Creative Guidelines

Branded Content Production Guidelines

TIME VOICE/TONE: The Time tone is knowledgeable, personal and accessible at every level. Writing should be digestible and interspersed with data, quotes/pull quotes, graphics that move the story forward. Articles should be about 400-600 words. All advertiser content must follow our TIME Guide to Style.

 

Articles:

• Average word length between 400 and 600 words (generally shorter for print)
• TITLE with subhead of no more than 20 words max, shorter the better

Spotlights:

• These are just short articles or columns of 200 to 250 words

Videos:

• Average video length :90 seconds to two minutes
• Long-form videos can extend to 3 or 4 minutes but anything beyond three minutes is going to lose people
• :15 seconds or less is ideal video cut down length for social
• Animated videos should be no more than :30 seconds
• Data graphics overlaying video is one way to provide another layer of story, especially right now when we’re relying heavily on Zoom interviews and b-roll
• Explainer videos can be up to but shouldn’t exceed 2 minutes, based on complexity of subject

Social copy:

• Copy specs provided in template

Infographics:

• These will vary based on topic

Last modified: October 15, 2020