Middle East Markets Social Media Benchmarks: Ecommerce Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, ecommerce brands in Middle East Markets saw Instagram median post engagement rates of around 1.6%, well ahead of Facebook at roughly 0.5%. Facebook’s Live Video format continued to dominate organic performance by a wide margin, while on the paid side, Facebook feed remained both the top spending destination and the highest-CTR placement for ecommerce advertisers in the region.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 284 Facebook pages and 269 Instagram profiles across Middle East Markets, covering April 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026.

User-generated content: what’s achievable

Brands using Emplifi’s UGC solution this quarter saw:

• 5.27x increase in conversion rate
• 6.61x increase in website visits
• 1.34x increase in average order value

These figures represent the median uplift seen across Emplifi’s Ecommerce UGC Accounts Benchmark for Q2 2026. (Note: unlike the generic cross-industry UGC figures used elsewhere in this report series, the source deck for this report includes a dedicated Ecommerce UGC Accounts Benchmark slide with its own figures, which are used here instead.)

Organic performance: Facebook and Instagram

Interaction share by industry

On Facebook, Retail accounts for 20.8% of total brand interactions — the highest share of any category. On Instagram, Retail leads with 20.7% of interactions.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Ecommerce itself ranks 8th on Facebook (3.6% share) and 6th on Instagram (8.2% share) of total brand interactions in Middle East Markets.

Platform landscape at a glance

In Middle East Markets, Instagram brand profiles carry a higher median follower count than Facebook pages. The figures below reflect median values across all profiles in the sample at the end of Q2 2026.

Activity volume on both platforms is roughly comparable, while user engagement on Instagram outpaces Facebook.

Note: The source dataset for this section (Social Media Landscape) is a bubble chart with no printed numeric labels, so figures above are reported qualitatively rather than as exact numbers.

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 steadily from around 22 in May 2025 to approximately 14 by Q2 2026, its lowest point in the period, while Facebook held flat at around 2 across the full period.

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, Instagram’s relative median interactions had dropped to around 62% of its peak — its lowest point in the period — while Facebook remained at 100% of its own peak throughout, reflecting a flat absolute trend line at a very low base.

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 from around 3,000 in May 2025 to a peak of roughly 7,500 in November 2025, before pulling back to approximately 4,900 by Q2 2026. Facebook impressions fluctuated between about 3,500 and 5,700 over the same period, ending around 4,200.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~1.6%
• Facebook: ~0.5%

Instagram engagement held broadly steady in the 1.55%–2.0% range across the past year, edging down slightly by Q2 2026, while Facebook engagement remained flat and low throughout, hovering between roughly 0.35% and 0.5%.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Live Video and standard Video continue to outperform other formats organically. In Q2 2026, Live Video generated a median of 442 post interactions, while standard Video reached approximately 0–1.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 12 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 15.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 52% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 39% by Q2 2026. On Instagram, Reels, Images, and Carousels each account for roughly a third of posts published, with Reels and Carousels 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 Middle East Markets brands in Q2 2026:

Facebook:

Instagram:

How does your brand compare?

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Paid performance: Facebook and Instagram ads

Where brands are spending

The majority of paid spend for Middle East Markets brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram stories. Spending on FB feed is 18.42 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Middle East Markets brands this quarter:

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

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the Middle East Markets ecommerce brands benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.62%, compared to FB facebook reels at 0.93%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Middle East Markets:

Ecommerce-specific CPC held in the $0.13–$0.19 range for most of the past year, dipping from a September 2025 peak near $0.19 to about $0.13 by Q2 2026, while CPM tracked mostly between $2.00 and $2.60 over the same period, ending around $2.30. Ecommerce CTR trended upward overall, closing near 1.58% after peaking around 1.6% late in 2025. Data note: the broader regional comparison line in the source deck’s cost-trend charts is labeled “Asia” rather than “Middle East Markets,” and its values (e.g., ~$0.08 CPC) are notably lower than the Middle East Markets placement-level figures shown elsewhere in the same deck (which range from $0.22–$0.90 CPC by placement). This appears to be a labeling/data carryover error in the source presentation, so the “Middle East Markets overall” column above should be treated as unverified rather than a confirmed regional benchmark.