Social media marketing in 2026 isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about knowing which platform deserves your budget—and your patience.

That’s the headline takeaway from the latest benchmark data released by Emplifi, whose 2026 Social Media Benchmark Report analyzes performance data from tens of thousands of global brands using its CX and social media marketing platform.

The results? A widening performance gap between platforms—and a clear winner.

TikTok Is No Longer Experimental. It’s Essential.

According to Emplifi’s data, TikTok saw median follower counts for brands jump 200% year-over-year in 2025. That’s not incremental growth. That’s acceleration.

Even more striking:

• TikTok delivered a median engagement rate of 27.6% in Q4 2025, the highest across major platforms.

• It generated twice the median interactions of Instagram.

• It produced 20 times the median interactions of Facebook.

For brands still treating TikTok as a secondary test channel, the data suggests they’re leaving engagement—and likely revenue—on the table.

Susan Ganeshan, CMO at Emplifi, put it bluntly: platforms are rewarding different behaviors, and performance is becoming increasingly platform-specific. Translation: one-size-fits-all content strategies are officially obsolete.

Instagram: Still Strong, But Slipping

Instagram remains a core brand-building channel, but engagement momentum has cooled.

Median engagement rates fell from 16.9% in Q1 2024 to 9.7% in Q4 2025—a significant drop in under two years. Follower growth remained steady, but only in the mid-single digits.

However, not all formats are struggling:

• Carousels and Reels generated 44% more engagement than image posts.

• Video content on Instagram produced 30 times more engagement than Facebook video, making it the second-strongest environment for video performance after TikTok.

• Instagram Reels ad spend tripled between Q1 2024 and Q4 2025.

The signal here isn’t that Instagram is fading. It’s that brands must align tightly with format trends. Static image grids won’t cut it anymore.

Facebook: Predictable Reach, Limited Growth

Facebook continues to offer steady, if unremarkable, performance.

• Median engagement rates ranged between 1.4% and 2.5% across 2024–2025.

• Follower growth remained flat.

• Median ad spend per account stayed relatively stable, ranging from $8.5K to $11.2K.

But there’s a twist: format still matters.

Facebook Live videos generated a median of 37.5 interactions per post, outperforming link posts by four times and image posts by six times. Meanwhile, Feed Ads accounted for 70% to 80% of total Facebook ad spend every quarter.

In other words, Facebook may not be the growth engine—but it remains a reliable reach channel, particularly for advertisers seeking scale and consistency.

LinkedIn and X: Niche Gains, Targeted Impact

LinkedIn posted double-digit median follower growth, particularly tied to employer branding, professional positioning, and thought leadership content. For B2B marketers, that’s a strong indicator that strategic investment here still pays dividends.

Meanwhile, on X, lightweight formats ruled. GIFs generated a median of seven interactions per post, reinforcing the platform’s preference for fast, scroll-friendly content.

Neither platform matches TikTok’s explosive engagement rates, but both show that focused use cases can still drive results.

The Ad Spend Reality Check

One of the most telling data points in Emplifi’s report isn’t about engagement—it’s about budget allocation.

• TikTok commanded the highest median ad spend per account, reaching $14.9K in Q4 2025.

• Facebook followed with stable investment levels.

• Instagram posted the lowest overall spend per account at $5.1K in Q4 2025, despite rising investment in Reels.

This suggests marketers are voting with their budgets—and increasingly treating TikTok as a primary performance channel rather than an experimental add-on.

That shift aligns with broader industry sentiment. According to EMARKETER, social media marketers cited “the ability to reach their target audience” as their top challenge last year—ranking above content trends, ROAS calculation, or cross-channel management.

In a fragmented landscape, reach isn’t guaranteed. Platform alignment is.

Diverging Performance Curves

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the report is structural: performance trends across platforms are diverging faster than ever.

TikTok rewards commitment and content-native creativity. Instagram demands format optimization. Facebook offers consistency but limited upside. LinkedIn thrives on professional authority. X prioritizes brevity.

Brands that adapt to those distinctions are outperforming those that recycle the same creative across channels.

Ganeshan summed it up clearly: the brands seeing the biggest gains on TikTok treat it as a core channel, not a side experiment. But Facebook and Instagram remain essential for steady reach—creating a multi-platform balancing act for marketers.

What This Means for 2026 Strategy

For CMOs and performance marketers, Emplifi’s data reinforces three strategic imperatives:

1. Platform-specific optimization is no longer optional. Algorithms are rewarding native behaviors, not cross-posting shortcuts.

2. Video dominance continues. TikTok leads, Instagram follows, Facebook lags.

3. Budget follows engagement. TikTok’s rising ad spend mirrors its performance gains.

The era of treating social media as a monolithic channel is over. The 2026 playbook demands specialization, commitment, and ongoing recalibration.

For brands willing to adapt, the upside is clear. For those still spreading effort evenly across platforms without strategy, the engagement gap will only widen.

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