If you happen to’ve spent any time on social media recently, it’s straightforward to imagine that video is the be-all and end-all. Instagram Reels, TikToks, LinkedIn’s new video feed: it’s in all places, and it appears like each platform is constructing for it.
If you happen to’re trying to construct an viewers, “extra video” is commonly touted as the reply.
However is that true? It seems — as is commonly the case with social media — it relies upon. Video definitely performs greatest on some platforms, whereas it’s not fairly as cut-and-dried on others.
We dug into Buffer’s latest information, analyzing tens of millions of social posts from a number of platforms to seek out out. And, on the danger of sounding like a clickbait-y video hook (sorry) — the outcomes may shock you.
Whereas video usually will get the highlight, it’s not all the time the most effective path to engagement. Let’s look at how completely different content material sorts carry out on Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (previously Twitter), Instagram, and Fb.
Earlier than we dig in, the same old Ts and Cs: The perfect content material for you is dependent upon your target market. Each viewers is completely different, so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all method that’s going to work for each social media account.
To pinpoint what works greatest for you, I’d encourage you to begin with a social media content material technique and, from there, experiment with several types of content material in your social media content material calendar.
Use the info on this article as a springboard that will help you work out what sort of content material is almost certainly to resonate along with your followers.
💡 One other fast word: In our numerous analyses, we used completely different metrics to measure content material success for every platform. These networks are utilized in vastly other ways, so what makes for a “profitable” put up on one doesn’t essentially imply success on the opposite.
For instance, on TikTok, we thought views had been the most effective measure of efficiency, whereas on conversation-focused Threads, we opted for engagement. Since we’re not evaluating apples and apples right here, take all of it with a pinch of salt (and a wholesome dose of widespread sense).
Acquired all that? On to the info. Listed here are the most effective varieties of social media content material for every platform in 2025
The perfect content material format on TikTok
Let’s begin with what is probably the least stunning discovering in our evaluation: on TikTok, video actually does reign supreme. The short-form video-sharing platform is, in spite of everything, simply that.
Regardless of TikTok introducing carousels (successfully picture posts) and even text-only posts in latest months, movies are nonetheless the TikTok algorithm’s bread and butter. What’s fascinating is how shut the race has turn out to be.
TikTok might have began as an unique video platform, however carousels and textual content posts are proving surprisingly aggressive. The hole in efficiency there actually isn’t that massive, particularly when you think about the numbers on a number of the different social media platforms, under.
On this evaluation, we measured success by median* video views. We discovered that movies tended to get probably the most views, adopted by carousels, then text-only posts.
Even so, if you happen to’re aiming to succeed in as many individuals as potential on TikTok, video remains to be your greatest guess.
Right here’s a better take a look at the numbers:
🏅 Movies claimed the highest spot, incomes 18% extra views than textual content posts and seven% greater than images or carousels.🥈 Footage and carousels held their very own, with 10.5% extra views than textual content posts.🥉 Textual content posts got here in final, attracting the fewest views general.
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Utilizing the median (center worth) relatively than the common helps give a extra sensible image of how video content material performs for many creators and types, with out excessive outliers distorting the numbers.
The perfect content material format on Instagram
It usually appears like Instagram has gone all-in on video, with Instagram Reels getting their very own discovery feed, and even an unique video modifying app.
At face worth, this appears to be the case — with regards to median attain per put up on Instagram, video does come out tops.
Attain on Instagram measures, because the platform defines it, the “whole variety of occasions the account’s media objects have been uniquely considered.” In layman’s phrases, the full variety of distinctive customers who’ve seen your put up or video.
Right here’s a take a look at the rankings:
🏅 Reels led the best way on Instagram, pulling in 39% extra attain than carousels and an enormous 122% greater than single-image posts.🥈 Carousels carried out strongly, incomes 60% extra attain than pictures.🥉 Single pictures landed in final place for attain on the platform.
Carousels weren’t too far off from reels, and streaks forward of single-image posts. However our information reveals issues are a little bit extra nuanced than that.
Instagram was initially a photo-sharing app, so whereas some people are excited concerning the shift to video, not all Instagram veterans are followers of reels. (A fast peek at Instagram head Adam Mosseri’s feedback part is sufficient to inform you it’s a little bit of a contentious subject.)
This — together with the truth that Instagram has a number of feeds and algorithms, whereas most platforms could have one — is why we determined to dig a little bit deeper in one other examine.
We additionally checked out median engagement per put up. Engagement is the “variety of likes, saves, feedback, and shares on the put up, minus the variety of unlikes, unsaves, and deleted feedback.” In a nutshell, that’s what number of interactions you get in your posts, together with likes, feedback, and shares.
On this evaluation, it was carousels, relatively than reels, that got here out on high.
Right here’s a better look:
🏅 Carousels claimed the highest spot for engagement on Instagram, incomes 12% extra engagement than reels and 114% greater than single-image posts.🥈 Reels carried out strongly as effectively, producing about 91% extra engagement than single-image posts.🥉 Single-image posts got here in final for engagement on the platform.
Fascinating, proper? So whereas reels are nice for discoverability, in case your aim is deeper engagement out of your present viewers, carousels may deserve more room in your content material plan.
The perfect content material format on Fb
On previous trustworthy Fb, issues look much like Instagram.
Right here, we appeared to median engagement, a robust sign to Fb’s algorithm, as a measure of success. Regardless of Fb’s push into video (and even reels), images stay the engagement winner.
Right here’s a take a look at the numbers:
🏅 Footage took first place for engagement on Fb, incomes 35% extra engagement than textual content posts and almost 44% greater than movies.🥈 Textual content posts adopted in second, with 6.7% extra engagement than movies.🥉 Movies landed in third place, although they nonetheless noticed 58% extra engagement than posts with hyperlinks.4️⃣ Posts with hyperlinks got here in final, drawing the bottom engagement of all content material sorts on the platform.
So on the Fb information feed, images nonetheless reign supreme. Whereas I’m undoubtedly not saying you ought to be posting 345 pictures to an album after your newest creator occasion, à la 2017, it’s undoubtedly value prioritizing pictures in your Fb advertising technique.
On the alternative finish of the spectrum, posts that include hyperlinks received the least engagement, which is smart. We’re more and more seeing platforms’ (and social media customers’) desire for high-quality zero-click content material.
The platforms wish to maintain their customers inside their app or on their website, and customers are much less inclined to click on on a hyperlink and devour their content material elsewhere.
In the case of video, this comparatively low rank may relate to how Fb’s feed prioritizes easy-to-consume visuals like pictures and carousels, particularly for informal searching. One other principle I’ve right here is that the Fb Reel feed, the place most video lives, is just not significantly remark and reaction-friendly. It’s greatest suited to passive viewing.
Nonetheless, reels are seeing rising traction on the platform, and it’s clear Meta is working arduous to enhance that have, so it’s value experimenting with quite a lot of codecs relying in your objectives.
The perfect content material format on Threads
Threads is… effectively, most likely the one which shocked me probably the most on this listing, to be trustworthy.
It’s primarily a text-based platform, a sister to Instagram the place phrases relatively than visuals are the order of the day.
However regardless of that, our evaluation confirmed that posts with pictures carried out greatest when it got here to median engagement per put up. (We opted for median engagement as our measure of success right here, since dialog and group are the first focus of the app.)
The numbers:
🏅 Footage claimed first place for engagement on Threads, incomes 0.6% extra engagement than movies, 37% greater than posts with hyperlinks, and 60% greater than textual content posts.🥈 Movies adopted carefully in second, with 36% extra engagement than posts with hyperlinks and 59% greater than textual content posts.🥉 Posts with hyperlinks landed in third place, drawing 17% extra engagement than text-only posts.4️⃣ Textual content posts got here in final, seeing the bottom median engagement on Threads.
The actually stunning merchandise on this listing was that text-based posts ranked lowest on engagement.
Pictures narrowly outperform movies on Threads, however each codecs far exceed textual content or hyperlinks for engagement. So, even in a conversation-centric house like Threads, visuals — together with quick movies — assist you stand out within the feed.
All that mentioned, don’t take this early information as gospel. Threads remains to be refining its algorithms, and I strongly suspect it’s going to make some shifts that prioritize text-based posts, lest Threads merely turn out to be a poor man’s Instagram. Regulate the Buffer weblog for extra on this.
The perfect content material format on LinkedIn
My private favourite private brand-building platform, LinkedIn, has exploded with creators in recent times — lots of them constructing a following by serving to others construct their private manufacturers on the platform.
As such, the previous skilled networking platform has embraced video. LinkedIn now boasts a devoted video feed, making it simpler than ever to share video content material.
Within the wake of those enjoyable new feeds and options, creators — together with me — noticed wild ranges of virality in 2024. There wasn’t a variety of video on LinkedIn on the time, so it made sense that what the platform did have was surfaced lots.
Now, as extra customers have adopted the format and LinkedIn has refined its algorithms with the inflow, issues have settled down.
Video nonetheless performs effectively, however carousels (PDF paperwork) carry out greatest with regards to median engagement.
The numbers:
🏅 Carousels (doc posts) earned 278% extra engagement than movies, 303% greater than pictures, and an enormous 596% greater than text-only posts.🥈 Movies got here in second, with 7% extra engagement than pictures and 84% greater than textual content posts.🥉 Footage adopted in third, producing about 72% extra engagement than text-only posts.4️⃣ Textual content posts landed in final place, with the bottom engagement throughout content material sorts on LinkedIn.
All that mentioned, that is one other platform the place issues are evolving quick, and I encourage you to maintain an in depth eye in your analytics if you happen to’re critical about rising on LinkedIn.
In an episode of our podcast, Buffer Chat, LinkedIn’s Head of Scaled Packages, Callie Schweitzer, strongly really useful creators discover video in 2025.
“Video, Video, Video, Video,” she mentioned, after I requested her to share her recommendation for creators trying to develop their followings in 2025.
Once I requested to present us a touch about what options creators can look out for in 2025, all she would say was, “Regulate video.”
The perfect content material format on X
Textual content nonetheless sees probably the most median engagement on X (previously Twitter).
Even with the social community’s much-talked-about need to turn out to be “the all the pieces app,” they’ll’t escape their microblogging roots.
In the case of median engagement, text-only posts beat out movies, pictures, and hyperlinks, and even pictures, in response to our 2025 information.
Right here’s a better look:
🏅 Textual content posts noticed 30% extra engagement than movies, 37% greater than footage, 53% greater than hyperlink posts, and 113% greater than retweets.🥈 Movies adopted in second, with 5.4% extra engagement than footage, 18% greater than hyperlink posts, and 64% greater than retweets.🥉 Footage landed in third place, getting 12% extra engagement than hyperlink posts and 56% greater than retweets.4️⃣ Posts with hyperlinks got here in fourth, drawing 39% extra engagement than retweets, however lower than different codecs.5️⃣ Retweets (together with quote tweets) noticed the bottom engagement of all put up sorts on X.
So, whereas there’s a place for video on X, it’s essentially a text-first platform. Sizzling takes, real-time information, and punchy one-liners thrive there. That mentioned, video can nonetheless outperform pictures, so including quick video clips may provide you with an edge.
So, which content material format is the most effective?
As I touched on above, that actually is dependent upon you and your viewers.
What works for many creators or manufacturers won’t be the candy spot for you, and it’s all the time, all the time value experimenting with different content material sorts to see what works.
Maybe much more importantly: What’s the content material format you’re going to have the ability to create most persistently?
In different research, we’ve discovered that content material efficiency on all platforms is strongly linked to consistency. (In actual fact, it would yield as a lot as 5X extra likes, feedback, and shares throughout the board.)
So if you happen to’re going to have the ability to present up extra persistently with text-based posts, nice — stick with these.
Again to video: whereas it performs effectively throughout almost each platform — and is commonly actually nice for attain — it’s not universally the best engagement format. On some platforms, like LinkedIn and Fb, carousels and images steal the present. On X, textual content nonetheless guidelines.
My (most likely oversimplified) abstract of all these numbers: video is improbable for attain and discoverability, serving to you entice new followers and audiences.
Different codecs (carousels, pictures, textual content) may be higher for engagement, deepening connections along with your present viewers.
In the end, the most effective content material format is the one you may produce persistently — and the one which resonates along with your distinctive target market.
