At this year’s VidCon event, our CMO Jill Nicholson broke down key social video trends – ones most people aren’t watching yet – driving the next wave of the creator economy.
Now available as a report, her presentation dives into emerging patterns in video duration, upload frequency, and unexpected brand collaborations. Let’s dive into these under-the-radar trends.
Length Matters: Cracking the Code to Video Duration
When thinking about the best video duration, it’s important to consider what type of device your audience is using to view that content.
- Mobile devices pulled 69% of total YouTube views in 2025 YTD.
- TV and desktop lagged behind with 16% and 6% of views, respectively.
- Flipping from views to watch time, Mobile and TV each account for about 40% of total minutes watched.
Bottom line: people consume content differently depending on their device.
On connected TVs, viewers are more likely to settle in and watch long-form videos that are well beyond the 20-minute mark. The devices audiences use to watch content determine what they’re interested in viewing.
The Key to Collaboration: Teaming Up with the Unexpected
Unexpected brand collaborations are proving to be one of the most effective ways for brands to break through and reach new audiences on social media. In particular, US Beauty brands are seeing strong performance – but in different categories than in years past.
- Food & Drink was the 5th most sponsored category by US Beauty brands making up only 2.7% of uploads.
- But, Food & Drink content sponsored by US Beauty brands earned the highest engagement, 1.6X, compared to all other TikTok categories.
Real-world example of an unexpected collaboration: Beauty and skincare brand, Nivea, achieved 3X more engagements in the first seven days by leaning into a partnership with Food & Drink Tiktoker, @Onezwambola.
Post Like a Pro: How Often Is Too Often?
For the top US Gaming creators, optimizing YouTube upload frequency means striking the right balance between quality and quantity – especially when weighing human-created content against AI-assisted output.
- Hopper earns the most overall views by uploading 9.5 videos per day with the help of AI.
- Cadres uploads 2.5 videos per day and earns higher views per video with human-generated content.
- If Hopper earned the same views per video as Cadres, his total views would jump from 2.6 billion to 9.6 billion.
Hopper leads in overall views thanks to AI, but his individual videos garner the lowest views compared to the four competing Gaming creators. If he earned the same views per video as Cadres, his total views would jump from 2.6 billion to 9.6 billion.
So what does this mean for creators? If your content is human-generated, you can get away with posting fewer videos because audiences prefer this content. If you’re taking the AI route, those videos won’t earn as many views, so you have to post far more frequently.
In H1 2025, the top US Gaming creators by overall views and views per video averaged 4 uploads per day to YouTube.
The Bottom Line for Brands & Creators?
Keeping pace with emerging social video trends means building strategies rooted in real audience behavior across devices, formats, and content types.
Here’s how to turn these insights into actions:
- Optimize video duration by platform and audience preference – Tailor your content length to match how and where audiences watch.
- Break the mold with unexpected brand collaborations – Partnering with creators in adjacent or surprising categories can drive reach while building audience affinity.
- Refine your upload frequency – Analyze what’s working for your competitors and find the right balance between consistent output and meaningful engagement.
Want the inside scoop on the rest of the hidden trends taking shape in social video? Download the full report here.