Vertical Content in 2025: Why Brands Are Still Slow to Adopt It

94% of the time, smartphones are used in vertical position. People aren't going to rotate their phone to watch brand content unless what you're offering is genuinely exceptional. And most content doesn't meet that bar.

Yet many companies are still producing all their video in 16:9 and then wondering why their Reels have poor reach, why their TikToks feel out of place, why nobody watches their Shorts.

The myth of "we just crop it for Reels"

Taking a horizontal video and cropping it to 9:16 doesn't create vertical content — it creates a mutilated horizontal video. The subject ends up cut off. The composition was designed for a different frame. Context disappears. Text is out of proportion.

"Designing a horizontal video and cropping it for Reels is like printing a horizontal poster and folding it in half. Technically possible. Visually a disaster."

Vertical content has to be conceived vertically from the very beginning. The framing, the subject position, the text placement, the negative space — everything changes when the canvas is 9:16.

Reels, TikTok and Shorts: are they the same?

Same format (9:16), different audiences, different algorithms, different behavior. Treating them as interchangeable platforms is one of the most common mistakes in social media strategy.

Why are brands slow to adopt it?

Three recurring fears:

• Fear of looking "unprofessional": Paradoxically, the audience interprets authenticity positively. A brand that shows itself in a natural, human way generates more trust than one that only shares perfectly polished content.
• Structural workflows built for horizontal: Filming crews, editing suites, approval processes — everything is set up for 16:9. Changing the standard requires internal decisions that go beyond one person.
• Fear of the algorithm: "What if we invest in vertical and it doesn't work?" This fear keeps brands frozen in formats that work even less.

How to start without rebuilding everything

1. Choose 3 authority topics your brand can talk about with confidence. From there, you can generate 30 videos without running out of ideas.
2. Film vertical from the start. Don't adapt horizontal content. The next shoot: tell the camera operator to flip the camera for some angles from the beginning.
3. Hook in the first 3 seconds. The decision to keep watching or scroll past happens in that window. The opening must answer: why should I keep watching this?
4. Don't wait for perfect production. A well-framed vertical video with clear audio and good natural light already beats most corporate vertical content.
5. Analyze retention, not likes. Reach is vanity. Knowing what percentage of people watched to the end tells you whether the content is truly working.