Which content format actually wins, by platform
Video is the best format on TikTok and the fourth-best on Instagram. On LinkedIn, carousels beat it three to one. Here is the format map — and why reach and engagement disagree.
7 minute read
Highest median engagement rate by platform, from Buffer's 45M+ post analysis. Reach is a separate question — see the Instagram section.
| Platform | Top format | Median engagement | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carousel (PDF) | 21.77% | Video — 7.35% | |
| Video | 5.75% | Image — 3.15% | |
| Threads | Video | 5.55% | Image — 4.55% |
| Carousel | 6.9% | Story — 5.1% | |
| Image | 5.20% | Video — 4.84% | |
| TikTok | Video | 3.39% | Carousel/photo — 1.92% |
| X (Twitter) | Text | 3.56% | Image — 3.40% |
"Video wins" is true on four platforms out of seven
The received advice is that video beats everything everywhere. The data does not support that. Buffer analysed more than 45 million posts across ten platforms and found video takes the top spot on Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, and Bluesky — and loses on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X. On TikTok it wins decisively: a median engagement rate of 3.39% against 1.92% for carousels and photos, about 77% higher. On X it comes fourth, behind plain text. The honest version of the advice is that video is the strongest default, not a universal law, and the platform you are posting to decides whether the default holds.
LinkedIn is the outlier, and it is not close
Carousels — native PDF documents — earn a median engagement rate of 21.77% on LinkedIn. Video manages 7.35%, images 6.52%, links 3.81%, and plain text 3.18%. That is roughly three times video, and nearly seven times a link post. If you are repurposing one recording across platforms and treating LinkedIn as just another place to drop the vertical clip, this is the single largest performance gap in the whole dataset, and you are on the wrong side of it. The clip still belongs there — but a five-slide PDF pulling the same argument out of the transcript will outperform it.
On Instagram, reach and engagement point opposite ways
This is the finding worth reorganising your week around. On Instagram, Reels reach 2.25 times as many people as a single image and 1.36 times as many as a carousel — but carousels earn a 6.9% median engagement rate against Reels' 3.3%. Both numbers are real and they are not in conflict. Reach counts people who have never heard of you; engagement counts how hard the people already there respond. Reels are the discovery engine. Carousels are the deepening engine. Asking which is "better" is the wrong question — the right one is which job you are hiring the post to do this week.
Which job are you hiring the post to do?
If nobody knows you exist, engagement rate is a vanity number — a 7% engagement rate on 200 impressions is 14 people. Chase reach, and that means video. If you already have an audience and want them to act, buy, reply, or remember you, chase engagement, and on LinkedIn and Instagram that means carousels. Most creators making long-form content are in the first situation and behave as if they are in the second: polishing posts for an audience that has not arrived yet. Pick the goal first, and the format argument answers itself.
Facebook and X: stop optimising, start posting
Facebook's formats land within one percentage point of each other — images 5.20%, video 4.84%, text 4.76%, links 4.43%. On X, text leads at 3.56% with images at 3.40% and video at 2.96%. On both platforms the format decision is close to noise, which is genuinely useful information: it means the hours you might spend agonising over format there are better spent on the platforms where the gap is 3x or 7x. Spend your optimisation budget on LinkedIn and Instagram. Post the clip on Facebook and move on.
What this means for one recording
A single long recording can legitimately produce all of these. The vertical clip goes to TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, where video is the reach engine. The same moment's transcript becomes a five-slide LinkedIn carousel, which is where the 21.77% lives. A pulled quote with a number in it becomes an image post for Facebook and X. That is not four pieces of work — it is one piece of thinking, exported four ways. The mistake is not choosing the wrong format; it is producing one asset and assuming it travels.
FAQ
Is video still the best format in 2026?
On TikTok, Pinterest, Threads, and Bluesky, yes. On LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X it is beaten by carousels, images, or plain text on median engagement rate. Video remains the strongest format for reach almost everywhere, which is a different measure.
Why do Reels have lower engagement than carousels but still get recommended?
Because engagement rate is measured against reach. Reels reach 2.25x more people than a single image on Instagram, so the same number of interactions divided by a much larger denominator produces a smaller percentage. Reels bring new people; carousels get more out of the people already there.
Should I make LinkedIn carousels instead of posting video there?
Post both, but do not treat the video as your main LinkedIn asset. Carousels earn about three times video's median engagement rate on LinkedIn — the biggest format gap in the dataset. The carousel can be built from the same transcript as the clip.
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