How Gulf brands are winning Meta right now

Every quarter, Emplifi looks at the top posts in the Gulf. This time, one stood out. An Emirates Valentine’s Reel got almost a million interactions from a single post. Rotana did the same with a concert Reel. So did REEF, who put Benzema on camera and won the whole beauty category.

None of it was luck.

We checked every top post in the Q1 2026 GCC benchmark. The winners keep running the same few plays. Here they are.

The plays behind the wins

• Ride the moment. The biggest posts ride something already happening. Emirates on Valentine’s. Brands on Ramadan. Find the moment your audience is already feeling, then show up as a Reel, not a poster.
• Put a face in the frame. REEF put Karim Benzema in a Reel and took the top beauty post in the GCC at 81,136. KAYALI’s launch Reel did 61,554. A face your audience already trusts beats a product shot.
• Go live, or at least go video. In media, Live Video pulls a 73 median, far above the photos most brands settle for. Al Arabiya’s top post was a plain Facebook video at 529,282. Motion earns attention a still cannot.
• Make Reels the default. Across all Gulf industries, the top-engaging Instagram format is a Reel or a Carousel. Every one. Most brands still lead with static images. That gap is the opening the winners are taking.

What Instagram really rewards

Pick any industry in the table. Chances are your team is pouring effort into the format that performs worst, and barely touching the one that wins.

Entertainment brands average 222 interactions on a Reel. Auto brands keep posting stills while their Reels quietly outperform. Beauty already made the switch.

What Facebook rewards

Facebook is no different. In nearly every industry, Photos are what brands post most. They are also what gets scrolled past.

The engagement is with Live Video and Reels. When media brands go live, they hit a 73 median, one of the highest on the platform. Point a camera at something real. And ignore the rare Status or Link spike, too few brands post those to mean anything.

Who’s truly winning

Here are the standout brand posts in the Gulf this quarter. Look at the format column. It is Reels almost the whole way down.

One exception: In auto, a Pagani Ramadan Photo (55,218) actually beat Lexus’s Reel. A great photo can still spike. Reels just win far more often.

Your move

The winners aren’t doing anything you can’t copy. They post Reels, they go live, they show up in meaningful moments. The data backs it in every industry. The only question left is what you post next.

Source: Emplifi 2026 GCC Social Media Benchmark. Facebook and Instagram, Q1 2026.