Creators do not invent a new kind of post every time they film. They reach for a format the audience already knows: a slideshow of still images, a creator talking in front of a green screen, a fast edit cut to a beat, a montage set to music. Viewers recognize the format before the first second plays. Creators call that shared pattern the meta, and choosing a familiar format is how a post joins it.
Formats come in two flavors. Editing formats are how a post is cut and assembled. Narrative formats are how its story is told, such as a founder recounting how the business started. This edition of the index covers editing formats. Narrative formats follow in a later one.
Many creator briefs name neither. They specify the product, the message, the deliverables and the dates, and leave the format of the post to the creator.
The Q2 2026 TikTok Editing Format Index, a quarterly benchmark from creator economy publication Net Influencer built with data from TikTok-first social listening firm dig, tracks 20 editing formats across 58,037 US TikTok posts from the first half of 2026.
The index scores each format on two questions every quarter. Are more creators making it, measured by its share of all posts collected each month? Are audiences responding to it faster than the average post, measured by its engagement rate, meaning likes plus comments as a share of views? A format that rises on both is one audiences are pulling toward. A format where more creators pile in while response falls is one they are scrolling past. Formats under 300 posts in a quarter are marked directional, and every format is rescored with the top 1 percent most-viewed posts removed, so a few viral hits cannot skew the results.
Six formats gained ground
* Fewer than 300 posts in the second quarter, so a single active creator can move the score. Treat these as a watchlist. “Creators making it” is the trend in the format’s share of monthly posts. “Audiences responding” is the trend in its engagement rate against the average post.
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Lo-fi Native UGC, raw phone footage, and Talking Head B-roll, a person talking to camera with clips cut in, are the two largest formats in the index at 13,271 and 8,701 posts, and neither moved more than 8 percent on either signal in the second quarter, under the 10 percent the index counts as a real change. Both still earn close to the average, a 6.5 and a 6.2 percent engagement rate for the typical post in our sample against 6.4 percent overall, so the growth was in the smaller formats in the table above.
The fastest-rising format is still images, and small accounts are making most of it
Photo Carousels are the story of the quarter. Their post count nearly doubled, from 717 to 1,317, while the collection as a whole grew 22 percent. They were the only format with 300 or more posts that gained on both signals: their share of monthly posts rose 20 percent, and their engagement rate against the average post rose 15 percent. Both gains held with the top 1 percent most-viewed posts removed.
In our sample, 59 percent of Photo Carousel posts came from accounts under 10,000 followers, and accounts under 1,000 are its largest group. The highest-reach small account in our sample, at 208 followers, drew 1.4 million views at a 28.4 percent engagement rate. A live example of the format from an account of similar size: @cupcakecowgirl6, 268 followers, 147,832 views, 25.5 percent engagement rate.
Purchase-tagged video grew 55 percent in post count and lost 41 percent in response
Shoppable Video Tagged, video with a visible purchase tag, grew 55 percent in post count, to 683 posts in our sample, while its engagement rate against the average post fell 41 percent. The typical shoppable post in our sample earned a 1.4 percent engagement rate. The typical post across the whole collection earned a 6.4 percent engagement rate. Live Shopping shows the same pattern from 46 posts, with share of posts up 27 percent and engagement rate down 73 percent.
In our sample, more creators added tags each month and fewer viewers responded to the posts with them, so the same rate bought less response as the quarter went on. The decision the data supports is to renegotiate rates against the falling response before renewing volume, and to judge tagged posts against the format’s own typical engagement rate of 1.4 percent, so a 3 percent engagement rate is recognized as the above-average result it is.
A good engagement rate depends on the format
Many brands judge creator results against one number, an average engagement rate for TikTok. In our sample the typical post earned a 6.4 percent engagement rate, meaning its likes and comments added up to 6.4 percent of its views. The typical post in each format lands somewhere else.
A carousel with a 5 percent engagement rate is below what the format usually earns. A purchase-tagged video with a 5 percent engagement rate is well above it. Many campaign reports do not say which format each post used. Adding that column is the simplest change a brand can make to how it reads results.
Which format works best depends on the category
The platform-wide table says which formats are gaining across TikTok. It does not say which ones work in a given category, and the answer changes from one aisle to the next. For each category in our sample, the table below shows the typical post’s engagement rate, then the formats with the highest and lowest typical engagement rate among formats with at least 100 posts in that category.
The same format can have the highest typical engagement rate in one category and the lowest in another. Photo Carousels had the highest in Fashion and Comedy and the lowest in Food. Raw phone footage had the highest in Business and the lowest in DIY.
So what does this all mean
We understand that thinking about TikTok in terms of formats, and editing formats in particular, is a new frame of reference for many companies. Many brands are used to partnering with creators and receiving content, with the format left to the creator. We feel strongly that the more a brand understands which metas are getting organic traction, the more creative it can be in finding simple ways to connect with creators to promote its products and services.
With that said, we intend for the TikTok Editing Format Index to be the foundation for that understanding, updated every quarter. We encourage you to take it to your internal teams and your agencies and put the formats on the table alongside the creators.
Three questions to ask as you build briefs for your creators and agencies:
Which format is this post, and how does its engagement compare with the typical post in that format? A carousel with a 5 percent engagement rate and a purchase-tagged video with the same rate are very different results.
Which formats are gaining traction in our category right now, and does this brief include any of them?
If the brief includes purchase-tagged posts, which format is the tag using? Is the post pure shopping, built around the tag alone, or a hybrid, where the tag sits on a carousel or a fast-cut edit that audiences already respond to?
The full report has the board for all 20 formats, the category cuts, and three reference posts for each format. [FULL REPORT LINK]
Nii A. Ahene is the founder and managing director of Net Influencer, a website dedicated to offering insights into the influencer marketing industry. Together with its newsletter, Influencer Weekly, Net Influencer provides news, commentary, and analysis of the events shaping the creator and influencer marketing space. Through interviews with startups, influencers, brands, and platforms, Nii and his team explore how influencer marketing is being effectively used to benefit businesses and personal brands alike.
Creators do not invent a new kind of post every time they film. They reach for a format the audience already knows: a slideshow of still images, a creator talking in front of a green screen, a fast edit cut to a beat, a montage set to music. Viewers recognize the format before the first second plays. Creators call that shared pattern the meta, and choosing a familiar format is how a post joins it.
Formats come in two flavors. Editing formats are how a post is cut and assembled. Narrative formats are how its story is told, such as a founder recounting how the business started. This edition of the index covers editing formats. Narrative formats follow in a later one.
Many creator briefs name neither. They specify the product, the message, the deliverables and the dates, and leave the format of the post to the creator.
The Q2 2026 TikTok Editing Format Index, a quarterly benchmark from creator economy publication Net Influencer built with data from TikTok-first social listening firm dig, tracks 20 editing formats across 58,037 US TikTok posts from the first half of 2026.
The index scores each format on two questions every quarter. Are more creators making it, measured by its share of all posts collected each month? Are audiences responding to it faster than the average post, measured by its engagement rate, meaning likes plus comments as a share of views? A format that rises on both is one audiences are pulling toward. A format where more creators pile in while response falls is one they are scrolling past. Formats under 300 posts in a quarter are marked directional, and every format is rescored with the top 1 percent most-viewed posts removed, so a few viral hits cannot skew the results.
Six formats gained ground
* Fewer than 300 posts in the second quarter, so a single active creator can move the score. Treat these as a watchlist. “Creators making it” is the trend in the format’s share of monthly posts. “Audiences responding” is the trend in its engagement rate against the average post.
The two biggest formats are holding steady
Lo-Fi Native UGC
Lo-fi Native UGC, raw phone footage, and Talking Head B-roll, a person talking to camera with clips cut in, are the two largest formats in the index at 13,271 and 8,701 posts, and neither moved more than 8 percent on either signal in the second quarter, under the 10 percent the index counts as a real change. Both still earn close to the average, a 6.5 and a 6.2 percent engagement rate for the typical post in our sample against 6.4 percent overall, so the growth was in the smaller formats in the table above.
The fastest-rising format is still images, and small accounts are making most of it
Photo Carousels are the story of the quarter. Their post count nearly doubled, from 717 to 1,317, while the collection as a whole grew 22 percent. They were the only format with 300 or more posts that gained on both signals: their share of monthly posts rose 20 percent, and their engagement rate against the average post rose 15 percent. Both gains held with the top 1 percent most-viewed posts removed.
In our sample, 59 percent of Photo Carousel posts came from accounts under 10,000 followers, and accounts under 1,000 are its largest group. The highest-reach small account in our sample, at 208 followers, drew 1.4 million views at a 28.4 percent engagement rate. A live example of the format from an account of similar size: @cupcakecowgirl6, 268 followers, 147,832 views, 25.5 percent engagement rate.
Purchase-tagged video grew 55 percent in post count and lost 41 percent in response
Shoppable Video Tagged
Shoppable Video Tagged, video with a visible purchase tag, grew 55 percent in post count, to 683 posts in our sample, while its engagement rate against the average post fell 41 percent. The typical shoppable post in our sample earned a 1.4 percent engagement rate. The typical post across the whole collection earned a 6.4 percent engagement rate. Live Shopping shows the same pattern from 46 posts, with share of posts up 27 percent and engagement rate down 73 percent.
In our sample, more creators added tags each month and fewer viewers responded to the posts with them, so the same rate bought less response as the quarter went on. The decision the data supports is to renegotiate rates against the falling response before renewing volume, and to judge tagged posts against the format’s own typical engagement rate of 1.4 percent, so a 3 percent engagement rate is recognized as the above-average result it is.
A good engagement rate depends on the format
Many brands judge creator results against one number, an average engagement rate for TikTok. In our sample the typical post earned a 6.4 percent engagement rate, meaning its likes and comments added up to 6.4 percent of its views. The typical post in each format lands somewhere else.
A carousel with a 5 percent engagement rate is below what the format usually earns. A purchase-tagged video with a 5 percent engagement rate is well above it. Many campaign reports do not say which format each post used. Adding that column is the simplest change a brand can make to how it reads results.
Which format works best depends on the category
The platform-wide table says which formats are gaining across TikTok. It does not say which ones work in a given category, and the answer changes from one aisle to the next. For each category in our sample, the table below shows the typical post’s engagement rate, then the formats with the highest and lowest typical engagement rate among formats with at least 100 posts in that category.
The same format can have the highest typical engagement rate in one category and the lowest in another. Photo Carousels had the highest in Fashion and Comedy and the lowest in Food. Raw phone footage had the highest in Business and the lowest in DIY.
So what does this all mean
We understand that thinking about TikTok in terms of formats, and editing formats in particular, is a new frame of reference for many companies. Many brands are used to partnering with creators and receiving content, with the format left to the creator. We feel strongly that the more a brand understands which metas are getting organic traction, the more creative it can be in finding simple ways to connect with creators to promote its products and services.
With that said, we intend for the TikTok Editing Format Index to be the foundation for that understanding, updated every quarter. We encourage you to take it to your internal teams and your agencies and put the formats on the table alongside the creators.
Three questions to ask as you build briefs for your creators and agencies:
The full report has the board for all 20 formats, the category cuts, and three reference posts for each format. [FULL REPORT LINK]
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