in short-form videos to achieve their promotional goals. What’s more, 85% of the marketers surveyed said they believe short-form videos were the most effective format on social media.
Short-form video content ranked at the top of the list of marketing options for lead generation and engagement, and 47% of marketers said shorter videos were more likely to go viral.
2. 39.4% of companies use short-form videos to sell products/services
(HootSuite)
HootSuite conducted a study on social media trends in 2022 and found that 39.4% of companies said they were using short-form videos to sell services and products. This made short-form video the most attractive investment option for all companies selling on social media.
The second most popular technique leveraged by these companies was social ads at 29%, and a further 29.6% of companies said they were actively investing in user-generated content.
3. 59.9% of customers say a video being too long would deter them from watching
(Animoto)
In a survey of its customers, Animoto discovered that longer videos actually deter customers from watching. Around 59.9% of respondents said they would avoid watching a video they considered to be too long. When it came to figuring out how long videos should be, Animoto noted that Facebook currently advises businesses to keep video lengths to only 15 seconds.
Animoto also noted that 47% of the value in a video is usually shared within the first 3 seconds. Demand for shorter videos was also noted by Animoto on Instagram, where it found videos an average of 26 seconds in length achieved the most comments.
Platform | Average Video View Duration |
---|---|
15 seconds | |
18 seconds | |
Tiktok | 21 seconds |
26 seconds | |
YouTube | 7.02 minutes |
4. The number of US consumers watching short-form video increased to 74% in 2018
(Deloitte)
Deloitte Digital found that short-form video consumption was already increasing at a significant pace in 2018. According to the company’s survey, the number of US consumers watching short-form video increased to 74% in 2018. Notably, the report also found that short-form video consumption was higher among younger generations.
81% of millennials said they watched short-form video, alongside 84% of Gen Z respondents. What’s more, around 40% of Americans said they spend more than an hour every week watching short-form clips on various social media platforms.
Types of Short Form Video Statistics
5. The majority of business videos in 2021 were less than 2 minutes long
(Vidyard)
Vidyard’s annual Video in Business Benchmark report found the average length of business-related videos did start to rise from six minutes in 2020 to almost ten in 2021. However, the report also noted the majority of videos were less than 2 minutes in length (56%).
Only around 4% of all business videos were found to be between 10 and 20 minutes in length. Additionally, only 18% of business videos were considered to be long-form content (over 20 minutes in length).
6. Animated videos less than 60 seconds long have a higher retention rate
(SumoMe)
In a study of the retention and engagement rates of explainer videos, SumoMe found the sweet spot for most explainer clips is one to two minutes. When a video goes over 2 minutes in length, views drop from approximately 77% to 57%. However, there are differences with certain kinds of video.
Animated explainer videos, for instance, had the highest audience retention rate at only 60 seconds in length. Audience retention for up 60-second videos was 77%. The report also found the average 60-second video would usually hold a customer’s attention for up to 47 seconds.
7. People prefer instructional videos between 3 to 6 minutes long
(Techsmith)
Analyzing the engagement rates of instructional videos, Techsmith discovered the majority of viewers prefer their instructional content to be between 3 and 6 minutes in length. Content more than 20 minutes long was only chosen as the top choice by 10% of participants in the study.
Notably, however, 83% of the respondents in the study said they preferred to watch a video to access informational or instructional content rather than reading an article or listening to audio.
Notably, the report also found around 16% of people stopped watching videos because they were bored, and 12% stopped because they got distracted by other tasks. According to the researchers, this indicates it’s important for companies to get the right information to their audience fast when creating instructional videos.
8. 73% of consumers prefer to watch a short video to learn about a service or product
(Wyzowl)
The Wyzowl report on video content in 2022 found that 73% of consumers would prefer to watch a short video to learn more about a product or service. Only around 11% of consumers said they would prefer to read a text-based article, and 4% said they would like to see an infographic.
Notably, Wyzowl also discovered that 96% of their respondents had watched an explainer video to learn more about a service or product. A further 78% of consumers said they had been encouraged to download or purchase software due to watching a video. Additionally, 88% of consumers said watching a video had convinced them to purchase a product or service from a brand
Short form Video Platform Statistics
9. 53.2% of all views on Facebook videos are “30 second views”
(Locowise)
Studies from Locowise found the demand for shorter videos has been increasing for some time. Even in 2018, 53.2% of all video views on Facebook were 30-second views. Videos shorter than 30 seconds were also found to gain more engagement, according to the report.
In this study, Locowise also found the average length of a video on Facebook was usually around 55.3 seconds, while the average view duration was only 18.2 seconds, suggesting people only watched a third of most videos they saw on Facebook.
10. 15 second videos have an 89% higher completion rate on Twitter
(Twitter)
Social media platform Twitter took advantage of the growing demand for short-form video in 2021 by rolling out a new 15-second view ad option. According to the platform, compared to legacy video units, advertisers using the 15 second video achieved an 89% higher completion rate for their ads.
What’s more, using short-form video on Twitter appears to be a cheaper option too. Twitter found per completed view, marketers were spending around 25% less on 15-second videos.
11. Nearly half of all U.S. consumers prefer to watch short-form videos on Tiktok
(Insider Intelligence)
While there are various platforms available for the creation and distribution of short-form video today, TikTok is one of the most popular. A new report by Insider Intelligence has found that 48.5% of U.S. consumers prefer watching social short-form videos on Tiktok, with YouTube Shorts Reels coming in a distant second at 25.3%.
As of the fourth quarter of 2022, Tiktok had more than 1.2 billion monthly active users. This user count is expected to increase to 1.8 billion by the end of 2022.
TikTok achieved phenomenal growth between 2020 and 2021, earning $4.6 billion in revenue, a 142% increase in year-over-year profits. The platform is also extremely popular in China, where 600 million users log in on a daily basis to watch short-form videos.
12. Snapchat has 332 million daily active users
(Snapchat)
Another platform well-known for promoting the rise of short-form video and limited-time content, Snapchat has also changed the social media landscape forever. The company has been gradually gaining more users on a yearly basis, thanks in part to its short-form video options.
In the first quarter of 2022, Snapchat announced the platform had around 332 million daily active users. This is a significant increase from the third quarter of 2021, when the channel had around 306 million users. Users spend around 30 minutes on Snapchat per day, and the platform currently ranks at number 12 among the most popular social platforms.
13. Videos less than a minute long made up 12% of YouTube content in 2021
(Conviva)
While some platforms are more pre-disposed to promote short-form video than others, many experts believe the growing demand for shorter content is a result of much shorter attention spans. According to analysts like Conviva, this has prompted an increase in the number of videos on every channel which are only a couple of minutes long.
In 2021, videos under a minute in length made up around 12.1% of all the content on YouTube, according to Conviva. This was a significant increase from only 9.7% of videos being less than a minute long in 2020.
On Facebook, short-form video doesn’t appear to be growing as rapidly. The number of videos under a minute on Facebook in 2020 equated to 36% of all the video content. In 2021, this number dropped to 35%.
14. The recommended length for videos on TikTok is between 21 and 34 seconds
(WIRED)
According to a report from WIRED, 1 in 4 of the most liked videos on TikTok is usually between around 21 and 34 seconds in length. This is the most commonly recommended size for TikTok videos, as advised by the platform itself.
However, WIRED also notes this recommendation has almost doubled between 2020 and 2021. In 2020, a content playbook released by TikTok suggested making videos only 11 to 17 seconds in length. While short videos are still extremely popular on TikTok, this could be a sign that content creators need to consider slightly lengthier videos.
15. LinkedIn videos less than 30 seconds long have a 200% higher completion rate
(LinkedIn)
The definition of short-form video can vary from one channel to the next, as can user preferences for how lengthy content should be. According to LinkedIn, videos less than 30 seconds long on the professional platform have 200% higher completion rates.
However, the social media platform also indicated longer videos can also deliver more value and engagement because they’re capable of telling more complex stories.
Short form Video Performance Statistics
(HubSpot)
According to HubSpot’s 2022 Marketing Industry Trends survey, short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy. The report looked at multiple forms of social media marketing campaigns, including written content and infographic sharing.
The survey also found that 30% of social media marketers planned to invest in short-form video over any other marketing trend in 2022. Plus, 51% of the marketers already using the format were planning to increase their investment by the end of 2022.
17. The videos with the most engagement on Facebook have an average length of 71 seconds
(Newswhip)
According to a report from Newswhip looking at video length over the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, the average length of the top 10 videos with the most engagement has been decreasing over the years. Between 2018 and 2019, the average length of the most engaging videos reduced from 147 seconds to only 71 seconds, indicating a demand for shorter content.
18. Almost 50% of TikTok users find videos longer than a minute to be “stressful”
(Wired and TikTok)
Research conducted by TikTok and reported by Wired found that the average TikTok user finds lengthy video content to be stressful. According to TikTok administrators, today’s digital users have difficulty concentrating for more than a minute. Almost 50% of the customers surveyed by the social media platform said they found videos longer than a minute to be stressful.
According to the report, a third of the users on TikTok also watch their online videos at “double speed” to get through content faster. Notably, the platform also highlighted that people weren’t watching shorter videos because they didn’t have time for longer ones. Instead, consumers said they simply can’t concentrate on longer videos.
19. Around 68% of consumers will watch a video all the way through if its less than 60 seconds
(Vidyard)
The 2019 video benchmark report released by Vidyard fund the average video length was trending shorter between 2018 and 2019, dropping from 6.07 minutes to 4.07 minutes. According to the company, part of the reason for this trend is that most consumers won’t watch long videos all the way to the end.
On average, 52% of all video viewers will watch a video all the way through regardless of length. However, 68% of people will watch all of a video if it’s less than 60 seconds long. In comparison, only 25% of viewers will complete a video longer than 20 minutes.
20. In 2021, 30-second videos earned 88% of all ad impressions
(Extreme Reach)
A report by Extreme Reach looking at video engagement and viewing trends found that 30-second videos earned an 88% impression rate. Interestingly, the average completion rate for all videos was around 79%, suggesting some online videos may still be too long for the fast-paced lives of viewers.
When it came to video ads, viewers finished watching 15-second ads more often than 30-second ads. By the third quarter of 2021, around 78% of all viewers completed 30-second ads, compared to 87% of people who watched 15-second ads to the end.
Conclusion
If there’s one thing we hope you take away from this post, it’s this: short-form video is a growing trend in marketing right now, and it’s worth your attention.
But before you put them to use, here are some tips for leveraging short-form video in your marketing strategy:
- Use short-form videos as a way of connecting with your audience. It’s not about bragging about your product or service—it’s about making sure that people know who you are and what you stand for.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content. You might find that one style works better than another or that certain styles are more appropriate for certain audiences than others.
- Make sure that every video includes a call-to-action! This is the most important part of any advertising campaign; if you don’t tell people what you want them to do next, then there’s no point in creating the content in the first place.
So what do you think?
Are you inspired to create short-form video content for your business? Maybe you’re thinking about starting a channel of your own. Or maybe you’re just looking for new ways to use video in your marketing efforts.
Whatever your goals, we hope that this list was helpful and that it made you think about short-form video in a different way. We know that numbers can be intimidating, but with the right tools and resources (like our blog), they can also be really fun!
Thanks for reading!
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