Worldwide Social Media Benchmarks: Dairy 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. Dairy itself doesn’t rank among the largest categories on either platform this quarter — it falls within the smaller “Others” segment alongside numerous other verticals.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Platform landscape at a glance

In Worldwide Dairy, median Instagram follower counts run lower than median Facebook fan counts. The figures below reflect relative standing across all profiles in the sample at the end of Q2 2026.

Activity volume on Instagram is roughly comparable to Facebook, while user engagement on Instagram outpaces Facebook by a wide margin.

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 held a consistent lead over Facebook across the past year, with both platforms easing gradually lower — Instagram slipped from around 46 to roughly 33 by Q2 2026, while Facebook eased from about 22 to 15 over the same stretch.

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, both platforms had fallen to around 68% of their respective peaks. Facebook’s peak came later in the period, around September 2025, before it eased steadily downward. Instagram was closer to its own peak at the start of the period in May 2025, dipped to its lowest point around January 2026, recovered slightly, then eased again — converging with Facebook by the end of the period.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~3.7%
• Facebook: ~1.0%

Instagram engagement fluctuated in the 3.1%–3.9% range across the past year, ending Q2 2026 around 3.7%. Facebook engagement crept up modestly, from about 0.6% to roughly 1.0%, but remains well below Instagram.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Link and Live Video posts led organic performance this quarter. Link posts generated a median of 19 post interactions, while Live Video reached 14.

Instagram: Reel and Carousel posts lead organic performance. Reels generated a median of 35 post interactions this quarter; Carousels reached 32.

Notable organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Full per-format breakdowns for Photo, Video, Status, and Image weren’t individually reported in this quarter’s chart, so the table above reflects only the standout formats called out in the underlying data.

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 58% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 38% by Q2 2026. On Instagram, Reels lead at around 46% of posts, followed by Images at roughly 33% and Carousels at about 21%, 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 Dairy 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 Dairy 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 Dairy 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 Dairy 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

Dairy doesn’t have a separate ad-cost benchmark broken out this quarter — the underlying dataset didn’t meet the minimum active-ad-account threshold for an industry-specific line, so the CPC, CPM, and CTR trend charts show only the pooled Worldwide benchmark. The figures below reflect that same Worldwide line in both columns.

Worldwide CPC held in a tight $0.17–$0.23 band across the past year, dipping to around $0.17 in January 2026 before climbing back to roughly $0.21–$0.22 by Q2 2026. CPM followed a similar pattern, swinging between $1.65 and $2.20 over the same stretch and ending near $2.10–$2.15. CTR trended upward through the period, rising from about 0.93% to roughly 1.07% by Q2 2026, while Worldwide ad spend fluctuated between about $4,500 and $6,000, closing near $5,700–$6,000 in Q2 2026.

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