Worldwide Social Media Benchmarks: Fashion Q2 2026

User-generated content: what’s achievable

Brands using Emplifi’s UGC solution this quarter saw:

• 19.88x increase in conversion rate
• 5.06x increase in website visits
• 1.08x increase in average order value

These figures represent the median uplift seen across Emplifi’s Brands UGC Accounts Benchmark for Q2 2026.

Organic performance: Facebook and Instagram

Interaction share by industry

On Facebook, Ecommerce accounts for 27.5% of total brand interactions — the highest share of any category. Fashion ranks 6th on Facebook, with a 4.4% share. On Instagram, Ecommerce leads with 37.4% of interactions, but Fashion is the runner-up at 11.8% — well ahead of every other category except Ecommerce.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Platform landscape at a glance

In Worldwide, Instagram Fashion profiles carry a higher median follower count than Facebook pages carry in fans. The figures below reflect directional comparisons across all profiles in the sample at the end of Q2 2026.

Activity volume is higher on Facebook, with Fashion pages publishing more often per quarter than Instagram profiles do, while user engagement on Instagram outpaces Facebook by a wide margin.

Median post interactions

Median post interactions track the middle-ranked page or profile by monthly interactions — a measure of typical performance rather than outlier peaks.

Instagram median post interactions declined from around 59 in May 2025 to the mid-40s by the second half of the year, and drifted further down to approximately 42 by June 2026. Facebook held low and essentially flat across the full period, dipping only slightly to around 7 by quarter’s end.

Relative median post interactions

Relative median interactions index each platform’s performance against its own peak over the reporting period, making it easier to compare directional trends across platforms regardless of absolute scale.

By Q2 2026, both platforms had converged near their lowest points of the period, at around 65% of peak — Instagram’s decline was gradual and steady through the year, while Facebook stayed close to its peak until early 2026 before dropping sharply in the final months.

Median post impressions

Impressions measure how many times posts were displayed, regardless of interaction. This metric is available for both platforms and reflects reach rather than engagement.

Instagram impressions climbed sharply from around 9,000 in May 2025 to a peak near 33,000 in September 2025, then fell off steeply in early 2026 to settle around 12,000-13,000 through Q2 2026 — likely reflecting shifting Reels distribution. Facebook impressions stayed low and roughly flat throughout, easing slightly to approximately 4,000 by quarter’s end.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~2.2%
• Facebook: ~1.0%

Instagram engagement has stayed broadly stable across the past year, holding in the 2.0-2.2% range, while Facebook engagement has trended gradually upward, nearly doubling from about 0.55% a year ago to roughly 1.0% by Q2 2026.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Live Video and Link posts continue to outperform other formats organically. In Q2 2026, Live Video generated a median of 41 post interactions, while Link posts reached 9.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 53 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 47.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format, though its share has slipped from around 82% in mid-2025 to roughly 65% by Q2 2026 as Reels have gained ground — rising from near zero to approximately 25% of posts over the same period. On Instagram, Carousels, Reels, and Images each account for a substantial share of posts published, with Carousels edging up to around 40% by Q2 2026 and Carousels and Reels driving the majority of top-performing content.

Top performing pages and profiles

Facebook — top pages by total interactions (Q2 2026):

Instagram — top profiles by total interactions (Q2 2026):

Top posts this quarter

The highest-performing individual posts by interactions across Worldwide brands in Q2 2026:

Facebook:

Instagram:

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Paid performance: Facebook and Instagram ads

Where brands are spending

The majority of paid spend for Fashion brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram stories. Spending on FB feed is 8.9 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Fashion brands this quarter:

• Lowest CPC: FB feed, FB facebook reels, and IG instagram stories
• Lowest CPM: FB facebook reels, IG instagram reels, and FB feed

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the Fashion brands benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.99%, compared to IG feed at 1.45%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Worldwide:

Fashion-specific CPC tracked closely with the Worldwide line for most of the past year, with both dipping to around $0.17 in January 2026, before Fashion settled slightly below Worldwide’s ~$0.21 by June 2026. Fashion CPM ran consistently above the Worldwide benchmark throughout the period, peaking near $3.00 in November 2025 versus Worldwide’s ~$2.30, and remained elevated at roughly $2.55 by Q2 2026 compared to Worldwide’s ~$2.10. CTR followed the same pattern — Fashion stayed well above Worldwide all year, peaking near 1.85% in January 2026 before easing to about 1.55%, while Worldwide crept up more modestly to around 1.05-1.10%.

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