The short answer
- Most corporate videos should run between 60 seconds and 3 minutes. Ads run 6 to 60 seconds, and training modules work best under about 6 minutes each.
- Let the video’s job set the length, not a rule of thumb. A homepage video, a LinkedIn ad, and an onboarding module need different runtimes.
- Plan versions, not one length. One shoot can give you a 2-minute main edit plus 60, 30, and 15 second cutdowns.
- A one-minute script is about 120 to 150 spoken words. Read it aloud with a timer before you approve it.
- Filming is priced by the day, not by the finished minute, so a longer cut mostly adds editing time.
Lapse Productions produces corporate video in Toronto, and this guide answers a question every brief has to settle: how long should a corporate video be? The short answer is 60 seconds to 3 minutes for most business videos. The useful answer depends on what the video has to do and where people will watch it, so this guide gives you recommended lengths by video type and by platform, a script word count table, and the signs that a cut is running long.
This post is about the length of the finished video. If you want to know how long a project takes to make, see our guide to how long video production takes.
How do you decide how long a corporate video should be?
Answer three questions before anyone writes a script:
- Where will it play? The platform sets the ceiling. A pre-roll ad can be skipped after 5 seconds. A training module inside your learning system has a viewer who is required to watch.
- How much does the viewer already know about you? Someone meeting your brand for the first time gives you seconds. A customer who asked for a product walkthrough gives you minutes.
- What is the one job? One video, one message, one action. When a script tries to recruit, sell, and explain the company history at once, it gets long and does none of them well.
If the answers point to different lengths, that is a sign you need more than one version, not one compromise edit. Whatever length you choose, front-load it: name the company and the point in the first 5 to 10 seconds, because a skippable ad gives you 5 seconds and a scrolling feed gives you little more.
How long should each type of corporate video be?
These are our recommended ranges for the main edit of each format on our corporate video production services page. Treat them as starting points, then cut shorter versions from the main edit.
| Video type | Recommended length | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Company profile or brand video | 90 seconds to 3 minutes | Long enough to show people, work, and values. Lives on the website and in sales decks. |
| Promotional video or ad | 15, 30, and 60 second versions | Paid placements reward short, and three lengths let you test which one performs. |
| Explainer video | 60 to 90 seconds | One problem, one solution, one next step. Longer usually means two topics. |
| Customer testimonial | 60 seconds to 2 minutes, plus a 30 second cut | The full story for sales follow-up, the short cut for social and ads. |
| Recruitment or culture video | 60 seconds to 2 minutes | Candidates watch on careers pages and LinkedIn, often on a phone. |
| Event recap or highlight | 60 to 90 seconds, plus a 15 to 30 second teaser | The highlight sells next year’s event. Full sessions go out separately as on-demand recordings. |
| Product video or demo | 60 seconds to 3 minutes | Short for a product page, longer for a walkthrough a buyer asked to see. |
| Trade show booth loop | 1 to 3 minutes, designed to loop | Visitors walk in and out at any point, usually without sound, so each section must work alone. |
| Training or onboarding module | 3 to 6 minutes per module | Split long topics into a series rather than one long video. |
| CEO or leadership message | 1 to 3 minutes | One announcement, said plainly. Longer updates belong in a town hall. |
For a closer look at what each format does, see our guide to the 9 types of corporate videos.
How long should a video be on each platform?
The same video often needs a different cut for each place it runs. Platform rules change often, so the hard limits below are only the ones the platforms publish for ads. The rest are our recommended ranges.
| Where it plays | Recommended length | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Website homepage or about page | 60 to 90 seconds | A silent background loop of 10 to 30 seconds can sit behind the hero text instead. |
| YouTube channel | 2 to 10 minutes for educational content, 1 to 3 minutes for brand pieces | Viewers chose to watch, so depth is fine if every minute earns its place. |
| YouTube ads | 6, 15, or 30 seconds | Skippable ads can be skipped after 5 seconds. Non-skippable ads run 15 to 60 seconds. Bumper ads run up to 6 seconds. |
| LinkedIn feed | 30 to 90 seconds | Make the point in the first few seconds, and caption everything for sound-off viewing. |
| LinkedIn ads | 15 to 30 seconds | Short, captioned, with one clear action. |
| Instagram Reels and TikTok | 15 to 60 seconds, vertical | Cut a vertical version from the main edit rather than reframing in a hurry. |
| Sales email or proposal | Under 2 minutes | Link from a thumbnail image. The viewer is busy and deciding whether to reply. |
| Event screens and booths | 30 seconds to 3 minutes, looping | Assume no sound. Use large captions and on-screen text. |
Publishing on YouTube? Our YouTube upload checklist covers titles, chapters, and captions.
Is shorter always better?
No. Shorter is better when the viewer has not chosen to watch. Longer works when they have. Wistia’s analysis of videos hosted on its platform found that videos under one minute averaged a 52% engagement rate, while viewers typically watched more than half of educational and tutorial videos between one and five minutes long. Engagement declined after the five-minute mark.
The practical rule: cut anything that does not serve the one job, and stop there. A two-minute testimonial with a strong story will hold attention better than a 60-second version that has lost the story to hit a number.
Three examples from the Lapse Productions portfolio, each sized for its job:
Teaser for Cabico (0:30). Short enough for ads and social, built to send people to the full video.
Commercial for Gripsnake (1:00). One product, one idea, one minute.
Testimonial for Spirit of Math (1:30). Long enough for a real story, short enough for a sales email.
How many words fit in a corporate video script?
Count words, not pages. Conversational English averages about 150 words per minute, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech, and presentations usually run a little slower. On camera, plan for roughly 120 to 150 words per minute, leaving room for pauses, visuals, and music.
| Finished length | Spoken words (about) | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 15 seconds | 30 to 35 | A social cutdown or a bumper-style ad |
| 30 seconds | 60 to 75 | An ad or a testimonial cutdown |
| 60 seconds | 120 to 150 | An explainer or a recruitment video |
| 90 seconds | 180 to 225 | A homepage video or an event highlight |
| 2 minutes | 240 to 300 | A testimonial or a product walkthrough |
| 3 minutes | 360 to 450 | A company profile or a leadership message |
If a speaker is reading a script to camera, a teleprompter keeps the delivery close to the timing you planned. Interview-led videos work differently: there is no script to count, so the length is set in the edit by choosing the strongest answers. For anyone appearing on camera, our guide to what to wear for on-camera interviews covers wardrobe and prep.
Should you make one video or several lengths?
Several. Plan the shoot for a main edit and cut shorter versions from the same footage. A typical set from one filming day looks like this:
- Main edit, 90 seconds to 2 minutes, for the website, YouTube, and sales follow-up.
- 60 second version for LinkedIn and email.
- 30 second version for paid social and pre-roll ads.
- 15 second vertical cut for Reels, TikTok, and Stories.
The cutdowns are cheapest when they are planned in the script, because the shoot captures the shots each version needs. Deciding after the edit that you also want a vertical version often means reframing footage that was never shot for it.
Does a longer video cost more to produce?
Less than most people expect. Filming is priced by the day, not by the finished minute: at Lapse Productions a full filming day is $1,500 and a half day is $750 (CAD, HST not included). The number of filming days depends on locations and interviews far more than on the final runtime. A longer edit mostly adds editing time, and each extra version adds a little more. On the estimate builder on our pricing page, for example, a 1 to 2 minute testimonial edit is $1,000 and a 3 to 5 minute one is $2,000, while a vertical version of any video is $250. Our guide to what a corporate video costs breaks down what moves the price.
How can you tell if your video is too long?
- The retention graph drops sharply early. YouTube Studio and most video hosts show where viewers leave. A steep fall in the first 10 seconds means the opening is the problem, not the length.
- The same point is made twice. Two people saying the same thing in different words is the most common place to cut.
- The call to action comes after most viewers have left. Move it up, or add it to the opening as well as the end.
- Reviewers ask for things to be added, never removed. Every new request should replace something, not stack on top.
- You cannot say what it is about in one sentence. That usually means it is two videos.
Not sure how long your video should be?
Tell us where the video will play and what it needs to do. Dario and Kyrill will recommend the main length and the cutdowns, and price the whole set against our itemized rate card.
Get a free competitive quoteFrequently asked questions
How long should a corporate video be?
Most corporate videos should run between 60 seconds and 3 minutes. A company profile works at 90 seconds to 3 minutes, an explainer at 60 to 90 seconds, and ads at 15 to 60 seconds. Training modules can run 3 to 6 minutes each. Let the video’s job and the platform set the final length.
How many words is a one-minute video script?
A one-minute script is about 120 to 150 spoken words. Conversational English averages around 150 words per minute, and on-camera delivery usually runs a little slower to leave room for pauses and visuals. A 30-second script is about 60 to 75 words, and a two-minute script is about 240 to 300 words.
Is a shorter video always better?
No. Short works best when the viewer has not chosen to watch, such as ads and social feeds. Wistia found videos under one minute average 52 percent engagement, while viewers typically watch more than half of educational videos between one and five minutes. Cut anything that does not serve the video’s one job, then stop.
Does a longer corporate video cost more to produce?
Not by much. Filming is priced by the day rather than by the finished minute, so a one-minute and a three-minute video can come from the same filming day. A longer cut mainly adds editing time. At Lapse Productions, a full filming day is $1,500 CAD, and a 1 to 2 minute testimonial edit is $1,000 while a 3 to 5 minute one is $2,000.
How long should a YouTube video ad be?
Plan YouTube ads at 6, 15, or 30 seconds. Skippable in-stream ads can be skipped after 5 seconds, so the brand and the message need to land first. Non-skippable in-stream ads run 15 to 60 seconds, and bumper ads run up to 6 seconds, according to Google Ads Help.
Dario Nouri is a Producer and Co-Founder of Lapse Productions, a Toronto corporate video, photography, and drone production company founded in 2014. He plans and produces corporate video for clients across the Greater Toronto Area, and hosts Creatives Grab Coffee, a podcast on the business of video production.