Rival IQ has released its annual Social Media Benchmark Report for 2023, analyzing social media performance across 14 industries. The report compares the social media engagement of 2,100 companies on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Data Set and Coverage

The data set covers numerous industries, including food & beverage, tech, and others. The companies analyzed have a Facebook following ranging from 25,000 to 1,000,000 and over 5,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.

Overall Engagement

The report shows a drop in overall engagement on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter between 2019 and 2022 across all industries.

Facebook and Twitter only experienced a slight change in engagement rates, with Facebook dropping to 0.06% in 2021 and maintaining that rate in 2022.

On the other hand, Twitter saw a drop of 0.01% between 2019 and 2022. Weekly posting on both platforms has decreased over time, from 5.8 to 5 posts per week on Facebook and 5.4 to 3.9 posts per week on Twitter.

Instagram Engagement

Instagram saw a more significant drop in engagement, from 1.22% to 0.47%, but unlike Facebook and Twitter, weekly posting on this platform increased from 4.3 to 4.5 posts per week. Across all industries, Instagram’s median engagement rate per post by followers is 0.47%. The median number of weekly posts across all industries is 4.6, with sports teams posting the most at 15.6 times weekly.

Facebook Engagement

Across all industries, Facebook’s median engagement rate per post by followers is 0.06%. The median weekly posts across industries are just above five, although media companies post significant amounts of news.

TikTok Engagement

TikTok’s media engagement rate according to the report is 5.69%, representing the highest level in the survey. The median number of videos industries post is 1.75.

Twitter Engagement

Twitter’s median engagement level per post is 0.035% for followers, with industries posting an overage of fewer than 4 tweets per week.

Key takeaways:

  • Brands are seeing less organic engagement this year. Engagement rates are on the decline for Instagram for the third year in a row, but holding steady for Facebook and Twitter.
  • Posting frequency is on the decline. Post frequency is flat on Instagram but took a 20+% dive on Facebook and Twitter.
  • It’s all about the holiday hashtags. Brands in almost every industry earned top engagement rates from holiday-hashtagged posts, while contests and giveaways were less popular than in other years.
  • Reels have officially entered the chat on Instagram, dethroning ever-popular carousels for many industries in the race for the most engaging post type.
  • TikTok is topping the charts. With a median engagement rate of 5.69%, TikTok was every industry’s best friend this year.

SOURCE: Rival IQ