TikTok achieving far higher engagement rates per post, study finds

The 2023 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report report by Rival IQ covered social media marketing activities in 14 industries – among them alcohol, fashion, financial services, food & beverage, health & beauty, higher education, home décor, retail and travel.

“TikTok is topping the charts; [it] is every industry’s best friend this year [with] a median engagement rate of 5.69%,” the researchers say. 

They note that this is happening in a social media environment where brands have seen less organic engagement over the past year. Engagement rates on Instagram have declined for the third year in a row, but have been holding steady for Facebook and Twitter.

Frequency of posting is also declining

Interestingly, posting frequency is also on the decline. “Post frequency is flat on Instagram, but took [an approximately] 20% dive on Facebook and Twitter,” the study states.

On Instagram, the Reels format (enabling users to record and edit short videos) has mostly dethroned the old-favourite Carousels format (post with up to 10 photos or videos) as the most engaging post type. “Every brand should post Reels on Instagram,” Rival IQ recommends.

In a finding that may hold true mostly for developed markets in the Northern Hemisphere, the researchers also found that “brands in almost every industry earned top engagement rates from holiday-hashtagged posts, while contests and giveaways were less popular than in other years”.

Says Seth Bridges, Founder and Head of Product and Marketing for Rival IQ: “Amid an increase in the number of social media channels, brands are under immense pressure to master their performance on these channels and engage audiences.

“Engagement rate per post is the ultimate metric marketers use to measure content performance and this year’s report serves as a guidebook to achieving success beyond ‘likes’ alone.”

Find the full report here.