Middle East Markets Social Media Benchmarks: Beauty Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, Beauty brands in Middle East Markets saw Instagram median post engagement rates of around 2.7%, well ahead of Facebook at roughly 1.55%. Retail led interaction share on both platforms regionally, while Beauty brands themselves saw their strongest organic performance from Link and Photo posts on Facebook and Reels and Carousels on Instagram.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 101 Facebook pages and 102 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:

• 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, Retail accounts for 20.8% of total brand interactions — the highest share of any category. On Instagram, Retail leads with 20.7% of interactions. Beauty itself shares a much smaller slice of the pie: 0.5% of total Facebook interactions and 2.4% of total Instagram interactions among Middle East Markets brands.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

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 Beauty profiles in the sample at the end of Q2 2026.

Note: This particular part of the dataset presents relative bubble sizes without printed numeric labels, so the table above reflects the deck’s qualitative comparison rather than exact figures.

Activity volume is higher on Instagram than on 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 declined from around 27 in mid-2025 to approximately 19 by Q2 2026, with intermittent rebounds to the mid-20s along the way, while Facebook held broadly flat and low, hovering between roughly 2 and 5 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, Facebook’s relative median interactions had recovered to around 60% of its peak after dropping as low as 40% earlier in the year, while Instagram closed the period at about 70% of its own peak, having ranged between roughly 60% and 100% throughout the reporting window.

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 sharply through mid-2025, peaking at around 4,700 in August/September before declining steadily to approximately 1,350 by Q2 2026 — converging with Facebook. Facebook impressions stayed range-bound between roughly 2,000 and 3,100 for most of the period before easing down to about 1,400 by Q2 2026.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~2.7%
• Facebook: ~1.55%

Instagram engagement has held in a roughly 2.0–2.8% range over the past year, dipping to a low of about 2.05% in December 2025 before recovering to ~2.7% by Q2 2026. Facebook engagement has trended gradually upward, rising from under 1% in mid-2025 to roughly 1.55% by Q2 2026.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Link and Photo posts perform best organically for Beauty in Middle East Markets this quarter. Link posts generated a median of 8 post interactions, while Photo posts reached 2.

Instagram: Reel and Carousel posts lead organic performance. Reels generated a median of 20 post interactions this quarter; Carousels reached roughly 18.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 53% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 40% 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 Beauty 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 Beauty brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram reels. Spending on FB feed is 11.1 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Middle East Markets Beauty 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 Beauty benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.28%, compared to FB facebook reels at 0.68%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Middle East Markets:

Beauty-specific CPC fluctuated between roughly $0.16 and $0.31 over the past year, ending Q2 2026 at about $0.21, while the broader regional benchmark tracked much lower and flatter throughout, closing around $0.09. Beauty CPM followed a similar pattern, peaking near $2.47 in late 2025 before settling around $1.90, versus a regional benchmark that stayed close to $0.85 all year. CTR for Beauty spiked to roughly 1.1% briefly in December 2025 before easing to about 0.97% by Q2 2026, while the broader regional benchmark held slightly higher and steadier, ending around 1.03%.