AI-generated editorial illustration.
New PhotoShelter research reveals a disconnect between what marketers produce and what audiences actually want to watch.
Brands are pouring resources into social video, but are consumers paying attention?
Not nearly as much as marketers might hope, according to new research from PhotoShelter.
The company's Future of Video & Social Media Marketing report, based on surveys of 500 U.S. marketers and 500 consumers, found that while 67% of consumers are watching more social video than they were two years ago, branded and product content accounts for just 17% of the video they engage with.
It's a troubling disconnect for marketers who have responded to growing video consumption by producing more content.
Consumers aren't necessarily looking for more. They're looking for something worth watching.
Entertainment leads the list of content consumers engage with at 71%, followed by news (43%), music (42%) and sports (39%). And 92% say they skip sponsored or brand-related videos at least some of the time.
Brands also have precious little time to make an impression. More than half of consumers, 52%, decide whether to keep watching within the first five seconds.
Authenticity Matters More Than Polish
The research found that 62% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that produce creative, original videos, while 61% say authentic, genuine content builds trust. Videos featuring real customers, employees or creators also resonate.
“People keep watching when they feel like they’re seeing something real,” said Christina Kyriazi, chief marketing officer of PhotoShelter. “A player’s reaction, a fan’s celebration, something behind-the-scenes; that’s the content people connect with.”
There's also a disconnect between where consumers watch and where marketers spend. YouTube and TikTok dominate consumer viewing, but Instagram receives the largest share of marketers' video budgets.
Meanwhile, audiences are showing signs of fatigue. Nearly one-third say social video feels repetitive, and 28% say there's simply more of it than they can keep up with.
The report also raises questions about how technology is affecting consumer trust. While 85% of marketing teams use AI in some aspect of video production, 56% of consumers say knowing AI was involved would make them trust a brand less. Content that looks AI-generated is the most frequently cited reason for scrolling past a video, identified by 24% of respondents.
For brands, the findings point to a problem that increasing production budgets or posting more frequently can't solve.
Consumers have plenty to watch. What they don't have is unlimited patience for content that feels repetitive, overly promotional, or disconnected from their interests.
The challenge for marketers isn't filling the feed. It's giving people a reason to stop scrolling.
The PhotoShelter research was conducted through Pollfish in June 2026, surveying 500 U.S. marketing professionals at companies with at least 100 employees and 500 U.S. consumers who watch at least 15 minutes of social video daily. Respondents were ages 18 to 64. Read the full PhotoShelter report.
