- Instagram is the social platform where brands get the most reach and views, a new study found.
- Even as brands adopt reels on Instagram and Facebook, user engagement for the short-video format is falling.
- Here are four takeaways from an analysis of brand social profiles from analytics company Emplifi.
While TikTok continues to gain ground as a platform for brands to expand their online presence, Instagram still reigns supreme for reach and interactions, according to new research from social analytics agency Emplifi.
Emplifi analyzes thousands of brand social-media channels each quarter on platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. The company has collected samples that ranged from thousands to hundreds of thousands of brand profiles on these platforms year-over-year between 2022 and 2023, as well as during Q2 2023.
The data shows visual content is on the rise across all platforms, Emplifi's chief strategy officer Kyle Wong told Insider.
"Visual content is prioritized in every feed," he said. "This is only going to continue, and it's something that I think is just going to be a natural part of how we use social media in the future."
Here are four key takeaways from the research:
1. TikTok is great for follower growth and engagement, while Instagram reels gets more reach and interactions
The average brand saw a five-fold increase in TikTok followers in Q2 2023 compared to Q1. On Instagram, the growth was 6%.
But aside from follower counts, Instagram reels outperformed TikTok content in reach, interactions, and video views during the period.
Meanwhile, TikTok won in terms of engagement rate. Emplifi defines engagement rate as the number of interactions with a post (likes, comments, shares) divided by the account's follower count.
Both Instagram reels and TikTok have seen growing adoption from brands, Emplifi found.
"Video is a source of content that really unlocks a tremendous amount of creativity," Wong said. "Short-form video — YouTube shorts, reels, TikTok — is really a platform that's here to stay."
2. Instagram is significantly better for brands than Facebook and Twitter
Instagram was a much bigger driver of organic social-media engagement for brands compared to Facebook and Twitter. (Emplifi did not analyze TikTok because the firm didn't have enough historical data for the platform and couldn't pull from the platform's private API.)
On Instagram, brands received an average of 56 impressions in Q2 2023, compared to nine on Facebook and four on Twitter.
3. Reels and carousels are top-performing content for brands on Instagram, but engagement is falling
Instagram reels and carousels (posts with multiple images) are the top-performing content for brands on the platform. In Q2 2023, reels shared by brands earned an average of 75 interactions, while carousels earned 74.
Instagram reels outperformed all other content types on the app, generating 55% more interactions than single-image posts and 29% more interactions than standard video posts.
On the other hand, engagement on reels has been falling for the last five quarters, dropping 30% year-over-year in Q2 2023. Emplifi connects this to the competition for eyeballs on the platform, as well as Instagram's admission in January that it "overfocused on video" in 2022, which suggests the algorithm may be pushing reels less this year.
4. More brands are using reels on Facebook, but live video performs best there
On Facebook, only 7% of brands posted reels in Q2 2023. But usage is trending upwards and brands in the media and sports verticals are leading the way.
"Brands had to build the capabilities to be able to utilize reels," Wong said. "As brands continue to work with more influencers and customers, and more user-generated content and other mechanisms for producing more effective vertical video content, I believe the usage for short-form video is only going to increase."
Wong said brands can also cross-post reels between Instagram and Facebook, which is an easy way to find audiences across platforms.
Still, reels was not the top-performing category on Facebook. Live video won organic views, while reels came in third.
When it comes to paid-for content, 82% of brands used Facebook reels for ad placements in Q2 2023, a 165% jump from the 31% of brands that used it during the same period last year.
When it comes to ads, almost three-quarters of impressions came from the feed, while reels drove only 3% of ad impressions.