If you feel like every brand is making Reels these days, you are not imagining it. From smartphone companies and car makers to fintech startups and beauty brands, marketing teams are spending more time and money on short-form videos than ever before. The reason has less to do with trends and more to do with changing consumer habits.
A recent IPSOS study commissioned by Meta paints a clear picture of where consumer attention is moving. According to the study, 97% of users watch videos on Meta platforms daily. What’s more interesting is that this behaviour is nearly identical across India, with daily video engagement reaching 98% in urban areas and 94% in rural regions.
For marketers, that means video is no longer just another content format. It is becoming the default way of reaching consumers.
The study also highlights why Reels has become such an important platform for brands. Around 81% of users discover products through Reels, 66% use it during the consideration stage, and 47% say it influences their purchase decisions.
Those numbers tell an important story.
For years, digital marketing was largely built around search. A consumer searched for a product, brands competed for visibility, and the customer eventually made a purchase. This was the reason SEO was an important part of every business. Today, discovery often happens before a search is even made.
A person scrolling through Reels may come across a smartphone launch, a new car, a fitness product, or an investment app without actively looking for any of them. The platform is introducing products to users long before they enter the buying process.
The behaviour change becomes even more obvious when looking at younger consumers. According to the report, 89% of Gen Z users engage with Reels daily, while 84% discover products and brands through Meta platforms.
That is a huge opportunity for marketers.
Brands are always looking for ways to reach younger audiences early because those consumers influence trends, drive conversations, and represent future purchasing power. If product discovery is increasingly happening inside social feeds, brands naturally want to be part of those feeds.
The findings also challenge the common assumption that short-form video is mainly an urban phenomenon. The report says 73% of rural users discover products and brands through Meta platforms. Daily engagement levels in rural India are also remarkably high. This suggests that the shift towards video-first consumption is happening across the country, not just in major cities.
For businesses, that makes short-form video one of the few formats capable of reaching diverse audiences at scale.
Another interesting takeaway is the growing role of creators. The study claims creator engagement on Meta platforms is around 60% higher than on other short-form video platforms. It also notes that 54% of women who own financial products engage with creators daily.
This helps explain why creator partnerships have become a key part of marketing strategies. Consumers often relate more easily to a creator discussing a product than to a traditional advertisement. Whether it is a gadget review, a beauty recommendation, or financial advice, creators are increasingly becoming the bridge between brands and consumers.
The impact is especially visible in sectors where purchase decisions are traditionally more complex.
In the automotive segment, 82% of users discover products through Meta platforms, while 68% use them during the consideration stage. Even financial services, a category where trust plays a critical role, are seeing strong engagement across social platforms.
This does not mean people are making important purchase decisions based entirely on a short video. Reviews, comparisons, expert opinions, and detailed research still matter. But the first interaction with a brand is increasingly happening through short-form content.
That may be the biggest takeaway from the report.
Brands are not investing heavily in Reels because everyone else is doing it. They are doing it because consumer attention has shifted there. When nearly everyone watches videos daily and a large percentage of consumers discover products through those videos, marketers have little choice but to adapt.
The battle for consumer attention is no longer limited to search results, websites, or banner ads. Increasingly, it is being fought inside vertical video feeds, one swipe at a time.
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