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In this article we take a look at explainer video length. This is a question most marketers ask, and not just once. Every time you’re making a video on a different topic, the question about length comes up. Why? Because the length of your video affects several things. Let’s fine out.
by
Larry Mutenda
How long should an explainer video be? For most uses, 60 to 90 seconds. Across the explainer videos in our own portfolio, the median runtime is 1:15 and 82% run under two minutes. Paid ads tend to be shorter. Cost is one reason. Short attention spans and other variables are the others.
At Creamy Animation, we’ve been making explainer videos since 2009, and one thing I’ve learned is that you can’t really decide the length before you have a full script. Once we get into the script, the right length usually becomes pretty obvious. If the message is simple, the video should be short. If the audience needs more detail to understand the product, it can make sense to go longer.
What I try to avoid is cutting useful information just to make it 60 seconds, or stretching a simple message because someone thinks an explainer is supposed to be 90 seconds. Sometimes, I have to find a middle ground when the client’s budget is not flexible.
The video should be as long as it needs to be to deliver a clear message.
The funny thing is, most people don’t realize how little information you can fit into 60 seconds until we start writing the script. Trust me, it happens almost all the time. It’s like packing a carry-on bag: you can only fit so much. Chuckle.
That lines up pretty closely with what I see during production.
Around 60 to 90 seconds usually gives us enough time to set up the problem, introduce the product, explain the main value and get to the next step without rushing through it. There are exceptions, and some of them are quite a bit longer. Our Keebo video is only 30 seconds. Fujitsu runs 3 minutes 20 seconds. Rancho Water runs 6 minutes 37 seconds. They are all different lengths because they were made to do different jobs.
| Runtime band | Videos (of 38) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1:00 | 2 (5%) | Ads, teasers, single-promise products |
| 1:01 to 1:30 | 18 (47%) | The default explainer |
| 1:31 to 2:00 | 8 (21%) | Multi-step products, regulated categories |
| Over 2:00 | 7 (18%) | Enterprise, training, instructional |
A good explainer normally has one overarching goal. A common strategy is highlight key pain points, introduce the solution, explain two or three important points, then end with a call to action.
You can do that comfortably in 60 to 90 seconds. Where things start getting complicated is when we want to say more because we feel that we haven’t said enough and there’s still more the customer needs to know. While this is true, the real challenge is knowing when to stop. Sometimes it’s;
Before you know it, we have a 2- to 3-minute script trying to say everything in one video. Sometimes the client then asks me to cut down the script myself because they’re too close to the product.
We then start looking at what we should remove and what we can keep. What does someone actually need to know after watching this video? Anything that doesn’t help answer that question probably shouldn’t be there.
The Keebo video we produced is a good example. It runs for 30 seconds and has one job. Keebo automates Snowflake optimization, so we set up the problem, introduce the alternative and get to the main promise quickly.
Shorter videos can work especially well when the audience already understands the type of product you’re selling. You don’t have to spend the first 20 seconds providing an overview. They can also work well for a product launch, ad or social campaign where you want to communicate one idea and move the viewer somewhere else for more information.
What usually doesn’t work is taking a message that needs 90 seconds and trying to squeeze it into 30. You end up with fast voiceover, too much happening on screen and scenes that disappear before the viewer has had time to understand them. At that point the video might be shorter, but it isn’t clearer.
The first thing I want to know is who is watching the video and what they need to understand when it finishes. If somebody already understands the problem and only needs to see what makes your product different, we can usually get to the point quickly. If you are introducing a new category, explaining a technical workflow, or speaking to an audience that needs more context before the product makes sense, the script naturally needs more room.
Where the video runs matters just as much. Someone watching an explainer on your homepage has already chosen to visit your site, so there is usually time to introduce the problem and explain the product properly.
Someone seeing the same company in a paid social campaign has far less context. That’s why I would pull one clear idea from the main story instead of squeezing the whole explainer into a 15- or 30-second ad. Later in the sales process it changes again: a prospect who has already spoken with your team may be happy to spend more time with a video because they are actively evaluating the product.
The broader data supports that distinction. Vidyard reports that 65% of viewers stay engaged to the end of videos under one minute, while also noting that longer videos are commonly used later in the sales process for demos, proposals, and detailed information. Wistia found something similar across more than 13 million videos: shorter videos have higher average engagement, but videos made to educate or explain commonly sit in the one to five-minute range, and Wistia specifically warns against reading the data as proof that shorter is always better. Audience, message, and placement should decide how much time you need. A benchmark alone shouldn’t.
No. If the subject genuinely needs two minutes, there is nothing wrong with a two-minute explainer. The question I ask is why the video needs the extra time.
If the script is longer because the audience has to understand a process, a technical concept, or an unfamiliar product before the value becomes clear, the extra runtime is doing useful work. If it is longer because every feature has been added and three departments each wanted their message included, I go back to the script.
Our Fujitsu project is a good example of a longer explainer that earned its length: it runs 3 minutes 20 seconds and explains surgical scheduling software for perioperative decision-makers, so it has to cover the recommendation engine, the scheduling workflow, and digital twin capabilities. The Keebo video, by contrast, is 30 seconds because there was one product promise to land, and stretching it to 90 seconds would have added nothing.
When a script starts getting long, I look at the message before the clock. We decide what the viewer needs to know now and what can be handled elsewhere, such as a product demo, a feature video, or a sales presentation.
A 60-second explainer will often land somewhere around 130 to 160 spoken words, but I treat that as an early planning range instead of a hard limit. What matters is how those words sound when they are read aloud.
Technical language usually takes longer to deliver naturally. A script with numbers, product names, or unfamiliar terminology may need more space, while another script can move faster without sounding rushed. You also have to leave time for the visuals to work, especially when the viewer has to follow a UI sequence, read something on screen, or take in a visual transition.
During script development we read the narration at the pace we want the final voiceover to use. If a 60-second script takes 75 seconds to read comfortably, the fix is usually not to tell the voice talent to speed up. We either give the video more time or go back through the script and decide what can come out. The same applies to a 90-second explainer: you can estimate length from the word count, but the timed read tells you whether the script actually fits.
Format influences length too. A motion-graphics social cut is naturally short. A 3D technical walkthrough or a multi-step software explainer needs more room to breathe. See the full format breakdown on our types of explainer videos page. As a rough guide: simpler visual styles and single-message products trend shorter, while technical, regulated, or multi-feature products trend longer.
Yes, but not as directly as people assume. A longer video normally means more script, more storyboard frames, more design, and more animation, so runtime is part of the production scope. What it does not mean is that every extra 15 seconds adds the same amount to the budget.
Two 60-second explainers can require very different amounts of work. One might have six fairly simple motion-graphics scenes using existing brand assets. Another might have 15 scenes with custom illustration, character animation, several environments, and product-interface sequences. Same runtime, very different production. This is why I look at runtime, scene count, and production complexity together when we scope a project. The same is true when someone wants to shorten a video to save money: if removing 20 seconds also removes several scenes and a complex animation sequence, the scope has genuinely changed. If we keep the same scenes and simply play them faster, very little production work actually comes out. For how pricing breaks down, see our explainer video cost guide.
We normally have a target length in mind at the start, but I prefer to settle the runtime during script development. I don’t want to force the script into a number we picked before we understood the story. We start with the audience, the communication objective, and the key message, then build the script around what that viewer actually needs to understand.
Once the script is working, we time the read and start thinking about how the story breaks into scenes. The storyboard is another chance to check pacing, because something that reads fine on the page may need more screen time once we show it. If a product interface has to be demonstrated, the viewer needs enough time to follow the sequence, and if one line of narration requires three visual beats, we account for that too. This is also the right point to plan shorter versions: if we already know the production needs a 90-second master and a 30-second paid-media cutdown, we can structure the story during scripting so sections stand on their own, which is far easier than finishing the whole video and then trying to remove two-thirds of it.
If you are making a standard marketing explainer for your website, start somewhere around 60 to 90 seconds and see where the script naturally lands. If the message works in 50 seconds, do not add another 40 just to reach a standard runtime. If it takes 1 minute 45 seconds to explain something the buyer genuinely needs to understand, do not start cutting useful information just to get under 90 seconds.
What I would avoid is rushing the voiceover, packing too much into each scene, or treating the video like a shortened version of your entire website. Get clear on who you are talking to, what they need to understand, and what you want them to do next. Once those decisions are made, the right runtime usually becomes much easier to see.
For most uses, 60 to 90 seconds. That is enough to establish the problem, introduce the product, and give a clear next step while still holding a first-time viewer’s attention. Across the 38 videos with published runtimes on our examples page, the median is about 1:15 and 31 of the 38 run two minutes or shorter.
Need a video made? See our explainer video production services.
Yes, when the subject earns it. Longer explainers are common for technical products, regulated categories, and detailed workflows shown later in the sales process. The test is whether the extra time is helping the viewer understand something they need, or just accommodating more features than the video should carry.
Short, usually 15 to 30 seconds for paid social. There is no room for a full explanation, so the goal is one hook, one promise, one action. Plan it as a cutdown of your main explainer, scoped alongside the master video instead of retrofitted afterward.
Only as a rough starting point. The final runtime should be settled during script development, once you know the audience, the message, and the placement. Deciding an exact length before you know what the video needs to say tends to force either padding or rushed cutting.
Larry is the founder and Chief Storyteller at Creamy Animation, founded in 2009. He leads a team that creates story-driven videos for businesses and nonprofits. 15+ years in video strategy and production, specializing in SaaS, B2B, and nonprofit storytelling. A marketer, designer, and animator, Larry has overseen the production of more than 1,500 videos for Fujitsu, Logitech, Warner Brothers, NFL, Blockdaemon, Astronomer, Canonical, and 370+ others.
For Larry, God is first, and everything else is a blessing that comes from serving Him. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife and three kids, playing the piano, or pursuing his filmmaking side hustle.Â
