3 Ways To Optimize Video Length

Why Short AND Long Videos Matter for YouTubers

Feb 02, 2022

Hey Creators,

Entertain my thought experiment: Teaching YouTubers in 2022 is like Teaching Astronauts in 1962 🧑‍🏫. You might think I’m kidding but the statement is true, at least from a business standpoint. Now, I’m not drawing a moral or significance equivalency between going to the moon and videos about Dogecoin going to the moon.

I’m simply following the demand wherever it may be. A survey from Toy production firm Lego found that the most desired job for children aged 8-12 is not being a firefighter, astronaut, or even a superhero. The correct answer? Yep, you guessed it: 33% said they wanted to be a YouTuber. Whether or not this is good or bad (probably neither—how many kindergarteners become astronauts or superheroes anyway?), it’s simply an interesting trend to take notice of.

YouTube has become the go-to platform for children’s entertainment, largely due to its variety and convenience (YouTube algorithm = free babysitter). It should come as no surprise then that a few months ago YouTube surpassed the largest streaming platform in the world (Netflix) in total revenue. With this shift, of course, entails an enhanced sense of responsibility to ensure that the videos being consumed by children on YouTube are healthy and productive, not triggering and harmful.

We believe YouTube can be a home for thriving innovation, creativity, and entertainment.

Join us 💜

👁 Optimizing Video Length for $ + Views

In a world where children are consuming ungodly amounts of content each second, it seems as though short, digestible, and dopamine-rewarding content should win the day. Just take a field trip to any middle school lunchroom and you’ll observe hundreds of eyes fixated on the latest 20-second viral TikTok.

On the other hand, 2021 highlighted impressive demand on the other end of the spectrum. For every YouTube Shorts banger there was a proud 3-hour podcast downloader. Long-form content, notably podcasts, have witnessed a resurgence.

Thus, in a world of confusing pattern habits and contrasting behavior, how should YouTubers think about designing video length for their content? Are #shorts enough to generate a steady income stream? Is there room for posting longer content on YouTube without losing subscribers?

It turns out that there are reasons to launch both short and long content, but that this depends on the unique nature of your audience. Here are the 3 most important takeaways we observed from analyzing and bucketing data from thousands of pieces of content:

1.VIDEO LENGTH OPTIMIZATION IS AUDIENCE-SPECIFIC

As a rule of thumb, statistical metrics are rarely universal. If they were, we could just tell each of our clients the same things (tbh this would make our life a whole lot easier 😜). Video length success varies across each one of our clients:

These results were unsurprising given what we know about each. Ali’s base values thoughtful and extensive overviews of productivity and financial topics. “Unnamed client” contains an audience of high school students seeking quick writing and brainstorming tips.

There are, of course, pros and cons to short and long videos. In general,

longer videos = more revenue, higher KPIs, but more work
shorter videos = higher CTR (more clicks), less revenue, & less production.

2.STRETCH OUT CONTENT, IF POSSIBLE

Because longer pieces dominate KPIs and generate more revenue, it makes sense to take what resonates with your audience and see if you can lengthen videos. Take Ali: the productivity god noticed that his audience enjoyed his commentary on books, so he simply added extra content on each video. This killed two birds with one stone: more viewers and more money. (also, peep that thumbnail evolution 👀).

3.EXPERIMENT CONTENT WITH SHORTER VIDEOS

Because they’re easier to churn out, shorter videos are a valuable tool to experiment with different types of content. If a particular video flops, feel free to delete it and move on to the next idea.

😴 TL;DR

Video length optimization depends on the watching habits of your specific audience
1. Longer videos = more revenue, more subscribers, but more work
2. Shorter videos = higher CTR, less revenue, but less work
Try to stretch out types of videos that are successful with your audience
Experiment with shorter pieces of content to see what resonates with your viewers