Instagram brand engagement rates saw a slight uplift in Q3, and the engagement rates for other social media brands remained consistent with the previous quarter, according to the Q3 2022 Social Media Benchmark report from unified CX platform Emplifi. Looking at the format of the platform’s top-performing posts by median interactions, Instagram Reels came in first (35 percent higher than other content types), followed by carousels, video, and images, the research finds.
Instagram Reels have outperformed all other post types since the start of the year, with 80 percent of brands on the platform publishing at least one reel in Q3 2022—a significant increase since 2021 when only 41 percent of brands on the social media network were posting reels content. Instagram Reels are most popular within the sporting industry—92 percent of sports organizations, sports and sports events, and 88 percent of sporting goods brands publish reels to boost engagement with followers. To measure the effectiveness of this content, many brands use tools like an Instagram engagement rate calculator to track and optimize their Reels’ performance, ensuring they reach their audience more effectively.
Brand takeaways
Comparing 463 sister Instagram and TikTok brand accounts, Instagram outperforms TikTok for median reach by a wide margin (63 percent to 37 percent), and brands also earn more interactions and more video views on Instagram. However, TikTok earns higher reach engagement for brands, with a 57 percent to 43 percent advantage and follower growth for brands on TikTok continues to climb, up 200 percent.
“The biggest takeaway is that short-form video is a vital part of a brand’s marketing mix and is here to stay. This has only been reinforced throughout 2022, and social platforms have continued to increase their video capabilities this year,” said Zarnaz Arlia, CMO at Emplifi, in a news release. “Brands have increasingly added Instagram Reels to their content strategies, and just a few years ago, not many had heard of TikTok—now, it’s easily the fastest-growing channel out there. To maximize reach and engagement, brands need to invest their resources in the content formats and on the platforms which resonate with their audience.”
In terms of social customer care, brand response rates to user questions on Facebook had a 14 percent year-over-year drop. And with Instagram, the rate has declined almost the same in the past two quarters, falling 13 percent since Q1 2022.
This drop aligns with a Forrester consumer survey from earlier this year that found customer experience quality fell for 19 percent of brands in 2022—marking the highest proportion of brands to decrease in a year since Forrester began conducting the survey seven years ago.
Additional data points from the report, include:
- Most industries have seen a drop in click-through rates (CTR) over the past year, the biggest decreases being the retail and e-commerce sectors.
- After an 11 percent increase in Q2, median monthly cost-per-click (CPC) numbers fell 9 percent to get back to almost exactly where they were in Q1 2022 and YoY, suggesting this may be a reasonable baseline number.
- Brands continue to be the quickest to respond on Twitter, taking 3-4 hours for the fifth straight quarter.
Emplifi’s analysis is based on Q3 2022 data and YoY comparisons, downloaded at the beginning of October 2022.
