The ideal length for an Instagram Reel is…complicated.
The truth is, there isn’t one magic number that Instagram recommends for peak performance. Instead, it’s most important to make your videos as long or as short as they need to be to get the point across in a way that’s engaging and keeps viewers watching. To an extent, that is.
Certain Reels lengths can negatively impact post performance. Most notably, Instagram does not recommend videos that are longer than 3 minutes to new audiences. So we would advise against posting videos longer than 3 minutes if your goal is to reach new viewers and grow your audience. If you have a video topic that requires a longer discussion, we recommend splitting up your video into multiple parts so that you can provide the necessary amount of information and have your content perform well in Instagram’s algorithm as well.
Instagram also recently announced the ability to link videos together, making it easier for audiences to navigate video series and multi-video discussions. You can learn more about this new feature here.
Our Tips:
- Experiment with different video formats and lengths to see what your audience responds to best.
- Use your Insights to understand how users are watching your videos, where drop-offs in viewership occur, and adjust your strategy.
- Keep Reels under 3 minutes if you want them to be recommended to new viewers.
- And enjoy creating!
Follow The Digital Dept. on Instagram for more tips and tricks on how to optimize your social media performance.
