The Platform With the Most Views Isn’t Always the Right One
Socialinsider looked at millions of organic videos from business accounts with 10K–50K followers in the first half of 2026. Here's what the data looked like.
Average views per video:
Instagram Reels: 3,225
TikTok: 2,500
Facebook Reels: 1,000
LinkedIn: 680
Pause. Views aren't the whole story.
Not all conversations are the same, and likewise, not all views are the same. For example: I'd certainly rather talk to one business owner about marketing strategy than ten lifeguards.
A LinkedIn video with 680 views from the right people can be worth a hell of a lot more than 3,225 Reels views from people who are second screening during an episode of Love Is Blind. Especially if that evil Clarissa is wrecking hearts again. Now is probably a good time to admit that I don't watch Love Is Blind so that reference holds no water.
You get the picture. If you just read that graphic I put together, you'd think that the obvious takeaway is to post more on Instagram. And for a lot of business owners, that would be the wrong takeaway.
You need to figure out where your customers are and where they're going to pay attention to you. Then you can start to analyze the data a bit closer.
B2C usually leans Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. B2B often leans LinkedIn. But not always, and that's my point. You have to check.
Your customers might not be where you think they are
I'll give you a slightly adjacent real-world example. I say slightly adjacent because it relates to responses, vs views.
I run a B2B business. We offer marketing services (mostly web design and social media video creation) to small and mid-sized businesses. My content is more likely to reach a small business owner or marketing lead on LinkedIn per impression, but over time, I've discovered that it's not necessarily the platform where they're most likely to take the next step with Something Great. Especially in one area: cold outreach.
For us, we find that our greatest response rates actually come on Instagram. In my experience, if I send 20 DMs to people on LinkedIn and 20 to people on Instagram, I'm much more likely to book a meeting on the latter. Which does go against what you might initially think for a marketing agency.
It turns out businesses on LinkedIn are overwhelmed with messages from marketers. You've probably got four messages in your inbox right now. For me, a well-written message sent to the right Instagram inbox is more likely to reach someone who's currently struggling with posting on Instagram.
One of our largest clients in 2024 came from a cold Instagram DM. I sent it in late 2023, inquiring about a website refresh. The person responded kindly that they liked our work but weren't interested in websites (like, at all). Then, sure enough, six months later, that same person reached out with a completely different project that turned into something great. Pun intended.
You shouldn't assume that the platform with the most views or the one that popular opinion would tell you is the right fit for your brand is the best place to invest your time and money. Sometimes it is, but sometimes, it isn’t. That's why your strategy and reporting matter so much.
How to figure out where you should post
A few ideas to get you started
- Ask new customers: "How did you hear about us?"
- Check where your website visits and inquiries actually come from.
- Look at where competitors get real comments from potential buyers, not just likes.
- Post your content everywhere for 30 days and compare your DMs, calls, leads, and sales, not just your views. Then double down on the platform that works best for your brand.
There are a lot of marketers out there that will tell you that views are a vanity metric. I don't go that far. To me, they're somewhat of a vanity metric until they're the right views. Then they're an extremely important data point that you shouldn't skim over.
Pick the platform where your customers hang out online and actually engage with your brand, and then worry about the numbers.
That's what I do.
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