The news: Wellness brands led YouTube Shorts engagement in Q2 2026, according to our industry KPI data provided by Dash Social. The data suggests that audiences are increasingly relying on short-form content for accessible, instructional wellness content.

• Wellness videos, such as nutrition advice, guided routines, and workout demonstrations, saw the highest average percentage viewed in Q2 2026 at 116%.
• That figure means viewers watched the equivalent of 1.16 times each video’s full length on average due to looping and replays.
• The category outperformed beauty videos (98.6%), retail (96.5%), and the overall benchmark (84.6%). Wellness was also the only category to remain above 100% in each quarter between Q1 2025 and Q2 2026, indicating stronger viewer retention.

Why it matters: YouTube Shorts is becoming an important, high-retention environment for wellness brands looking to educate consumers, build trust, and influence purchase decisions. Broader consumer trends reinforce the opportunity.

• 84% of US consumers say that wellness is a “top” or “important” priority, per McKinsey’s 2025 Future of Wellness report.
• McKinsey estimates US wellness spending at more than $500 billion annually, with Gen Zers and millennials accounting for over 41%. Nearly 30% of consumers in these generations said they prioritize wellness “a lot more” than they did a year prior, compared with 23% of older generations.
• The format of wellness content likely encourages repeat viewing. YouTube has highlighted the popularity of guided routines, meditation, and other participatory videos that viewers can follow along with, behaviors that could lend themselves to looping or replaying short-form videos.

Implications for marketers: YouTube Shorts’ value as an environment where educational content can deepen engagement and build brand trust is growing.

The findings point to an opportunity for wellness marketers to create instructional, habit-building content designed to be revisited, rather than simply watched once. For retail and ecommerce marketers in particular, formats like product demonstrations, routines, and how-tos can support discovery and consideration while giving consumers practical reasons to return to branded content over time.

Gen Z and millennials’ prominent role in the wellness market makes the opportunity even more compelling. These groups are driving digital buyer growth and leading social media adoption—underscoring the potential for wellness brands to reach younger consumers where they already spend time and discover products.

Go deeper: Want more YouTube Shorts benchmarking data? PRO+ subscribers have access to Industry KPIs, our collection of more than 400 benchmarks in marketing and retail and ecommerce across a range of industries and countries. Click here for more information.