Australia and New Zealand Social Media Benchmarks: Fashion Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, Fashion brands in Australia and New Zealand saw median Instagram engagement rates of around 2.2%, compared with roughly 1.0% on Facebook. Instagram also led on interaction share within the category — Fashion ranked as the 2nd-highest interacting category on Instagram in the region — while Facebook feed and Facebook Reels remained the most cost-efficient paid placements.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 324 Facebook pages and 296 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:

• 8.02x increase in conversion rate
• 4.31x increase in website visits
• 1.01x increase in average order value

These figures represent the median uplift seen across Emplifi’s Fashion UGC Accounts Benchmark for Q2 2026. Note: Fashion is one of the larger verticals in Emplifi’s dataset and has its own dedicated UGC benchmark slide, so these figures are Fashion-specific rather than the general cross-industry average.

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; Fashion ranks 4th at 3.7%. On Instagram, Ecommerce leads with 61.8% of interactions, with Fashion ranking 2nd at 17.0%.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

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

Note: The source dataset presents this comparison as an unlabeled bubble chart (relative circle sizes only, no printed values), so exact figures were not extracted. For this blog, the table above reflects qualitative framing.

Activity volume on both platforms is higher on Instagram, 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 30 in mid-2025 to the low-20s by Q2 2026, with a temporary dip to around 20 in early 2026, while Facebook held broadly flat in the 4-5 range 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, Instagram’s relative median interactions sat at around 73% of its peak, after dipping as low as 66% around March 2026, while Facebook held close to its own peak at around 80% for most of the period, with brief spikes to 100%.

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 33,000 in August/September 2025, before declining steadily to roughly 11,000-13,000 by Q2 2026. Facebook impressions stayed low throughout, drifting down from around 5,500 to approximately 3,000.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~2.2%
• Facebook: ~1.0%

Instagram engagement has remained broadly stable in the 2.0-2.2% range across the past year, while Facebook engagement gradually rose from around 0.55% in mid-2025 to approximately 1.0% by Q2 2026.

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 73 post interactions, while standard Video reached approximately 2.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 30 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 20.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 56% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 32% 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 Fashion 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 Fashion brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram stories. Spending on FB feed is 8.9 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Australia and New Zealand Fashion brands this quarter:

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

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the Australia and New Zealand Fashion brands benchmark, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.99%, compared to IG feed at 1.45%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Australia and New Zealand:

This industry has its own dedicated ad-account breakout in addition to the region-wide one, so the “Brands benchmark” column above reflects Fashion-specific figures while the “Australia and New Zealand overall” column reflects all industries in the region. Fashion CPC held mostly in the $0.17-$0.23 range across the past year, dipping briefly to around $0.15 in January 2026 before settling near $0.17 by Q2 2026 — consistently well below the region-wide CPC, which ranged from $0.36 to $0.53 and ended around $0.45. Fashion CPM tracked in the $2.00-$3.05 band, ending near $2.55, versus the region-wide CPM which climbed to around $4.55. CTR moved in the opposite direction: Fashion’s CTR trended upward from around 1.2% to peak near 1.85% in January 2026 before settling at approximately 1.60%, staying above the region-wide CTR, which rose more modestly from about 1.0% to 1.18% over the same period.