Q3 2025 benchmarks: UGC conversion gains and Meta’s video-first strategy in focus

Brand performance on social media shifted in important ways in Q3 2025, and the latest Social Media Benchmark Report from Emplifi highlights several key trends for brands in the United States. From user-generated content (UGC) delivering higher returns to subtle shifts in platform engagement and the growing dominance of ecommerce, the quarter also marked another step in Meta’s push to make video the centerpiece of both engagement and ad performance.

Here’s how brand performance changed from Q2 to Q3 and what you can do about it.

UGC in the spotlight: Conversions soar, order value slips

Brands using Emplifi’s UGC solution in Q3 achieved:

• Conversion rates 10.38× higher than posts not using UGC (up from 5.29× in Q2)
• Website visits 3.84× higher (down from 4.3× in Q2)
• Average order values 1.06× higher (down from 2.35× in Q2)

These shifts highlight UGC’s growing role as a driver of conversions, even as its impact on traffic and basket size slowed. Broader consumer research reinforces why it matters: 65% of people say UGC influences their purchasing decisions, underscoring the importance of showcasing real customer experiences alongside brand-led creative.

Actionable insight: UGC is increasingly a conversion driver, but its influence on basket size is shrinking. Marketers should continue to deploy UGC in retargeting and conversion campaigns while pairing it with cross-sell strategies or bundle offers to lift order value.

Instagram still wins, but engagement softened across formats

In Q3, organic engagement dipped slightly across Instagram and Facebook:

• Instagram Carousels: 38 median interactions (down from 40 in Q2)
• Instagram Reels: 33 (down from 35)
• Facebook Live Videos: 20 (up from 17)
• Facebook Reels: 5 (down from 6)

Meta has also been reshaping its platforms to be more video-forward. Recent updates now convert every video on Facebook into a Reel, expand video discovery tools, and introduce “friend bubbles” designed to highlight content that friends have engaged with. These moves underscore Meta’s bet on video as the engine of future engagement, and while Reels interactions saw only slight softening in Q3, their performance remains broadly stable across both Facebook and Instagram.

Actionable insight: With engagement holding steady but showing small signs of softening, stick with Carousels, Reels, and Live Video as your top-performing formats, but refresh how you execute them. Story-driven Carousels, snappier Reels, and interactive Live broadcasts can re-energize audiences while aligning with Meta’s video-first strategy.

Ecommerce pulls further ahead in engagement

Ecommerce’s dominance grew stronger in Q3:

• Facebook: 34.2% of all interactions (up from 27.6% in Q2)
• Instagram: 26.8% of all interactions (up from 23.7% in Q2)

This rise in ecommerce interactions reflects a broader shift toward social-first shopping. In the U.S., the social commerce market is projected to grow 14.4% in 2025 to $114.7 billion. Looking ahead, 70% of shoppers both already buy on social platforms and expect social to be their main shopping environment by 2030, showing that audiences increasingly see social channels as hubs for discovery and purchasing.

Actionable insight: Ecommerce brands should push their advantage with shoppable posts, UGC testimonials, and influencer campaigns. For non-ecommerce sectors, borrowing ecommerce tactics, like social proof content, tagged products, and behind-the-scenes storytelling—can help capture attention in increasingly commerce-driven feeds.

Paid media performance: Stable, but video monetization rises

From Q2 to Q3, paid performance remained steady:

• Click-through rates: Facebook Feed held strong (2.24% → 2.23%), while Reels slipped only slightly (1.38% → 1.3%).
• Ad spend: Facebook Feed extended its dominance, now 25.4 percentage points higher than Instagram Feed (up from 22.8 points in Q2).
• Costs: CPC remained lowest on Facebook Feed and Reels, averaging under $0.50, while CPM was lowest on Facebook and Instagram Reels, both around the $3 mark.

Meta’s Q3 earnings highlight how central advertising has become to its growth, with revenue climbing on the back of AI-driven optimizations and a sharper focus on video monetization strategies. These moves underscore Meta’s intent to extract more value from video placements, positioning them as the next big driver of ad efficiency. And while Feed continues to deliver the strongest performance for marketers, the broader trend suggests that Reels and Stories will play a larger role in Meta’s ad business in the quarters ahead.

Actionable insight: Keep Facebook Feed as the cornerstone of your paid strategy for efficiency, but gradually test Reels and Stories to align with Meta’s video-first push. Being an early mover in these placements could unlock cost advantages before competition intensifies.

Final takeaways

The Q2 to Q3 results reveal a social landscape that is shifting in subtle but important ways. UGC has cemented itself as a conversion powerhouse, driving sharper lifts than in previous quarters, though its impact on order value eased compared to Q2. Organic engagement across Instagram and Facebook held mostly steady, with only minor dips, while Meta doubled down on its video-first strategy through product updates and platform redesigns. 

For marketers planning Q4, the message is clear: lean into UGC for conversion gains, refresh creative across top-performing formats to sustain engagement, borrow ecommerce-style tactics to spark interactions even in non-commerce industries, and balance media budgets between the proven strength of Feed and the emerging potential of Reels and Stories.

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