Short-form video has officially crushed every other ad format in 2025, and the numbers are brutal for anyone still posting carousel images.
Independent benchmarks from the major platforms analyzed more than a million campaigns this year and found short-form video averaging 3.1 times higher return on ad spend than static ads. In beauty, fashion, and consumer electronics—categories that live or die by desire and impulse—the gap widens to nearly 4x. A $1,000 static campaign that brings in $3,100 in revenue typically pulls $9,300–$12,400 when the same creative budget goes to 15–60-second clips.
The math is simple: people scroll to be entertained, not sold. Static images force brands to scream “buy now” in a split second. Short-form video gets 6–15 seconds of undivided attention, enough time to tell a micro-story, demonstrate the product in action, add native-sounding music, and trigger an emotional reaction before the skip button even appears.
Brands that cracked the code are seeing results most marketers only dream about. A mid-tier skincare line swapped its entire feed budget from static product shots to 15-second “before-and-after” transformations set to trending audio. Conversion rate jumped 380%, cost per purchase dropped 62%, and the campaign paid for itself in nine days.
Even B2B isn’t immune. A SaaS company testing LinkedIn static ads against 30-second Reels-style demos on the same platform saw the video version deliver 3.4x more demo requests at 40% lower cost per lead. Decision-makers are human—they doomscroll too.
The platforms themselves have tilted the field. TikTok and Reels prioritize video completion rates over everything else in their algorithms, so a well-performing clip keeps getting pushed for free long after the ad dollars stop. Static posts rarely earn that organic tailwind.
Production excuses are gone. Most top-performing ads this year were shot vertically on an iPhone, edited in CapCut or the in-app tools, and featured real employees or customers instead of models. Average production cost for a campaign that returns 3x ROI? Under $2,000.
Meanwhile, static ad performance continues to slide. Attention spans are shorter, ad fatigue is higher, and users have trained themselves to swipe past anything that looks like traditional advertising. The result: static creatives now need 2–3x more impressions to achieve the same outcome they delivered just two years ago.
Smart brands aren’t abandoning static entirely—they’re using it as supporting artillery. A strong static image still works great for retargeting warm audiences who already watched the video. But for cold traffic, awareness, and consideration? Short-form video is no longer an option; it’s the default.
The message from 2025 data is unambiguous: if your marketing mix still treats short-form video as “experimental” or “just for Gen Z,” you’re voluntarily leaving triple-digit returns on the table. The format that started as entertainment has become the highest-ROI advertising channel on the planet. Adapt fast, or watch competitors lap you three times on the same budget.
