Video Marketing

Video Marketing — questions and answers

What aspect ratio should a marketing video use, and does it change depending on the platform?

Yes, aspect ratio matters significantly. YouTube and websites typically use 16:9 horizontal. Instagram and TikTok favour 9:16 vertical. Facebook and LinkedIn accommodate both but perform differently depending on placement—feed versus stories. Many practitioners now create videos in square 1:1 format as a compromise, or produce multiple versions from the same footage to suit each platform properly.

How long should a marketing video actually be?

It depends entirely on platform and intent. Social platforms reward brevity—often 15 to 60 seconds—because attention drops sharply. Explainer videos on a website might run two to three minutes. Educational content or webinars can extend to thirty minutes or longer if the value justifies it. The real measure is whether every second serves the message; padding kills performance regardless of length.

What does video optimisation involve beyond just uploading the file?

Optimisation includes writing titles and descriptions with relevant terms, adding captions or subtitles for accessibility and silent viewing, choosing an effective thumbnail, tagging appropriately, and ensuring file format and resolution meet platform specifications. Many videos are watched without sound, so visual clarity and text overlays become essential. Metadata helps platforms understand and surface the content correctly.

Should captions be burned into the video or uploaded as a separate file?

Separate caption files offer more flexibility—viewers can toggle them, and platforms can index the text for search. Burned-in captions guarantee visibility regardless of platform support and work when videos are downloaded or shared outside their original context. Many practitioners now do both: open captions for social clips where autoplay is silent, and separate files for hosted content where control matters.

What video formats and codecs are expected for different uses?

MP4 with H.264 codec is the most widely compatible standard for web and social platforms. MOV files work well for editing but are larger. For high-quality archiving, ProRes or DNxHD are common. Export settings matter: 1080p resolution at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second suits most marketing contexts. Bitrate affects file size and quality; platforms often re-encode uploads, so starting with clean source material helps.

Can you repurpose a single long video into shorter clips effectively, or does each need separate planning?

Repurposing works when the original video is structured in clear segments with distinct points. A well-organised webinar or presentation can yield multiple standalone clips. Rambling or heavily interdependent content resists clean extraction. Effective repurposing often requires re-editing intros and outros, adding context, and adjusting pacing so each piece functions independently rather than feeling like an arbitrary excerpt.