LinkedIn Content Formats: Performance and Statistics

The performance gap between LinkedIn content formats in 2025 has become extreme, with carousels and documents achieving engagement rates 3 to 6 times higher than traditional formats. Understanding the format hierarchy and their respective performances is essential for optimizing your content strategy. This article presents detailed statistics on each LinkedIn content format.

What Is the Content Format Hierarchy by Performance?

The performance gap between content formats in 2025 has become extreme, with carousels and documents achieving engagement rates 3 to 6 times higher than traditional formats.

Why Are Carousels and Documents the Dominant Format?

According to LinkedIn, Carousels and documents dominate 2025 LinkedIn performance, achieving 24.42% average engagement rates—a 3.7x multiplier versus text-only posts. Data shows carousel posts generate 278% more engagement than videos, 303% more than image posts, and 596% more than text-only posts. [1] [2] [3]

Carousel Dominance Mechanics

Carousel slides require swiping, which counts as engagement in LinkedIn's algorithm. This extended interaction signals interest to the platform, triggering broader distribution. Additionally, carousels excel at breaking down complex information into digestible format—ideal for the professional audience's limited attention spans. [4]

Optimal Carousel Structure

Optimal carousel structure follows the "cover slide + numbered list" formula, with bold formatting and clear narrative arcs. Research shows that carousels with numbered frameworks (e.g., "5 ways to...") achieve 20-30% more dwell time than loosely structured slides. Users spend 15-20 seconds on carousels versus 8-10 seconds for single-image or text posts. [5] [6]

Document Performance

Document posts (PDFs uploaded directly) perform similarly, generating 2.5x more shares, 27% higher completion rates, and 14% greater reach among decision-makers compared to video or image posts. These formats work particularly well for evergreen content—checklists, templates, research findings—that users save for long-term reference. [7]

Videos: 3x More Engagement Than Text

Native video generates 3x more engagement than text-only posts, but trails far behind carousel formats. Short-form video under 60 seconds achieves 53% more engagement than longer formats. The sweet spot appears to be 30-90 seconds, with the first 3 seconds determining up to 65% of user retention. [8] [9] [10]

Critical Video Production Elements

• Subtitles/captions: Videos with captions achieve 29% higher engagement rates and 32% longer viewer retention [11]
• Mobile optimization: 73-80% of video views originate from mobile devices [12]

Personal Videos vs Corporate Videos

Video content by company pages outperforms personal profiles by some metrics, but personal-style videos featuring real people outperform polished corporate motion graphics by 44% in reactions. The pattern is clear: authenticity and relatability trump production value. [13]

Multi-Image Posts: Second-Best Format

Posts with multiple images achieve 6.60% average engagement, making them the second-best format after carousels. These posts sustain dwell time better than single images while requiring less user interaction than carousels. [14]

Polls: Underutilized But Effective

LinkedIn polls achieve an average engagement rate of 4.40%, representing a doubling of poll performance since 2023. Despite their efficacy, they remain heavily underutilized relative to their reach potential. Well-crafted polls (timely question, 2-4 options, "Other" option prompting comments) can generate hundreds of responses and often trend as platform-recommended content. [15] [16]

Text-Only Posts: Viable With the Right Approach

According to Buffer, Pure text posts achieve approximately 4% engagement rate, making them viable primarily when writing is sharp, personal, or provides genuine insight. Long-form text posts (1,000-1,300 characters) outperform shorter variants because they generate extended dwell time. [17] [18]

How Do Video, Image, and Text Formats Compare?

Relative Performance

Video vs Text:

• Videos generate 3x more engagement than text-only posts
• Short videos (<60 seconds) get 1.7x more engagement per second than longer formats
• Videos with subtitles achieve 29% higher engagement and 32% longer retention than those without

Image vs Text:

• Image posts achieve 6.05% engagement vs 4.10% for text
• 1.5x multiplier compared to text

Video vs Image:

• Videos perform slightly better than images (6.47% vs 6.05%)
• The gap is minimal, suggesting content trumps format

Impact of Format Rotation

According to LinkedIn, Accounts rotating between formats (carousel, text, video, polls) achieve 37% more follower growth and 28% more consistent visibility compared to accounts using single formats repeatedly. This suggests that audience fatigue with repetitive formats is real, making content diversity strategically important. [19]

Recommendations by Format

Carousels

• Structure: Cover slide + numbered list
• Formatting: Bold text, strategic white space
• Length: 5-10 slides optimal
• Content: Frameworks, lists, step-by-step guides
• Expected result: 24.42% average engagement

Documents

• Type: PDFs uploaded directly
• Content: Checklists, templates, research findings
• Advantages: 2.5x more shares, 27% more completion
• Target: Decision-makers, evergreen content

Videos

• Duration: 30-90 seconds (sweet spot)
• Subtitles: Mandatory (+29% engagement, +32% retention)
• First 3 seconds: Critical (65% retention)
• Style: Authentic, personal (44% more reactions)
• Optimization: Mobile-first (73-80% mobile views)

Multi-Images

• Number: 2-4 images optimal
• Advantage: Better dwell time than single image
• Usage: Comparisons, before/after, sequences

Polls

• Structure: Timely question, 2-4 options, "Other" option
• Timing: Current events questions
• Result: Can generate hundreds of responses
• Potential: Platform-recommended content

Text Only

• Length: 1,000-1,300 characters optimal
• Style: Personal, sharp, authentic insight
• Formatting: Short paragraphs (2-3 lines), white space
• Usage: Personal stories, contrarian perspectives

Glossary

Carousel : LinkedIn content format composed of multiple slides (images) that users can swipe through. Generates the highest engagement rate. Dwell Time : Duration a user spends reading or interacting with a post. Carousels generate 15-20 seconds of dwell time vs 8-10 seconds for simple formats. Format Rotation : Strategy of alternating between different content formats to avoid audience fatigue and maximize growth. Document Post : PDF uploaded directly to LinkedIn. Generates 2.5x more shares and 27% more completion than video or image formats. Short-Form Video : Video under 60 seconds. Achieves 53% more engagement than long formats on LinkedIn.

Methodology

The data presented in this article comes from:

• Primary sources: Official LinkedIn reports, platform data analyses
• Secondary sources: Analytics tool analyses (Postiv.ai, PostNitro.ai, MConverter), creator case studies, company reports (Buffer)
• Period covered: Data primarily from 2024-2025
• Limitations: Metrics may vary by industry, audience size, and objectives. Performance may differ by region.

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