How long should a demo video be?
As short as the place it plays allows. A demo on your landing page and a demo in a help centre have different jobs, so they should have different lengths, and several places set hard limits of their own.
What the data says
Wistia's analysis of more than 13 million videos found that videos under a minute average a 52% engagement rate, with product videos around 50%. For explaining and educating, it recommends one to five minutes, a range in which viewers typically watch more than half of educational and tutorial videos (Wistia).
Recommended length by where it plays
| Where | Length | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Social feeds and ads | 15 to 30 seconds | LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds for video ads (LinkedIn Help). |
| Landing page hero | 30 to 60 seconds | Visitors are curious but haven't committed; show the result and the core workflow. |
| Google Play listing | Front-load the first 30 seconds | Only the first 30 seconds autoplay (Play Console Help). |
| Sales follow-up | One to three minutes | The viewer already knows the problem; they want to see it solved for them. |
| Help centre and onboarding | Two to five minutes per task | Wistia's educate range (Wistia); split long topics into several videos. |
| Hackathon submission | Usually under three minutes | Devpost's advice is that most videos should be under three minutes; check each event's rules (Devpost). |
| YC application founder video | One minute, founders talking | YC says it should be one minute and "contain nothing except the founders talking"; the product demo goes in a separate place (Y Combinator). |
How to hit the length
- Start from the end. Fix the length first, then decide what fits, rather than editing down a long recording.
- One workflow per video. If you need two, make two videos.
- Cut the waiting. Loading screens, typing and form filling can be trimmed or sped up.
- Make a set. A 30-second overview and a two-minute walkthrough serve different viewers better than one 90-second compromise.
Making the short versions
Teasr makes 15, 30, 45 and 60-second videos from your website, and once you have one you can ask for another length from the same design, so the set matches. It starts at €19.50 for 15 seconds. For the general version of this question across all product videos, see how long a product video should be.