At Central States Marketing, we work to keep a clear outlook on how consumers are viewing video content as the year 2025 continues to take off. The number of choices for streaming and video placement can continue to be overwhelming when deciding where the best audiences are for your digital marketing efforts.
Sprout Social, a social media management platform, recently shared insights on streaming and video placement.
Short-Form vs. Long-Form Video
When considering the different types of videos, it’s essential to understand whether your marketing plan requires short—or long-form video content.
Short-form videos typically last less than 60 seconds and are better for engagement. However, if your company is focused on more detailed and informative content, you may want to consider long-form videos.
On average, people watch at least 16 seconds of a video in under 1 minute, that is 27% of the overall video. Compare that to a 60-minute video, which would get an average watch time of 16 minutes. The choice between the two is dependent on your planning strategies.
Short-form video will continue to be a strong tactic in 2025, with 30% of brands using it for their marketing. 44% of people say they prefer watching a short product or explainer video rather than a longer one.
YouTube could be considered the first hub for viral video content. The platform helps harness the power of video and is the world’s second-largest search engine.
For many businesses, YouTube is an ideal platform for digital advertising because many people search for entertaining content daily. 40.9% of YouTube watch time is done on mobile devices.
Ideally, YouTube ads are between 15-30 seconds.
In 2020, YouTube introduced ‘Shorts’. It is a short-form section of the platform. YouTube Shorts focus on vertical videos that are less than 180 seconds and offer features for user interaction.
By the end of 2024, 50% of the time spent on Facebook is used to view video content. Vertical videos that feature audio have a 35% higher click-through rate (CTR).
Meta video ads can range from 1-120 seconds. The most successful video ads range between 5-30 seconds on the platform.
Instagram and Facebook are both platforms under the Meta umbrella. When an ad is placed on Meta Ads Manager, it will optimize between these platforms unless manually set to do otherwise. Out of both platforms, Instagram is well-known for their Reels and Stories.
Reels is a section of the Instagram platform where viewers can swipe up and down to view short-form vertical view content. This is one of the most popular user functions for the app. Like TikTok, media consumers will scroll through organic content and be exposed to advertising consistently. Reels have a 22% higher chance of engaging users on Instagram compared to a standard video post.
Instagram Stories can be both images and videos. They are profile bubbles at the top of the home screen where users will click to view daily content from friends and people that they choose to follow. When tapping through Instagram Stories, an ad will be shown every 2-3 organic views.
TikTok is purely made for video content. It’s one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Despite the 14-hour ban in the United States in mid-January, the platform returned to active with an extension on the ban to give the parent company the opportunity to share the venture with a new, American business.
The engagement on TikTok is excellent for local businesses, ecommerce, and higher education to name a few. The largest audience group is Gen Z – being those between the ages of 18 to 24.
On average, 63% of TikTok videos that highlight a company’s key message in the first 3 seconds get a higher click-through rate. Users can discover new content by scrolling through what is known as a ‘For You Page’ or FYP. This is what makes TikTok customizable. They offer new content to users, if they view or interact with the video, that platform continues to learn about their unique interests.
On average, ads are shown on the FYP between 2-4 organic content swipes. TikTok video ads can be 5-60 seconds in length. Although, TikTok recommends 9-15 seconds to grab the attention of the viewer quickly.
Snapchat is a place where both static image and video ads can have a place to thrive. The average Snapchat user spends over 30 minutes on Snapchat every day and opens the app more than 30 times.
On this platform, ads can be shown to users who are scrolling through stories, which are posts made by their friend connections. Another section of Snapchat is known as ‘Spotlight’ where short-form vertical content is quick to view and easy to thumb through.
64% of all ads on Snapchat are viewed with sound on. The addition of sound on both static images and videos is valuable to how the viewer received the ad. The platform recommends having the company name or key message shared within the first 2 seconds of a video to increase the chances of conversion.
Snapchat video ads can be 3-180 seconds long. It’s recommended to keep Snapchat Story ads between 5-15 seconds.
Each video and streaming platform has an important place in the marketing landscape. Our skilled team is here to help determine the best media placements to reach your ideal audience!
You can also view our video portfolio that get inspired for what we can create for your company to get, own, and keep your message in front of your audience!
