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Short Form Video Statistics 2025: 97+ Stats & Insights [Expert Analysis]
- October 17, 2025
- 3:14 pm
Video continues to dominate the internet — and within that, short form content is leading the charge. This article consolidates the most reliable and recent short form video statistics for 2025, along with trends and benchmarks to help marketers make data-driven decisions.
In an era when attention spans are shrinking and competition for eyeballs is fierce, knowing the right metrics can make or break your content strategy.
Table of Contents
Usage & Reach
Over 90% of Gen Z and Millennial users watch short-form videos on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.
Even among Gen X, usage is high; and over half of Boomers also engage with short videos.
Video content is projected to make up 82% of global internet traffic by 2025.
Short-form videos (within that) will dominate much of that share.
TikTok holds about a 40% share of the short video platform market.
Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts each take around 20% share in many markets.
Facebook Reels had ~800 million users by end of 2023.
Instagram Reels had ~2.8 billion users (2023 data).
YouTube Shorts (as of 2024) had collectively over 5 trillion views since inception.
Many new YouTube Shorts exceed 3 minutes (limit increased).
On YouTube, creators have increased short-form (Shorts) output over time, especially new channels.
Shorts tend to draw more views and likes per view than regular videos, but fewer comments per view.
In China’s Kuaishou (short video platform), content is more “life / daily” than niche interest content.
Ordinary creators have relatively higher chance of hitting “viral” videos in short-form platforms vs long-form.
Short form video platforms attract less per-view user interaction, but high attention concentration on top content.
A dataset covering 153,561 videos from a mobile short-video platform was used to study user behavior and attributes.
In the VQualA 2025 challenge, participants modeled engagement (views, likes) on short videos using audio, visual, metadata features.
Engagement & Retention
Videos under 90 seconds retain ~50% of viewers on average.
59% of short videos are watched for 41% to 80% of their duration.
30% of short videos have an average watch rate > 81% (i.e. most of the video watched).
71% of viewers decide within the first few seconds whether a video is worth continuing.
Two out of three consumers (≈ 66%) find short-form videos the most engaging content type.
Over 8 in 10 people (≈ 82%) say watching a video influenced a purchase decision.
Users spend ~88% more time on websites that integrate video content.
Short-form videos get 2.5× more engagement than long-form on social platforms.
In Q1 2024, YouTube Shorts had ~5.91% engagement rate (highest among short formats).
TikTok’s engagement rate in some contexts is ~5.75%.
Facebook Reels in that same comparison had ~2% engagement.
The average length of TikTok videos rose to 42.7 seconds in 2024 (from ~39 seconds prior).
TikTok videos over 54 seconds averaged ~38,000 views; very short ones (< 10s) attracted ~19,000 views in one study.
Marketing & Advertising
85% of marketers believe short-form video is the most effective format on social media.
44% of marketers plan to use short-form video in their strategies (or already do).
57% of marketers already using short-form plan to increase investment in it.
30% of marketers who don’t yet invest in short-form intend to start doing so.
29.18% of marketers include short-form video in their strategies.
21% of marketers say short-form video gives them the highest ROI.
17.13% plan to increase investment in short-form content.
96% of marketers agree videos help audiences understand products better.
89% of businesses use video marketing.
Short-form ads revenue is projected to surpass $10 billion.
Short-form video ad spending overall is expected to hit ~$100 billion by 2025.
46% of consumers say short-form video impacts their purchase decisions.
Video marketing generates 49% faster revenue growth for brands, per WordStream.
Only 5% of companies plan to cut video budgets in 2025; over half plan to increase them.
Nearly half (≈ 50%) of companies produce videos with budgets under $5,000.
93% of marketers say video content delivers the highest ROI among marketing trends (Sprout Social).
In 2025, short-form video is expected to get more investment than any other format.
71% of marketing experts predict social media content (including short videos) will be their most successful format in 2025.
Some sources report 96% of consumers prefer short-form content.
98% of marketers include video in their strategies.
87% of marketers are satisfied with video ROI.
73% of consumers prefer short-form video to learn about products or services.
68% of marketers are convinced to use video in their strategy by 2025.
Short-form video is the most leveraged video format by marketers.
Over 41% of marketers measure content success via sales.
60% of video marketers list engagement rate as a top KPI.
56% list conversion rate, 52% list click-through rate as KPIs.
Short-form videos outperform long-form in awareness, reach, and shareability metrics in many campaigns. (General industry consensus)
A majority of marketers report short videos outperform other content types in social reach and virality.
Marketers often repurpose short videos across platforms with slight edits (common practice).
In social commerce, short video reviews, unboxings, product demos drive strong purchase intent.
Influencer & UGC short videos are heavily used in campaigns (70% of US consumers follow influencers).
Short-form content is particularly effective for product discovery (vs text/image).
Many brands use short-form video in ad creatives more than static images.
Short-form video suits mobile-first consumption (vertical format).
In e-commerce, videos under 60s often used as ads or product showcases.
Length, Format & Behavior
Among marketers:
• <10 seconds: 1%
• 11–20 s: 18%
• 21–30 s: 31%
• 31–60 s: 33%
• 1–2 min: 13%
• 2–3 min: 3%Many experts agree that videos > 60 seconds see sharply declining engagement.
A majority of marketing content (short videos) aim to deliver message within first few seconds.
Vertical (9:16) aspect ratio dominates short-form video formats.
Shorts on YouTube originally capped at 60s, but later extended to 180s.
Shorter video lengths foster faster “swipe / skip” behavior, so first frames are critical.
Many platforms autoplay short videos without sound; captions/visual cues become vital.
Looping behavior (auto-repeat) can improve retention in very short clips.
Some producers design “microdrama” or serialized short episodes of 1–2 minutes (e.g. China’s “duanju”).
Duanju format has tens of thousands of new series and large revenue in China.
Mobile-first video viewing is the norm; desktop is secondary for short form.
Many creators begin and end with “hook / punchy line / CTA” to maximize impact.
Trending audio & challenges help boost reach on many platforms.
Many brands integrate UGC + brand message in short-form content.
Regional / Platform Differences & Trends
In India, Reels became the most popular short-form video format per IPSOS survey.
Short-form video is reshaping media consumption in India, but TV remains relevant for reach.
Platforms are localizing content trends (music, memes) per region to boost engagement.
Some niche platforms (Triller, Vimeo Minis) hold small market share but cater to special segments.
Adoption curves differ: TikTok strong in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia; Reels/Shorts stronger in India, US.
In many markets, short-form video is everyday daily habit (morning commutes, breaks).
Platforms are integrating e-commerce (shoppable videos) into short-form streams.
AI / generative tools are increasingly used to produce visuals, transitions, effects in short video creation.
Some platforms test “stories + shorts hybrid” formats.
Platforms compete aggressively via algorithm tweaks and creator incentives.
Platforms are pushing monetization (creator funds, ad revenue share) in short-form content.
Short-form videos are being used as feed on broader platforms (e.g. Netflix exploring short content).
Early research in “engagement prediction” is becoming important in platforms’ ranking systems (e.g. VQualA challenge)
Datasets combining user behavior, content, attributes are being published to study platform effects.
Differences between short-form and long-form platforms: content lifecycle, virality dynamics differ.
In YouTube, Shorts attract more views and likes per view than regular videos, but regular videos still dominate in categories like education & politics.
Usage dynamics: “shorter is different” – the rhythm, content distribution, consumption models differ from classic video platforms.
Creator ecosystems are shifting: more micro-creators can gain reach than in long-form spaces.
Platform “discover / For You / Reels / Shorts” algorithms strongly drive viewership (vs follower feed).
Short-form video is now a foundational pillar of digital media, not just a trend.
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About the author, Bill Nash
Bill Nash is the CMO of Marketing LTB with over a decade of experience, he has driven growth for Fortune 500 companies and startups through data-driven campaigns and advanced marketing technologies. He has written over 400 pieces of content about marketing, covering topics like marketing tips, guides, AI in advertising, advanced PPC strategies, conversion optimization, and others.