Where do the numbers on this hub come from?

Named, dated 2026 reports from Socialinsider, Sprout Social, HeyOrca and Rival IQ, each cited on the page that uses it, with a link to the source.

Why do some pages show a range instead of one number?

Because the honest answer is a range: engagement and cadence vary by niche, content type, and even by which report measured it, so a single figure would overstate the precision any report actually has.

Should I try to match the published average exactly?

No. Treat it as a rough starting point and compare it against your own numbers with the linked calculators, since your specific audience and niche matter more than any general average.

How often are these benchmark pages updated?

They carry a reviewed date and are revisited as the underlying reports refresh; check the reviewed date at the bottom of each page before relying on a figure.

Does SkedCast measure these benchmarks itself?

No, these are third-party industry reports, clearly cited as such. Your own account’s analytics, not a general benchmark, is the more reliable number for your content.

What is the difference between the engagement page and the cadence page?

Engagement rate benchmarks measure how much interaction a post gets relative to its audience; cadence benchmarks measure how many times a week brands actually publish, a different question entirely.

Free reports

Social media benchmark & stats reports

A hub of sourced 2026 social media benchmarks: average engagement rate by platform, how often brands actually post, and which days work best by industry. Every figure here is cited to a named, dated report rather than a typical-looking round number, and each linked page also points to a free calculator so you can compare your own results against the published average instead of guessing.

The headline numbers

3.70%

TikTok

0.48%

Instagram

0.15%

Facebook Pages

0.12%

X (Twitter)

Average engagement rate per post — Socialinsider, 2026 Social Media Benchmarks report. See the full lookup, plus a second source and the follower-count caveat, below.

Sourced benchmark reports

Every number on these pages is cited to a named, dated 2026 report.

Engagement rate benchmarks lookup

Average engagement rate by platform, sourced from Socialinsider and Rival IQ, plus how follower count affects it.

Posting cadence benchmarks

How often brands actually post per platform in 2026, from Socialinsider and a HeyOrca manager survey.

Best posting days by industry

Which days work best for retail, B2B/tech, restaurants, education and more, from Sprout Social’s 2026 data.

Compare your own numbers

Published benchmarks are a starting point. These free calculators use your own data.

Engagement rate calculator

Get your own engagement rate from followers, likes, comments, shares and post count.

Posting frequency calculator

Work out a realistic posting cadence from your available content and time.

Best time to post

The general best-time-to-post cheat sheet, plus a personalised calculator from your own post history.

Best time to post by country

See the audience-local best-time windows on your own clock across time zones.

Methodology for the industry breakdown: ~2 billion engagements across ~307,000 profiles, Nov 27 2025-Feb 27 2026 — Sprout Social, 2026 Best Times to Post analysis.

How to use these benchmarks

Start from the headline numbers. Use the engagement rate and cadence figures on this hub as a rough starting expectation for your platform.
Open the sourced page for detail. Follow through to the engagement, cadence or best-days page for the full table and the source link.
Calculate your own number. Run your own posts through the engagement rate calculator so you compare like with like, not a published average.
Compare, do not chase. A benchmark below the published average is not automatically a problem; niche, content type and audience all shift the real number.
Re-check periodically. Engagement and cadence benchmarks shift year to year, so revisit this hub every few months rather than treating one visit as final.

Worked examples

Reading the TikTok number correctly

Socialinsider’s 2026 report puts average TikTok engagement at 3.70% per post, the highest of the four platforms it measured — but that is an average across 70 million posts, not a target for any one account in a specific niche.

Two sources, two different numbers

Socialinsider and Rival IQ measure engagement differently, so their numbers will never match exactly; Rival IQ’s most recent report instead reported year-over-year declines (for example roughly a 16% drop for Instagram), a different but equally useful signal.

Social media benchmarks: FAQ

Where do the numbers on this hub come from?: Named, dated 2026 reports from Socialinsider, Sprout Social, HeyOrca and Rival IQ, each cited on the page that uses it, with a link to the source.
Why do some pages show a range instead of one number?: Because the honest answer is a range: engagement and cadence vary by niche, content type, and even by which report measured it, so a single figure would overstate the precision any report actually has.
Should I try to match the published average exactly?: No. Treat it as a rough starting point and compare it against your own numbers with the linked calculators, since your specific audience and niche matter more than any general average.
How often are these benchmark pages updated?: They carry a reviewed date and are revisited as the underlying reports refresh; check the reviewed date at the bottom of each page before relying on a figure.
Does SkedCast measure these benchmarks itself?: No, these are third-party industry reports, clearly cited as such. Your own account’s analytics, not a general benchmark, is the more reliable number for your content.
What is the difference between the engagement page and the cadence page?: Engagement rate benchmarks measure how much interaction a post gets relative to its audience; cadence benchmarks measure how many times a week brands actually publish, a different question entirely.

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