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Portada: Content Formats in Social Media: A Multi-Format Review (2025)

Content Formats in Social Media: A Multi-Format Review (2025)

By Alberto Luengo|05/21/25
brandsenterprises
Engagement, use-cases, and best practices for images, carousels, stories, and video.

Not all formats are created equal. From one-and-done image posts to immersive short-form video, data shows that picking the right format—and posting it consistently—can make or break your reach and conversions. This review compiles benchmarks across multiple platforms and sources to help creators and small teams choose the formats that best match their goals.

Format Overviews

1. Static Image Posts

  • What they are: Single-frame photos or graphics (e.g., Instagram feed posts, LinkedIn images).
  • Engagement benchmark: Instagram images average 0.45% engagement per post socialinsider.io.
  • Best for: Brand reinforcement, quotes, product highlights.
  • Pros/Cons: Low production cost, evergreen—but easy to scroll past.

2. Carousels

  • What they are: Multi-image swipe posts (Instagram carousels, LinkedIn carousels).
  • Engagement benchmark: 0.55% average per post—top of the feed hierarchy socialinsider.io.
  • Use-cases: Step-by-step tutorials, before/after reveals, mini-presentations.
  • Why it works: Interactivity (swipes) signals value to algorithms and boosts time-on-post.

3. Stories (Ephemeral Content)

  • What they are: 24-hour photos or videos that disappear (Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories).
  • Typical frequency: Brands post ~13 Stories/month on average Rival IQ.
  • Use-cases: Behind-the-scenes, polls, flash offers, quick Q&As.
  • Pros/Cons: High immediacy and direct engagement (DMs, polls), but zero shelf-life.

4. Short-Form Video (Reels, TikTok, Shorts)

  • What it is: Vertical videos under 60 sec.
  • Engagement benchmarks:
  • Social commerce lift: 78% of TikTok users have purchased after a creator video dash.app.
  • Pros/Cons: Massive reach and discovery, but higher production effort and trend-chasing.

5. Long-Form Video & Live Streams

  • What they are: Videos over 1 min (YouTube, IGTV) and real-time broadcasts.
  • Use-cases: Deep tutorials, thought-leadership interviews, community Q&As.
  • Pros/Cons: Strong viewer loyalty and watch time; heavy lift in planning and editing.

Choosing the Right Mix

  • Resource Check: Solo creators may start with one static + one carousel weekly, plus a monthly Reel.
  • Goal Alignment: Drive sales? Lean into short-form for commerce (TikTok data). Build trust? Stories and carousels.
  • Experiment & Measure: Use platform analytics to compare format performance—swap underperformers quickly.

Conclusion

By understanding format-specific benchmarks—static posts at 0.45%, carousels at 0.55%, Reels and TikTok at 0.5–2.5%, etc.—you can allocate your scarce time where it moves the needle most. Mix in Stories for direct audience interaction and long-form streams for depth.

For more on making your workflow bulletproof, explore our Top Content Automation Tools of 2025—because the right tools make format variety effortless.

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