In this chart article, we analyzed how X users engage with different post types. This exclusive X study shows that text-only posts surprisingly outperform video posts, which would lead an engagement rate. Explore the complete data from Adilo to supercharge your strategies.

The team at Adilo analyzed over 3,200 X posts—video, image, text-only posts, and ads—going through over 29,000 data points to understand how people engage with posts on the platform in 2025.

You can scroll below to see the full methodology. But first, let’s look at the data to see how each X post type stacks up against each other in terms of engagement. Understanding this will enable you to refine your social media strategies and maximize your resources.

We focused on these post types because we think they’re the most common on X. Our research team didn’t include voice tweets since we couldn’t find enough for the study.

Image posts deliver the highest average engagement but with the greatest variability.

Image posts have consistently led the pack in average engagement rates when it comes to capturing attention on X and engaging the audience. Their vibrant visuals, memes, and infographics frequently stop users from scrolling and provoke immediate reactions.

According to the study, image posts have an average engagement rate of 2.09%, surpassing both video posts and paid ads. This indicates that roughly two out of every 100 X users who view image posts will interact with them through comments, retweets, shares, likes, or bookmarks.

But the number tells only part of the story.

Image posts show intriguing variability, with many achieving just over 1% engagement, while others reach double digits, and some even exceed 20%. This wide range indicates that X image content has significant breakout potential, though not every image will achieve high engagement.

What this means for social media marketers:

• If you’re looking for big spikes, image posts offer the best odds.
• But if you need predictable results, their inconsistency may require testing and iteration to find what resonates.

So, the key to achieving solid outcomes is not to be afraid to experiment.

Video posts are more consistent, with fewer extreme spikes

While image posts can achieve significant, even explosive, engagement peaks, video content offers a more consistent and reliable performance. It tends to deliver middle-of-the-road results, avoiding the extreme highs or lows often seen with image posts.

In the Adilo study, video X posts show an average engagement rate of 1.34% and a median of 0.94%. This suggests that the performance of most video content falls within a more consistent and predictable range.

Our analysis of the distribution curve revealed that average engagement rates are typically in the low single digits, with a right-skewed distribution. 

While most posts have an engagement rate below approximately 3%, a select few manage to surpass 5%.

“Video posts exhibit a more consistent engagement pattern compared to text or image posts,” explained Chinasa Ferderick, Senior Analyst at Adilo. 

“They tend to avoid the extreme highs and crushing lows often seen with other content types, resulting in a smoother engagement distribution curve with fewer dramatic spikes or flops.”

What this means for social media marketers:

• If you’re building a long-term content strategy, video should be part of the foundation.
• Video’s reliable performance makes it ideal for campaigns where consistency matters, like brand trust building or maintaining regular engagement.
• Videos may not always go viral, but they deliver dependable, repeatable results.
• Anchor your content strategy with video, then layer in images or text posts when you are ready to test high-risk, high-reward ideas.

Text-only posts are the least popular, yet outperform video posts 

Text-only posts weren’t very common in our data, like 80% less frequent than posts with images, videos, or even ads. Despite being the least popular, they consistently outperformed video posts in both average and median engagement rates. 

Here’s the lowdown: 

• Text-only posts on X got about a 3.24% engagement rate
• Videos lagged a bit at 1.34%
• Image posts were somewhere in the middle with 2.1% engagement.

Turns out, plain old text posts did better than videos, with a median engagement rate of 1.13% compared to 0.94% for videos. That’s a bit of a shocker, especially on a platform like X that loves visuals. 

It just goes to show that well-crafted text can grab attention and deliver awesome results. Some of the best posts in our dataset were just text, with some even hitting over 400% engagement!

What this means for social media marketers:

• Don’t overlook text-only posts. They may be rare, but they usually punch above their weight.
• Using text-only posts to share authentic, time-sensitive, bold messages can catch people’s attention and often drive better engagement than you might expect.
• Incorporating them diversifies your social media content mix and can open up unexpected reach, especially if you’re relying on organic performance.

Ads underperform organic posts, but can still hit blockbuster spikes

In most cases, ads don’t engage as well as organic posts. The average engagement rate for ads in our dataset is just 1.36% and the median is even lower at 0.47%.

This means that for most ads on X, engagement is fairly modest compared to what we see with image, video, or even text-only content. But here’s where it gets interesting.

Most ads don’t get a lot of engagement, but a select few take off. Some posts in our dataset even hit 50% engagement or more, with a few almost reaching 100%. While these are rare, they significantly boost the average and show what’s possible when an ad truly resonates with its audience.

If you look at the distribution curve for ad engagement rates, you’ll notice it’s heavily skewed to the right. Most of the data is packed into the low end, with a long tail stretching far into the high-performer zone. This kind of shape tells us that ads are unpredictable.

Most don’t do much, but every once in a while, one hits big.

What this means for social media marketers:

• Running ads won’t guarantee strong engagement, but when they work, they can work well.
• Using paid posts should be seen as a long game where you’re testing, learning, and refining creative to increase your odds of a breakout.
• Studying your top-performing ads can help you spot patterns and apply those insights to both paid and organic strategies.
• Balancing paid and organic content gives you room to experiment without putting all your budget on the line.

What Next?

One thing’s for sure: there’s no magic bullet for engagement on X.

Every post type, whether it’s images, videos, text, or ads, has its perks, pitfalls, and possibilities. The trick is figuring out when and how to use them effectively.

For creators and brands, this means building a smarter social media strategy. Use image posts when you’re aiming for high-impact moments. Lean on video for steady, reliable performance. Don’t overlook text-only posts. They might not be the flashiest, but they often perform better than more elaborate formats.

And treat ads as your wildcards: unpredictable, but capable of delivering massive payoffs when they hit the mark.

“Most teams chase trends, but miss the power of balance. When you mix consistency with experimentation, that’s when social performance compounds,” said Sal Mohamed of LangSync, an LLMO agency co-founder who was not involved in the research.

So, the next step isn’t just picking the best content type. It’s creating a system that uses data, creativity, and testing to get the best from each. Keep a pulse on what’s working, double down on formats that move the needle, and stay open to surprises.

That’s how winning strategies are built on X.

Full Data On X Posts’ Engagement Rate

Here’s a quick look at how different post formats do on X, using average, median, and mean absolute deviation. These numbers show not just how well posts can perform, but also how consistent or all-over-the-place they can be.

What this tells us:

• Text-only posts have the highest engagement on average but also the highest unpredictability.
• Image posts strike a strong balance between performance and variability.
• Video posts are the most consistent, with the lowest mean deviation.
• Ads are unpredictable; they usually underperform but occasionally spike hard.

If you’re aiming for dependable engagement, lower mean, like videos, is a good sign. But if you’re chasing potential virality, higher means deviation, like text or ads, could be worth the risk.

This data is not just a scoreboard; it’s a guide for smarter content choices. Use it to evaluate your current mix, test new formats, and align your strategy with what works.

Limitations of the Data

While these findings offer valuable insights into how different types of posts perform on X, it’s important to understand the limits of the dataset.

The analysis does not account for key variables such as audience size, topic, or account type, all of which can significantly impact performance. Additionally, some post types, such as text-only and ads, contain extreme outliers that skew the average engagement rates.

Furthermore, the data does not account for algorithmic changes on X, which can dramatically shift engagement and affect different post types.

Understanding these limitations helps ensure the insights are used thoughtfully. The data provides a strong foundation, but like any analysis, it works best when combined with real testing, creative strategy, and audience feedback.

Methodology

So, to see how different kinds of posts do on X, we looked at over 3,200 posts from creators, brands, and advertisers, checking out about 29,000 different stats.

We sorted each post into one of four main categories: text-only, images, videos, or ads. We made sure not to include posts with a mix of media, so each group was just one format.

The main thing we measured was Engagement Rate (ER). We calculated this by adding all the interactions (likes, retweets, replies, shares, and bookmarks) and dividing that by the estimated views or impressions, then expressed as a percentage.

We focused on:

• Average engagement rate to measure overall performance
• Median engagement rate to reflect typical results
• Median deviation to understand how consistent or variable engagement was within each category.
• Distribution curves to visually explore outliers, skewness, and the overall engagement spread.

We manually cleaned engagement data to ensure accuracy, removing inconsistencies like extra punctuation and formatting issues. We also standardized across post types before analysis.

This approach allowed for a clean, apples-to-apples comparison across content formats and helped us discover what really works on X.