Carousel, Video or Text: What Metricool Found on LinkedIn for Brokers

Make carousels your default LinkedIn format. In Metricool's 2026 LinkedIn study, carousels averaged 1,451.19 impressions per post against 605.57 for video, and drew 17x the interactions of images. Use short text posts to start conversations, multi-image posts for engagement rate, and treat video as support, not the engine.

That is a starting rule, not a law. The study measured LinkedIn accounts of every kind, not real estate offices, so it tells you what to test first. For a broker-owner it matters, because recruits, referral partners and other brokers check you out there. Our page for brokerages covers how we build marketing around that audience.

Most offices post what is easy: a single photo, or a phone clip. Those two make up the bulk of what gets posted, and they are not the best performers.

What Metricool measured, and what it did not

Metricool's 2026 LinkedIn study looked at 673,658 posts from 63,108 LinkedIn accounts. Its press release says the comparison runs from January and February 2025 to January and February 2026, and that it is the first year the study covers both company pages and personal profiles.

Two limits matter before you act on any number.

• The averages come from all industries. Nothing in the public pages is specific to real estate.

• The full study sits behind a form. We used three public pages: the study page, the press release and Metricool's LinkedIn trends article. Where they give no figure, this post says so.

By the numbers: the format scorecard

Here is every format figure the public pages give, with the metric named.

• Reach. Carousels averaged 1,451.19 impressions per post. Video averaged 605.57.

• Interactions. Carousels got 17x more interactions than images, yet images are posted 6x more often than carousels.

• Engagement rate. Multi-image posts reached 3.71%. Standard video reached 1.80% and single images 1.81%.

• What gets posted. Images and videos make up nearly 75% of all content on the platform.

• Polls. They delivered the highest average impressions on company pages while making up less than 1% of posts.

• Comments per post. Images 2.80, carousels 2.38, text 1.75, video 0.98, multi-image 0.85, polls 0.65.

Different measures crown different formats. Carousels win reach and beat images by a wide margin on interactions. Multi-image posts lead the engagement rates the pages list. Images win comments, and Metricool notes text-only posts are getting rarer. Video does not lead any measure above.

Likes, comments and shares fell year over year, down 13%, 17% and 10%, yet overall engagement rose nearly 14%. Metricool credits "invisible interactions": clicks, carousel swipes, video views and link taps.

Carousels: the default for a broker-owner

A carousel asks the reader to do something, and the doing is counted. Metricool says LinkedIn tracks each swipe through a carousel toward engagement, and its advice is to save the key information for the last slide so people swipe all the way.

Recruiting is a process, and a process fits slides. Good carousel topics for an office:

• What the first 90 days look like for a new agent, one slide a month.

• A seller preparation checklist the office hands every client.

• A split between what the brokerage provides and what the agent runs on their own.

Our First 90 Days Checklist is a ready source for the first topic. Keep one idea per carousel, six to eight slides, ending on a question. Metricool gives no ideal slide count, so that length is our practice, not a finding.

Video: popular, not proven on LinkedIn

In Metricool's 2025 study video was one of LinkedIn's fastest-growing formats. In 2026 the press release says that on personal profiles video is now the most-used format, yet it underperforms carousels, image posts and multi-image posts. Metricool's own summary: "adoption has outpaced performance."

Does that mean skip video? No. Video views count among the invisible interactions, and 605.57 impressions is still an audience. The data does not support making video the main LinkedIn format because it works on Reels or TikTok. Our video marketing allocation post covers where video effort pays. Each platform has its own rules.

Our read, not Metricool's: one short clip a month from the owner's profile, with carousels carrying the weekly load.

Text: the conversation starter

The public pages give no impressions or engagement rate for text posts, only comments. At 1.75 per post, text beats video (0.98) and multi-image (0.85) and trails images (2.80) and carousels (2.38).

So text is a conversation format, not a reach format. It suits the owner's opinion on a recruiting question. Pair it with an ask. Metricool found posts with a direct question drew 77.39% more comments than the average post, and posts with a call to action to comment drew 80.07% more.

Three modifiers that matter as much as format

1. Profile or page. Personal profiles got a 63% higher engagement rate than company pages, 2.60% against 1.60%. Metricool's reading: profiles start conversations and pages spread them through shares. Our LinkedIn playbook for broker-owners covers the split.

2. Links. On company pages, posts with links ran above average, +51% in impressions and +41% in interactions. On personal profiles they dropped 27% and 20%. Put the careers link on the brokerage page. Keep the owner's post self-contained.

3. Timing. Half of total impressions arrive within the first 48 hours, and Metricool points to 9:00 to 12:00 as a high-activity window. Post when you can reply.

A worked example: a 25-agent brokerage

This is a hypothetical. A broker-owner with a personal profile and a company page wants LinkedIn to bring in recruits and referral partners. Here is one weekly rhythm built from the scorecard.

1. Tuesday, 10:00, owner profile: a carousel on one recruiting question, such as what the first 30 days look like. Last slide asks the reader a question. No link.

2. Wednesday, 10:00, company page: the same carousel, with a link to the careers page. The page shares well, and links help there.

3. Thursday, 10:00, owner profile: a short text post, one idea, ending in a direct question.

4. Every other Monday, company page: a poll on something agents care about, such as which training topic to run next.

5. Once a month, owner profile: a 45 second clip. The two other slots rotate in a multi-image post of three to five photos from a training or office event.

That is about three posts a week, built from one carousel, one text post and a rotating slot.

Run a four week test on your own account

The averages above are a starting point. Your account is the proof.

• Weeks 1 and 2: post the rhythm above. Record impressions, interactions and clicks per post.

• Weeks 3 and 4: swap one carousel for a multi-image post, and add the clip.

• Compare per post, by format. Also count the outcomes that pay: recruiting conversations opened, referral partners who replied, direct messages.

• Keep what wins. If carousels lead your account, keep them as the default. Small accounts have noisy numbers, so look for a pattern.

How Urban Marketing Edge handles this

We put the format on the calendar before anyone writes a word. Monthly content themes set the subjects, and the content calendar gives every slot a format and a platform before the month starts. Our social media management builds the carousel in the office's templates, writes the caption and the closing question, and sends it through the post approval system so nothing goes out unseen. The owner decides which profile posts it. Plain-language monthly reporting shows results per format, and video editing hours cover the monthly clip. Our social media guide and the brokerages page show how it fits.

Questions brokers ask

What is the best LinkedIn post format for a real estate broker?

Carousels, based on Metricool's 2026 data: 1,451.19 impressions per post against 605.57 for video, and 17x the interactions of images. Test it on your account, because the figures cover all industries.

Should a brokerage stop posting video on LinkedIn?

No. Metricool found video is the most-used format on personal profiles and underperforms carousels, images and multi-image posts. That argues for fewer clips, not none. Keep a monthly clip and judge it on your own numbers.

Do text-only posts still work on LinkedIn?

For comments, yes. Metricool's table shows 1.75 comments per text post, above video and multi-image. The public pages give no reach figure for text, so use it to start conversations.

Should the broker-owner post from a personal profile or the company page?

Both, with different jobs. Metricool found profiles drive more comments and a 63% higher engagement rate, while company pages get shared more. Start the conversation on the profile and let the page spread it, with the link on the page.

How long should a LinkedIn carousel be?

Metricool's public pages give no slide count. Our practice is six to eight slides, one idea, the key point saved for the last slide.

When should a broker post on LinkedIn?

Metricool says 9:00 to 12:00 is a high-activity window and that 50% of impressions arrive in the first 48 hours. Post in the morning on a day you can reply.

Book a 30-minute strategy call

If your brokerage posts a photo here and a clip there, bring eight weeks of LinkedIn numbers to a call. In thirty minutes we sort them by format, pick a weekly rhythm the owner can keep, and decide who builds the carousels. We map the simplest plan for your content, themes and monthly cadence, and we will say plainly if a plan is not the right next step. No pitch deck, no pressure. Book a 30-minute strategy call, or compare the monthly plans first.