Australia and New Zealand Social Media Benchmarks: Entertainment Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, entertainment brands in Australia and New Zealand saw Instagram post engagement rates of around 3.6%, well ahead of Facebook’s roughly 1.0%. Ecommerce remained the leading category for interaction share on both platforms, while Reels drove the strongest organic performance on Instagram and Live Video led on Facebook.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 443 Facebook pages and 244 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:

• 18.95x increase in conversion rate
• 4.97x 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):

Entertainment does not rank in the top 5 categories by interaction share on either platform in Australia and New Zealand this quarter, falling into the “Others” segment.

Platform landscape at a glance

In Australia and New Zealand, 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 higher on Facebook, while user engagement on Instagram outpaces Facebook.

Note: the source dataset presents this comparison as a relative bubble chart without printed numeric labels, so exact median follower, post, and interaction counts are not available — only the directional comparison shown above.

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 dipped to a low of around 200 in October 2025 before climbing back to a period high of approximately 315 by Q2 2026, while Facebook held broadly flat in the 20-30 range throughout.

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 were near their period peak, with relative median interactions for Facebook and Instagram converging at around 100%. Instagram had earlier fallen to as low as 63% of its peak in October 2025, while Facebook stayed within a narrower band, no lower than about 81%.

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 peaked around 17,500 in September 2025, fell to a low near 11,000 in February 2026, and recovered to approximately 14,300 by Q2 2026. Facebook impressions remained low and comparatively flat throughout, ending around 5,400.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~3.6%
• Facebook: ~1.0%

Instagram engagement has stayed in a tight 3.3%–3.7% band over the past year with a slight uptick heading into Q2 2026, while Facebook engagement has held steady at just under 1% throughout the period.

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 47 post interactions, while standard Video reached 11.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 195 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 485.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 42% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 45% 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 Instagram Reels and Instagram Feed. Spending on Facebook Feed is 6.47 percentage points higher than on Instagram 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, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Reels

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 2.3%, compared to Facebook Reels at 1.15%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Australia and New Zealand:

Note: this deck’s historical cost-trend charts (CPC, CPM, and CTR over time) are only broken out at the Australia and New Zealand regional level, not by entertainment industry specifically — even though the current-quarter placement-level breakdowns above do include a dedicated entertainment cut. As a result, both columns above reflect the same regional trend data rather than a distinct entertainment-only historical series. CPC ranged between roughly $0.36 and $0.53 over the past year, ending Q2 2026 at approximately $0.45. CPM trended upward, climbing from around $3.10 in mid-2025 to approximately $4.53 by Q2 2026. CTR also rose steadily over the period, from about 1.0% to roughly 1.18% by Q2 2026.