The ideal length of posts and messages on social media

Let's get started.

Disclaimer: this is not about the maximum length of content on social media, but rather the length that usually gets you the best results!

Facebook

Nowadays, posts from companies and organizations by definition have less reach on Facebook. All the more important, then, to grab attention immediately in your posts and Ads.

That's why we advise you not to make Facebook posts too long. After all, long messages are quickly cut short with the familiar '... Read more' link and hardly anyone clicks or presses that.

Therefore, the ideal length of a post on Facebook is between 40 and 80 characters long.

Short enough not to be boring and long enough to still get your message across.

So shorter is better. And the same goes for ads. A headline (the most important part of your Ad!) usually works best with just 4 or 5 words. So use those primarily to grab attention.

Next, you can provide some more context in the text of your ad. But don't use too much space for that either.

With about 80 to 90 characters, you're already providing Facebookers with more than enough context and ensuring that your ad displays well on desktops as well as tablets and cell phones.

As for the ideal length of videos on Facebook: it depends. Viral videos often last 30 to 60 seconds. Stories perform best when they are shorter than 20 seconds.

Longer videos of livestreaming or recurring items, for example, also do well on Facebook, by the way. Just make sure your videos are longer than its 3 minutes. Also because that makes you eligible for in-stream ads!

In brief

Text messages/captions: 40-80 characters
Ad headline: 19 words
Ad text: 19 words
Link description: 13 words
Video content: 30-60 seconds / 3+ minutes
Stories: 20 seconds

Instagram

Instagram is all about visual content. About images and videos.

Although you have over 2,000 characters for your message (or caption, as it's so nicely called), on Insta we better keep it short.

This is because users scroll through their timeline quickly. That's why it's better to use up to about 140-150 characters for your caption. Or 125 for sponsored posts.

With that length, your description will display fully on all devices and you'll also have some space left for 3-5 short hashtags (up to 24 characters per tag).

Short hashtags? Yes, short ones. #becausethechanceislittleindatiemandissearchingforalonghashtag#and besides,it's abeetjelastigtreadingall of it

And why not use more than 5? If you use more, your message looks like spam. As if you are desperate for attention.

Instagram itself thinks so too, so the algorithm causes your posts with lots of hashtags to lose visibility. Not meant to be.

And the length of the videos themselves? Those, too, are best kept short to increase the chances of success. Normal video posts work best at 15 seconds. For Stories and Reels, you can stick to 7 to 15 seconds.

In brief

Posts/captions: 140 characters (125 for sponsored posts)
Hashtags: max. 24 characters
Videos: 15 seconds
Stories: 7-15 seconds
Reels: 15 seconds

TikTok

TikTok is all about one thing: fast, manageable content.

So ditch that half documentary and aim for 7- to 15-second videos.

This is long enough to grab attention and short enough to hold that attention throughout the video.

That's important. Because the more people who watch your video, the more likely you are to end up among your target audience 's "For You" videos.

Are you running an ad campaign on TikTok? Then you do have a little more room. In fact, the platform then recommends videos of 21-34 seconds for best results.

In brief

TikTok videos: 7-15 seconds
TikTok Ads: 21-34 seconds

LinkedIn

Little is known about the ideal length of posts on LinkedIn, but we do know that the platform truncates posts after about 140 characters with "... display more.

So you want your message to stay in there. So make sure your post is a maximum of 25 words. This applies to both normal updates and promoted posts.

Want to write a longer post? Or are you sharing an article (ideal length of which is about 2000 words)? Then also make sure your intro is about 25 words.

And do you really want to stand out in your connections' feed? Use a video, because LinkedIn automatically plays it. But make sure it's no more than 30 seconds or 15 seconds for video ads.

Connections often have absolutely no time and inclination to spend ten minutes looking at your new product launch.

In brief

LinkedIn posts: 25 words
Articles: 2000 words
Videos: 30 seconds
Video ads: 15 seconds

Twitter / X

Twitter was known for its maximum space of 140 characters. Later, that was expanded to 280 to make writing tweets a little easier.

But that doesn't mean you have to take advantage of it.

Indeed, tweets with 70-100 characters and short hashtags of up to 6 characters generally provide the greatest reach and engagement. Both organically and promoted.

That's because Twitter is primarily used to hurl news updates into the world quickly. With the emphasis on fast. And so that includes a short message.

Not the Saturday supplement in the NRC.

Need more space to make your point? Then make a video. Because videos of about 44 seconds oddly enough do best on Twitter!

In brief

Tweets: 70-100 characters
Hashtags: max. 6 characters
Videos: 44 seconds

Pinterest

Like Instagram, Pinterest is mostly about the visual aspect of posts (pins).

That said, describing your pins gives you the opportunity to provide some additional explanation and context. Some extra space to convince your followers of your inspiring product.

Unlike the other platforms - where shorter is often better - you can quietly use a bit more text on Pinterest: a description of about 200 characters works best for more repins. Plenty of room to include some additional keywords!

In brief

Pinterest caption: 200 characters

Youtube

Youtube is all about videos. Text has nothing to do with that. At least, that's what you would think.

In fact, many people forget that YouTube is also simply a search engine. That means that the title and description of your video determine whether your video is often found (or not).

You have about 70 characters in the title to include the right keywords and about 150 characters in the description to tell what your video is about without being truncated.

And the ideal length of a video on YouTube? It depends. For regular content, your best bet is 7-15 minutes. Note that you need 10-minute videos to make money with ads in your video.

But are you trying to go viral? Then you better make a 2-minute video. Shorts are ideally even shorter: 15 seconds max. But of course that's already in the name.

In brief

Long form content: 7-15 minutes
(Viral) videos: 2 minutes
Shorts: 15 seconds
Titles: 70 characters
Descriptions: 150 characters

Snapchat

Snapchat is another one of those platforms where it's all about snackable content. In other words, keep it short. And in this case, very short even. In fact, the ideal length of a Snap is 7-15 seconds.

It's all about the video. The caption is less important. But if you still want to optimize it, use about 50 characters.

In brief

Snapchat Story: 7-15 seconds
Caption: 50 characters

In conclusion

Of course, the ideal length of posts on social media is not the same for everyone. It may well be that your target audience actually likes to read a lot or watch long videos.

In the end, it's all about the quality of your posts. They have to be good. Your posts must add value. Always.

But are you just starting out in social media marketing or want to optimize your posts as much as possible? Then the lengths above will at least give you some great guidelines that will increase your chances of success.

That saves again!

This post originally appeared in October 2018 and was last updated in August 2023.