Worldwide Social Media Benchmarks: Auto Dealership 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. On Instagram, Ecommerce leads with 37.4% of interactions. Within these distributions, Auto Dealership itself accounts for a modest 3.9% of Facebook interactions and 4.8% of Instagram interactions.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Platform landscape at a glance

In Worldwide, 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.

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 have stayed in a tight 13–16 band for most of the past year, dipping briefly near 13 in late 2025 before climbing back toward 15 by Q2 2026. Facebook has remained essentially flat in the low single digits across the same 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 sat close to its own peak, in the 90–95% range, while Facebook’s index bounced between roughly 75% and 100% throughout the year and closed the period nearer the lower end, around 75%.

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 around 400 in mid-2025 to a sharp peak near 1,550 in November 2025, before pulling back to roughly 600 by Q2 2026 — likely reflecting a post-holiday normalization in reach. Facebook impressions stayed low and flat, hovering around 250–350 throughout the period.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~3.1%
• Facebook: ~0.85%

Instagram engagement dipped to its lowest point of the year (around 2.0%) in early 2026 before recovering strongly to roughly 3.1% by Q2 2026. Facebook engagement has held steady in a narrow 0.65%–0.9% band all year, showing little movement quarter to quarter.

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 15 post interactions, while standard Video reached approximately 2.5.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 19 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 24.

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 27% 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 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 Worldwide brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram reels. Spending on FB feed is 18.7 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

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

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

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the Worldwide brands benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.53%, compared to FB facebook reels at 0.87%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Worldwide:

This industry’s ad slides only surface a single pooled Worldwide line rather than a separate Auto Dealership-specific benchmark, so the brands-benchmark and region-overall figures above are identical. CPC held in a $0.19–$0.23 range for most of the year, dipping to around $0.165 in January 2026 before recovering to roughly $0.21 by Q2 2026. CPM followed a similar arc, peaking near $2.20 in November 2025, bottoming out around $1.65 in January 2026, and climbing back to roughly $2.10–$2.15 by Q2 2026. CTR trended gently upward across the year, moving from about 0.90% in mid-2025 to approximately 1.08%–1.10% by Q2 2026, while total spend swung between roughly $4,500 and $6,000, peaking around November 2025 and again heading into Q2 2026.

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