Australia and New Zealand Social Media Benchmarks: Alcohol Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, Alcohol brands in Australia and New Zealand saw median Instagram engagement rates of around 3.9%, far ahead of Facebook’s roughly 1.1%. Carousel and Image posts led Instagram organic performance, while Link and Video posts performed best on Facebook. Ecommerce brands dominated interaction share on both platforms regionally, with Alcohol itself accounting for a modest 0.6% of Facebook interactions and 0.3% of Instagram interactions.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 241 Facebook pages and 130 Instagram profiles across Australia and New Zealand, covering April 1, 2026 through June 30, 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 62.4% of total brand interactions — the highest share of any category. On Instagram, Ecommerce leads with 61.8% of interactions.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Platform landscape at a glance

In Australia and New Zealand, Instagram brand profiles carry a median follower count that is roughly comparable to Facebook pages’ fan count. The figures below reflect median values across all profiles in the sample at the end of Q2 2026.

Activity volume is higher on Instagram than Facebook, while user engagement on Instagram also outpaces Facebook.

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 peaked at around 44 in September 2025, fell to a low of roughly 27 in November 2025, and then recovered unevenly to finish Q2 2026 at about 34. Facebook median post interactions stayed within a narrow 6–10 range throughout the period, ending the quarter at approximately 7.

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 the end of Q2 2026, both platforms’ relative median interactions had settled at around 75–76% of their respective peaks, having each touched 100% around mid-2025 and dropped to lows near 60–70% in late 2025.

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 steadily from under 2,000 in April 2025 to a peak of roughly 6,000 in September 2025, then declined through the rest of the period to about 2,200 by Q2 2026. Facebook impressions stayed comparatively flat and low throughout, ending the quarter at approximately 1,150.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~3.9%
• Facebook: ~1.1%

Instagram engagement held mostly steady in the 3.5–4% range across the full period, dipping briefly to around 3.4% in December 2025 before recovering to roughly 3.9% by Q2 2026. Facebook engagement remained flat at around 0.8–1.1% throughout, ending the quarter at approximately 1.1%.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Link and Video posts continue to outperform other formats organically this quarter — Live Video did not register a measurable median in the source chart for Alcohol brands in this region, so no figure is reported for it. In Q2 2026, Link posts generated a median of 17 post interactions, while standard Video reached 16.

Instagram: Carousel and Image posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 35 post interactions this quarter; Images reached 31.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 64% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 28% 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 Australia and New Zealand brands in Q2 2026:

Facebook:

Instagram:

How does your brand compare?

These benchmarks reflect median performance across thousands of brands in Emplifi’s dataset. Get a free personalized assessment to see exactly where your brand stands today.

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Paid performance: Facebook and Instagram ads

Where brands are spending

The majority of paid spend for Australia and New Zealand brands goes to Facebook Feed, followed by Facebook Reels and Instagram Reels. Spending on Facebook Feed is 10.02 percentage points higher than on Facebook Reels.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Australia and New Zealand brands this quarter:

• Lowest CPC: Facebook Feed, Facebook Reels, and Instagram Stories
• Lowest CPM: Facebook Feed, Facebook Reels, and Instagram Stories

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the Australia and New Zealand brands benchmark, Facebook Feed leads on CTR at 0.46%, compared to Facebook Reels at 0.20%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Australia and New Zealand:

Data note: Alcohol has its own placement-level Ad Accounts Benchmark for Q2 2026 (used for the CPC, CPM, and CTR-by-placement tables above), but the deck does not include a separate historical trend line for Alcohol specifically — only a blended, all-industry historical trend for Australia and New Zealand overall. So the “Brands benchmark” row above reflects Alcohol’s Q2 2026 Facebook Feed figures (its top-spend placement), while the “Australia and New Zealand overall” row reflects the blended, all-placement regional trend. Regional CPC ranged from about $0.36 to $0.53 over the past year, ending Q2 2026 near $0.44 — well above Alcohol’s Facebook Feed CPC of $0.28. Regional CPM climbed from around $3.10 to a Q2 2026 high of about $4.50, and regional CTR trended upward from roughly 1.0% to about 1.18%, both higher than Alcohol’s Facebook Feed figures of $2.00 CPM and 0.46% CTR.