Brands are experiencing their most significant audience growth on TikTok, even as organic reach continues to slow on Instagram and other legacy networks, according to a new industry benchmarks report released this week.
The Emplifi team has just rolled out their latest Social Media Benchmarks report. They took a deep dive into more than 200,000 branded social media profiles to uncover insights on average follower growth, post engagement, top-performing post types, and a whole lot more.
The report showed that TikTok remains a powerful engine for organic audience growth, with many brands gaining visibility and follower momentum without extensive existing networks or deep advertising spend. That dynamic reflects how TikTok’s interest-based algorithm surfaces content based on engagement signals rather than historical follower counts, allowing even newer or smaller accounts to reach wide audiences quickly when their content resonates.
By contrast, organic reach on Instagram and Facebook continues to diminish. Across all post types, Instagram’s feed is showing fewer brand posts to users without paid amplification, driving some marketers to pursue alternative formats such as reels or carousel posts to sustain visibility. The slowdown aligns with broader industry observations that organic reach has tightened as platforms prioritize engagement-rich content and ad monetization.
TikTok is all about entertainment, so marketers really need to tailor their strategies to fit how people use and engage with the platform. However, Emplifi’s data indicates that TikTok can offer brands a substantial reach if they approach it the right way.
A key reason in this data set is that TikTok is ideal for Gen Z and impulse buys via TikTok Shop are higher among the younger audience on the platform. Instagram has a slightly older, diverse demographic with higher conversion rates for more expensive products. However, despite the diversity, the report shows how Instagram’s organic reach is dwindling for all types of posts on the platform.
Despite these shifts, Instagram and Facebook still anchor overall audience scale for many brands. It is because of their large user bases, with carousel posts and reels leading the way for organic interaction. On Facebook, live video holding strong reach suggests that content type remains a differentiator even as baseline organic exposure shrinks.
