Instagram Brand Engagement Climbs as Shares Drive New Connections

The report highlights that while raw reach has contracted—with median impressions per post falling 48% globally—the engagement rate per impression reached 1.52%. This shift suggests that although brands are appearing in fewer feeds, the content that does land is fostering more meaningful connections. Emplifi CMO Susan Ganeshan noted that shares now serve as a primary indicator of value, functioning as a bridge to potential new customers through private conversations.

Paid social performance also hit a 15-month high in September 2026. In the U.S., click-through rates climbed 30% year-over-year to 2.05%, even as costs rose, with CPMs reaching $8.53. This spending trend aligns with broader platform behavior, where direct messages and private sharing are increasingly influencing ranking algorithms. As brands navigate these changes, they are moving away from purely volume-based metrics toward engagement-per-impression models to better track the effectiveness of their automated campaigns.