I have been a TikTok creator for the past four years. As a TikTok creator for the past four years, the biggest mystery I’ve faced has been how long a video should be. Over the years, TikTok has extended the maximum TikTok video length. But they haven’t made it clear for users what the ideal TikTok video length is.
I want to hook my audience’s attention and convince people who stumble upon my content from their For You Page to hit the follow button. I’m constantly asking myself if that can be done in short 15-second videos or if I need to stretch my content and put out videos that are minutes in length.
Figuring out how long a TikTok video should be is one of the first decisions a creator will make when posting on the platform. Before deciding on a song, filter, or template, you’ll first pick how long you plan to film for. TikTok gives you the option of creating videos that are anywhere from three seconds long to 10 minutes.
After being on the platform for years and chatting with a handful of popular TikTok creators who have seemed to master the platform’s algorithm, I realized there is indeed a strategy behind content length.
If you’re wondering how long a TikTok video should be and what the best length is, here’s what I’ve learned.
Why Does Your TikTok Video Length Matter?
When I first started creating content for TikTok in 2020, the maximum length for a TikTok video was 60 seconds. But since then, the platform has expanded their rules and now allows videos that are 10-minutes long.
As a creator, this gives me more options when brainstorming how I’m going to show up on the platform. But it also makes content creation more complicated.
The Reality Behind TikTok Video Length
Before I even press record, I try to remember that the content I’m creating isn’t for me. It’s for an audience and for TikTok’s algorithm. That’s why it’s important to remember a few key deals about TikTok’s video lengths.
First, users have short attention spans. It could be a good idea to take an idea for a video that’s a few minutes long and split it up into a series of smaller videos. We often see creators posting video collections for a story they are telling, labeling the content as part one, part two, and so on.
For example, instead of telling the story of how I started my business in a 10-minute long video, I created two shorter videos that were under 2-minutes each in length.
TikTok’s algorithm will favor your content if it keeps people engaged and usually shorter content is more guaranteed to do that.
How Long Can a TikTok Video Be?
As a creator, you can decide how long you want a video on the platform to be. You have the option of making a TikTok video as short as three- seconds and as long as ten minutes.
However, you do have the option of posting even longer videos on TikTok. You can upload a video to TikTok that’s 60-minutes in length.
What is the Most Successful TikTok Video Length?
After doing some research, most sources say that the ideal length for a TikTok video is 21 to 34 seconds.
According to Statista, the average TikTok video in 2024 was 42.7 seconds, which increased from 2023, when the average TikTok video length was 39 seconds.
While that seems to be the common rule to follow, It’s worthwhile to note that your content should still be engaging and valuable, regardless of the length.
How Do You Decide How Long a TikTok Video Should Be?
Deciding how long a video should be isn’t just about the vision I have for my topic and themes. It’s also about what TikTok favors and what their algorithm prefers.
It’s been known that TikTok is a platform that favors clips on the shorter end that hook users within just a few seconds.
On the platform, I mostly post videos that are under 15 seconds in length and my most viral videos have always been under 10 seconds.
For example, this video earned close to three million views and it’s only 5-seconds long. I think it went viral on TikTok because it used three strategies that the algorithm cares about the most. First, the video is under 10 seconds, so it doesn’t drag on.
If you create a longer video and people don’t watch the whole thing, it could affect how the algorithm shows your video going forward. Because this one is short, my analytics showed me that 70% of people watched the entire video and the average watch time was 9.16 seconds, which means that people often watched the video twice.
It also taps into the viral playbook on TikTok of using trending audio and coloring the video with text that hooks people, while also staying true to my brand and niche on the platform.
What Are Best Practices For Deciding Your TikTok Video Length?
Most of my content is under 15-seconds and all of my viral videos on TikTok have been under 10-seconds. While I think shorter videos perform better on TikTok, I wanted to see what other successful TikTok creators had to say.
1) Keep Content Under 30 Seconds
Madison Perrott, a music and fashion TikTok creator, recently had a video go viral that was 29 seconds long.
“I captured a heartfelt moment of my boyfriend in tears expressing his love for me,” she said. “It got over 5 million views.”
Perrott explained that it went viral because there was no build up, so the context of the video was simple and easy to understand from the start.
“You are thrown right into the moment as if you are there,” she said. “Plus, the short text on the video gives enough context to really feel his emotions, and the music I picked tied the whole thing together perfectly.”
In her opinion, TikTok videos should be short and snappy.
“Keep most videos to 15-30 seconds in length,” she said. “But if you’re telling a story, and can keep it interesting, go longer to around 1-2 minutes max.”
Perrott also shared that regardless of how long your TikTok video is, it’s important to make sure there’s no fluff or else people will scroll if it feels dragged out.
2) Be Cautious About Making Videos Longer Than 90 Seconds
Kimberly Rhoades, a TikTok content creator with close to three million followers, often posts humorous parodies and storytelling videos on her page.
However, her go-to rule for creating content on TikTok is to keep most videos under 90-seconds.
“The main reason this rule works best is that most other platforms, like Instagram, only let you post videos that are 90 seconds,” she said. “So it helps to keep TikTok videos to that length so I can repost them elsewhere without them being cut off.”
This minute and 27-second video is an example of Rhoades content, generating over two million views.
3) What Makes a Short TikTok Video Pop?
While it can feel easier to create short videos on TikTok, there’s often more pressure on a creator to make sure they are more engaging and strategic in the seconds that they have to capture their audience’s attention.
Perrott shared that the trick for short videos is to grab people’s attention fast.
“Start with the most exciting part of your story and keep it moving. I like to add a little text at the beginning to hint at what the video is about. It hooks people in,” she said. “Movement in the frame is huge, too. The goal is to make them stop scrolling right away.”
A recent 7-second video I posted went viral with over a million views because it followed Perrott’s suggestion. I added text that hooked people in and had a movement that kept their eyes following along until the video ended.
How Can Creators Make Longer TikTok Videos?
Figuring out a formula for a long TikTok video can be tough. But rather than worry about how many minutes are passing in a video, Rhoades said creators should be asking themselves another question.
“I always think about how If I was watching my video, what else would I want to see?” she shared. “That helps me come up with more ideas to increase the length of my shorter videos.”
She also recommended being true to your own personality rather than trying to follow other people’s long-form video strategies.
“I also find that just being myself and being passionate about whatever I’m doing really helps with making a solid longer video,” she said.
If you decide you want to test out making longer TikTok videos, it can help to have a strategy behind what you post.
1) Be Active While on Camera
Perrott suggested planning ahead to make sure you’re organized and prepared to record a 2-minute video.
“For longer videos on TikTok, get good at storytelling so that people will stick around and not drop from watching your content,” she said.
Perrott suggested doing something while you talk or are on-camera for longer periods of time.
“It helps if you’re doing something while you talk, like your makeup, cleaning, or getting ready. It keeps things visually interesting,” she said.
2) Incorporate TikTok Features: Stitching & Duets
If storytelling is something you’re working on nailing as a content creator, there are other techniques you can tap into to help make your TikTok videos longer.
Stitching is a popular TikTok feature that allows you to first share a clip of someone else’s public TikTok video before then adding in a clip of your own. This can be used to answer a question someone asked in a video, comment on a trend, or add in your own commentary on something that relates to your niche.
In this video, I stitched another creator’s clip of them asking others what job they have that they enjoy. While the clip is still short, the stitching technique added an extra five seconds to my video and helped it go viral.
You can also use the Duet feature on TikTok. This will allow you to have someone else’s content on the left side and your reaction on the right side. It’s a great way to increase your video length.
Richard Sales, a popular TikTok creator, did a Duet video that earned him 60 million views and lasted a minute in length. It was successful because he showcased his personality and his reaction to an existing video on the platform.
Experiment TikTok Video Lengths To Learn What Works For Your Audience
As a content creator, the best thing to do is experiment with your video lengths on TikTok. Since I already know I can go viral with short-form videos, In 2025, I plan to test out longer-form videos, using storytelling techniques and TikTok’s video stitch feature, to see if I can engage my audience and keep them watching my content for longer.
