There’s one thing that’s always bugged us when it comes to Instagram…. Well, there’s two, but for today we’re going to focus on Instagram story videos!

Since their inception, a story step has always been limited to 15 seconds. What that has meant for video is that you’re either panicked into trying to post something meaningful that is less than 15 seconds… or you upload your video to find that it is then chopped into several 15 second segments

To make things worse, when uploading, you can often find that the last bit of your video uploads before the first bit, which can be more than a little frustrating!

However, that frustration is coming to an end! Last week a large notification started to pop up on smart phones across the land, and it said this….

That’s right! An Instagram story video can now be up to 1 minute in length! No more upload issues with the end appearing before the start! No more annoying situations when your 17 second video is chopped into one 15 second one and a paltry 2 second sequel!

But what does that mean for you and your followers?

There’re always ups and downs to big updates like this, as with anything, you just need to understand the new features and how you can make them work for your account. Overall, we think this is a pretty positive change to Instagram.

After retiring IGTV last year, 60 second stories are a welcome option for sharing longer videos for your followers. It gives you the opportunity to share more (while not having to repeatedly align and re-add your stickers and music onto every. single. clip. – anyone else triggered?) It also means that users can skip through one video with one tap. Rather than getting annoyed with 5,6 or 7 short clips to tap through a video they aren’t particularly interested in. Another small win for the change is you can save the whole story if you wanted to keep it for further content or if you just really like your work. You won’t have to download separate 15 second clips and edit them back together. 

Of course, you’re not strictly held to 60 second clips, if you wanted to do a few 20 or 30 second stories with bitesize information you still can, lots of users still prefer the quick snippets that stories provide. Just remember that lots of accounts will be taking full advantage of the longer segments, so don’t be the account with 10 bite sized stories that could be one 60 second Instagram stories. 

Stories vs Reels… 

With this new update, we see the two features slowly blending together. Reels took a bump up in length recently too, from 60 to 90 seconds. but the biggest difference between the two is the 24 hour limit on short form Stories. Meaning you can try new things, see what works and what doesn’t without it being a permanent mark on your account.

Reels are a great way to share your account to users that don’t follow you, so you’re likely to see larger reach. But your Stories keep you connected with the followers you already have. So, there’s still plenty of reasons to keep using both when building your account, experiment and learn how the new feature can help boost your following.

How long should videos be on Social Media?

This totally depends where you’re posting…

Facebook… 

15 seconds long = watch to the end.

2 – 5 minutes long = higher engagement.

Instagram…

You have the first 3 seconds to capture a user’s interest on your story or reel so make them count.

Twitter…

You should take up 44 seconds of the 140 seconds available. Just enough time to intrigue your viewer without over doing it. Think trailers for longer videos for example.

LinkedIn…

LinkedIn gives you a full 10 minutes of time, but let’s not go crazy. It’s shown that 30 seconds or under sees a 200% uplift in completion rates.

And if you were wondering what the second thing that bugs us about Instagram is…. that move a few years ago from displaying posts in a chronological feed! 

We’re here to help, if you need support with your social media make sure you get in touch!