Worldwide Social Media Benchmarks: Education 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.

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 qualitative comparisons across all profiles in the sample at the end of Q2 2026 (the underlying chart does not expose exact values).

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 ranged between roughly 70 and 90 over the past year, peaking near September 2025 before settling back to around 80 by June 2026. Facebook has remained essentially flat at low single digits throughout 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.

Facebook’s relative median interactions held close to its 12-month peak through most of 2025 before slipping to around 85% of peak by Q2 2026. Instagram’s index dipped to a low of roughly 78% in early 2026 before recovering to about 90% of its peak by June 2026 — a slightly choppier path than Facebook’s.

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 from mid-2025, peaking near 5,300 in September before pulling back to approximately 2,300 by Q2 2026 — likely reflecting algorithmic reach patterns tied to Reels distribution. Facebook impressions remained low and flat throughout, hovering between 700 and 900.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~3.6%
• Facebook: ~1.1%

Instagram engagement has stayed in a fairly tight 3.3%–3.9% band over the past year with no clear directional trend, while Facebook engagement has held steady at just over 1%, showing only marginal movement quarter to quarter.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Live Video and Status continue to outperform other formats organically. In Q2 2026, Live Video generated a median of 18 post interactions, while Status reached 6.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 105 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 87.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 65% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 22% 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 Education brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and FB facebook reels. Spending on FB feed is 13.35 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Education 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 Education brands benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.44%, compared to FB facebook reels at 0.97%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Worldwide:

This report’s ad cost trend charts show only a single pooled Worldwide line rather than a separate Education-specific breakout, so the figures above apply to both columns. Over the past year, CPC held in the $0.19–$0.22 range for most months, dipped to around $0.17 in January–February 2026, and recovered to roughly $0.20–$0.21 by June 2026. CPM followed a similar arc, peaking near $2.30 in November 2025, bottoming out around $1.65 in January 2026, and climbing back to $2.10–$2.15 by quarter’s end. CTR trended mildly upward across the period, moving from the mid-0.80% range up to approximately 1.05%–1.10% by June 2026, while spend peaked near $5,800–$6,000 in both November 2025 and June 2026 with a dip to roughly $4,300–$4,500 in January 2026.

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