New benchmark data points to diverging platform dynamics as brands weigh where to direct creative resources and budget
Instagram and TikTok are moving in opposite directions on several key performance metrics, according to Emplifi‘s “2026 Social Media Benchmarks Report,” which draws on data from more than 300,000 brand profiles tracked across 2024 and 2025. The findings suggest the two platforms are operating under increasingly different rules with implications for how brands allocate creative investment and paid media budgets.
Instagram Organic Reach Declines Across Every Format
Emplifi’s data shows that organic reach on Instagram fell by 30% to 40% across all post formats in 2025, including carousels, images, and Reels. The decline affected Reels, the platform’s highest-reach format, through the second half of the year. The finding is based on 1,925,204 Instagram posts published by 9,678 brands.
At the same time, the report identifies a shift in how users engage with branded content on the platform. While likes per reach remained flat and comments stayed minimal across the period, shares per reach increased by more than 150%, making shares the fastest-growing engagement action on Instagram in 2025. Emplifi’s report describes shares as “the strongest signal for broader distribution, helping posts travel beyond a brand’s existing audience.”
The report also documents a decline in Instagram’s median engagement rate, which fell from 16.9% in Q1 2024 to 9.7% in Q4 2025. Instagram video engagement declined by roughly 18% year-over-year in 2025, reflecting what Emplifi characterizes as intensified competition and a more saturated Reels ecosystem.
TikTok’s Algorithm Concentrates Distribution Away From Followers
TikTok’s trajectory in the same period points in a different direction. The platform posted median brand follower growth of more than 200% year-over-year in 2025, the highest of any platform in the report. Its median engagement rate peaked at 35.9% in Q3 2025 and, while easing to 27.6% in Q4 2025, remained the highest across all platforms tracked. TikTok video engagement rose approximately 4% year-over-year, delivering nearly double the engagement rate of Instagram.
Emplifi’s data also tracks a structural shift in how TikTok content reaches viewers. The platform’s “For You” feed accounted for a rising share of video views throughout the study period, climbing from the mid-50% range in early 2024 to above 70% by the end of 2025. Traffic from the Follow feed, personal profiles, and search all declined over the same period. The analysis covers 2,960,261 videos published by 4,619 TikTok profiles.
The report notes that this shift “reinforces a critical reality for brands: reach on TikTok is driven far more by content resonance than by audience size,” adding that videos performing well against early engagement signals “are increasingly rewarded with broader distribution, regardless of follower count.”
Ad Economics Favor TikTok on Efficiency, Instagram on Competition
On the paid media side, Emplifi’s data reveals a notable gap in platform economics. TikTok commanded the highest median ad spend per account at $14,900 in Q4 2025, yet posted the lowest cost-per-thousand-impressions of any platform at approximately $1.00 to $1.30 per quarter. Instagram, by contrast, carries the highest CPMs in the report, reaching approximately $2.50 at its Q4 2025 peak, while posting lower overall median ad spend at $5,100 in the same quarter.
The report also identifies a pronounced performance gap among TikTok advertisers. Top-performing ad accounts (defined as the top 10% by total video views) spent 2 to 3 times more per month than the average advertiser and achieved median impression volumes often 3 times or more above the broader market.
Most brands maintained a steady monthly spend of approximately $200 to $250. Emplifi’s report describes advertisers who “treat TikTok as a core channel, rather than an experimental one” as achieving “markedly better reach and visibility.” The finding is based on Emplifi’s paid performance analysis across TikTok advertiser accounts in 2024 and 2025.
Both Platforms Reward Content That Travels
Despite their diverging metrics, Emplifi’s data points to a shared dynamic between the two platforms: distribution is increasingly determined by how content performs with audiences rather than by the size of a brand’s existing following.
On TikTok, that mechanism operates through the For You feed and early engagement signals. On Instagram, Emplifi’s data suggests shares are emerging as the equivalent signal, with the report noting that “as reach becomes harder to earn organically, shares are emerging as the strongest signal for broader distribution.”
Instagram Reels investment among advertisers nearly tripled from Q1 2024 to Q4 2025, according to Emplifi’s paid placement data, suggesting brands are already shifting budgets toward formats more aligned with the platform’s distribution model. Whether that investment closes the engagement gap with TikTok remains an open question; the report’s data does not directly address it.
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
New benchmark data points to diverging platform dynamics as brands weigh where to direct creative resources and budget
Instagram and TikTok are moving in opposite directions on several key performance metrics, according to Emplifi‘s “2026 Social Media Benchmarks Report,” which draws on data from more than 300,000 brand profiles tracked across 2024 and 2025. The findings suggest the two platforms are operating under increasingly different rules with implications for how brands allocate creative investment and paid media budgets.
Instagram Organic Reach Declines Across Every Format
Emplifi’s data shows that organic reach on Instagram fell by 30% to 40% across all post formats in 2025, including carousels, images, and Reels. The decline affected Reels, the platform’s highest-reach format, through the second half of the year. The finding is based on 1,925,204 Instagram posts published by 9,678 brands.
At the same time, the report identifies a shift in how users engage with branded content on the platform. While likes per reach remained flat and comments stayed minimal across the period, shares per reach increased by more than 150%, making shares the fastest-growing engagement action on Instagram in 2025. Emplifi’s report describes shares as “the strongest signal for broader distribution, helping posts travel beyond a brand’s existing audience.”
The report also documents a decline in Instagram’s median engagement rate, which fell from 16.9% in Q1 2024 to 9.7% in Q4 2025. Instagram video engagement declined by roughly 18% year-over-year in 2025, reflecting what Emplifi characterizes as intensified competition and a more saturated Reels ecosystem.
TikTok’s Algorithm Concentrates Distribution Away From Followers
TikTok’s trajectory in the same period points in a different direction. The platform posted median brand follower growth of more than 200% year-over-year in 2025, the highest of any platform in the report. Its median engagement rate peaked at 35.9% in Q3 2025 and, while easing to 27.6% in Q4 2025, remained the highest across all platforms tracked. TikTok video engagement rose approximately 4% year-over-year, delivering nearly double the engagement rate of Instagram.
Emplifi’s data also tracks a structural shift in how TikTok content reaches viewers. The platform’s “For You” feed accounted for a rising share of video views throughout the study period, climbing from the mid-50% range in early 2024 to above 70% by the end of 2025. Traffic from the Follow feed, personal profiles, and search all declined over the same period. The analysis covers 2,960,261 videos published by 4,619 TikTok profiles.
The report notes that this shift “reinforces a critical reality for brands: reach on TikTok is driven far more by content resonance than by audience size,” adding that videos performing well against early engagement signals “are increasingly rewarded with broader distribution, regardless of follower count.”
Ad Economics Favor TikTok on Efficiency, Instagram on Competition
On the paid media side, Emplifi’s data reveals a notable gap in platform economics. TikTok commanded the highest median ad spend per account at $14,900 in Q4 2025, yet posted the lowest cost-per-thousand-impressions of any platform at approximately $1.00 to $1.30 per quarter. Instagram, by contrast, carries the highest CPMs in the report, reaching approximately $2.50 at its Q4 2025 peak, while posting lower overall median ad spend at $5,100 in the same quarter.
The report also identifies a pronounced performance gap among TikTok advertisers. Top-performing ad accounts (defined as the top 10% by total video views) spent 2 to 3 times more per month than the average advertiser and achieved median impression volumes often 3 times or more above the broader market.
Most brands maintained a steady monthly spend of approximately $200 to $250. Emplifi’s report describes advertisers who “treat TikTok as a core channel, rather than an experimental one” as achieving “markedly better reach and visibility.” The finding is based on Emplifi’s paid performance analysis across TikTok advertiser accounts in 2024 and 2025.
Both Platforms Reward Content That Travels
Despite their diverging metrics, Emplifi’s data points to a shared dynamic between the two platforms: distribution is increasingly determined by how content performs with audiences rather than by the size of a brand’s existing following.
On TikTok, that mechanism operates through the For You feed and early engagement signals. On Instagram, Emplifi’s data suggests shares are emerging as the equivalent signal, with the report noting that “as reach becomes harder to earn organically, shares are emerging as the strongest signal for broader distribution.”
Instagram Reels investment among advertisers nearly tripled from Q1 2024 to Q4 2025, according to Emplifi’s paid placement data, suggesting brands are already shifting budgets toward formats more aligned with the platform’s distribution model. Whether that investment closes the engagement gap with TikTok remains an open question; the report’s data does not directly address it.
Image source: Emplifi
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