New research from social media marketing firm Emplifi reveals a surprising trend in consumer engagement with long-form video content on social platforms. Despite the perception that modern audiences have dwindling attention spans, Emplifi’s analysis indicates opportunities and significant potential engagement for longer videos.

The study, which analyzed proprietary data from over 325,000 brand social profiles across major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter), found that medium-to-long videos ranging from 13 seconds to over 26 seconds performed well on Instagram and TikTok in 2023.

“Brands can reliably assume their audiences still thirst for engaging video content, and Reels and TikTok videos are the leaders in that space,” the report states. “Their popularity has yet to erode our collective attention spans as medium-to-long videos – from 13 seconds to more than 26 seconds – performed well on both channels in 2023.”

The data reveals that while Instagram Reels and TikTok videos remain catalysts for brand engagement, with Instagram consistently leading TikTok in median video views over the past two years, TikTok has made small gains in closing that gap across 2023. This trend suggests that audiences on both platforms are open to consuming longer video content from brands.

Emplifi’s analysis also highlights the continued dominance of visual storytelling across social media. Instagram’s emphasis on images and short-form video content, paired with TikTok’s substantial engagement lead over Twitter and Facebook, indicates that visually engaging content will only increase in importance for successful brand activations.

“The divide between visually engaging content and its static counterparts has never been deeper,” the report notes. “The overwhelming success of Reels, TikTok, and Facebook Live is central to this trend, but there are other content types to consider and benchmark.”

While short-form videos have gained widespread popularity, the research suggests that brands should not entirely dismiss longer video formats. Instead, they should consider incorporating a balanced mix of video lengths into their content strategies, leveraging the potential of both short and long-form videos to captivate audiences effectively. Find the full report here.