Social Media Benchmarks 2024: The Digital Cellar’s Insights

As the digital world expands in 2024, social media has evolved into one of the most effective tools for businesses to connect with their audiences, build meaningful communities, and drive growth. 

The Digital Cellar, a leader in data-driven digital strategies, brings you an in-depth analysis of the latest trends in social media engagement. These actionable insights will help marketers navigate the evolving landscape across platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook. 

Here, we explore key trends, strategies, and opportunities for brands aiming to capitalise on social media growth in 2024.

Instagram Leads the Way

Instagram continues to dominate the field of brand engagement, showcasing consistent growth across various metrics, particularly through its flagship features like Reels and Stories. Brands are actively utilizing these dynamic tools to captivate their audience, significantly increasing post interactions per 1,000 impressions across both paid and organic content.

According to Michael Shareef, Founder and Director of The Digital Cellar, “Instagram’s unique blend of short-form content through Reels and immersive experiences through Stories ensures its dominance in brand engagement. Brands must capitalise on these formats to create visually engaging and authentic content that resonates with their target audiences.” This sentiment echoes across industries where visually creative storytelling has become the hallmark of successful social media campaigns.

Visual Storytelling at the Core

The power of visual storytelling transcends Instagram, affecting platforms like TikTok and Facebook as well. While short-form videos have proven to be highly effective in engaging users, there has been a notable resurgence in long-form video content, particularly on TikTok and Instagram.

Platforms known for their high engagement rates are encouraging brands to blend education with entertainment (often referred to as “edutainment”) to foster meaningful and lasting connections with their audience. As TikTok expands video length limits and Instagram allows Reels to stretch up to 15 minutes, both platforms are offering brands new opportunities for immersive storytelling.

Below are few examples of what is considered edutainment content:

Michael Shareef observes, “Short-form video is still the dominant form of content, but brands need to start integrating longer, deeper storytelling where appropriate. On TikTok, longer content allows brands to dive deeper into their messaging, while Instagram remains the go-to for punchy, visually striking short-form video.”

Fridays: The Prime Time for Engagement

Data reveals that Fridays are the ideal day to post on social media, especially on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where Reels and videos tend to receive the highest engagement levels. The psychological anticipation of the weekend plays a significant role here—users are more inclined to relax, browse, and engage with content during this period.

Industries such as retail, entertainment, and hospitality can particularly benefit from the weekend mentality, with well-timed and engaging content driving impressive impressions and interactions. Posting between 1 PM and 4 PM local time on Fridays ensures maximum exposure and interaction.

Michael Shareef emphasizes the importance of timing, stating, “Content posted on Fridays benefits from users’ relaxed mindset heading into the weekend. Brands should focus on launching interactive campaigns, giveaways, or influencer collaborations at this time to capture audience attention at its peak.”

X (Formerly Twitter) Maintains Its Relevance

Despite a dip in engagement metrics throughout 2023, X (formerly Twitter) remains a powerful platform for real-time conversations around news, trending topics, and cultural movements. One significant trend is that verified accounts on X outperform non-verified ones, making brand verification essential to ensuring better visibility.

As fast-paced discussions and trending topics continue to dominate the platform, brands that invest in verification enjoy higher prominence in conversations, whether related to global events or niche community topics. For brands, maintaining relevance on X requires them to stay agile and adaptable, focusing on real-time engagement strategies.

Paid Social Investment Hits New Heights

The social media landscape continues to evolve, and brands are increasing their investment in paid social media to keep up. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are leading this charge, with brands leveraging paid social strategies to reach increasingly targeted audiences. However, the rising costs, particularly on Instagram, mean that brands must be strategic in their approach.

Michael Shareef advises, “While Instagram offers the highest cost-per-click (CPC), the ROI for brands targeting engaged audiences is substantial. However, smaller businesses may find Facebook’s ad platform more affordable, especially when targeting broader, less niche audiences.”

Balancing paid content with a robust organic strategy remains key for brands aiming to maximise their ROI on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Navigating Algorithm Changes and ROI Challenges

Social media platforms are constantly evolving their algorithms, and brands must stay agile to maintain engagement. Whether on Instagram or TikTok, algorithms now prioritise interaction, rewarding content that encourages active user participation.

“Algorithms favour engagement metrics like comments, shares, and likes, making it crucial for brands to create content that sparks conversation,” Michael Shareef explains. “Understanding these algorithmic changes allows brands to adjust their content strategies to remain visible.”

Navigating these algorithm shifts presents an additional challenge for brands, particularly when it comes to measuring return on investment (ROI). With data overload becoming a common issue, brands must leverage advanced analytics to refine their strategies continually.

The Rise of Long-Form Video: Instagram’s Push and Michael Shareef’s Vision

While short-form content continues to dominate social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, there has been a significant resurgence of long-form video content, driven by changing user preferences for deeper engagement. Both TikTok and YouTube are leaning more into long-form content, with TikTok extending its video limits to 10 minutes and YouTube reinvesting in long-form video alongside YouTube Shorts. This trend gives creators and brands the flexibility to dive into richer storytelling—a format that resonates well with audiences looking for more than just quick entertainment.

However, Instagram is taking a different stance. Despite expanding Reels’ length to 15 minutes, Instagram remains committed to short-form video. Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head, emphasised in 2024 that the platform’s focus is on short, snappy videos as a way to foster connections between users. 

He noted that longer videos tend to detract from Instagram’s core mission of helping users explore their interests and connect with friends through brief, shareable content. Mosseri explained that long-form videos reduce interaction between users and are less likely to be shared, which diminishes their overall effectiveness on the platform.

While Meta remains focused on short-form video, allowing longer Reels is a strategic move to accommodate creators and brands seeking flexibility. Michael Shareef, founder and director of The Digital Cellar, has a different vision. He believes that, despite Instagram’s public commitment to short-form content, the platform will eventually need to adopt long-form video more fully to compete with TikTok and YouTube. Shareef argues that while short-form videos excel at grabbing attention, long-form videos are key to creating emotional connections and building brand loyalty—especially for tutorials, behind-the-scenes content, and product reviews.

He explains, “Instagram’s expansion of Reels to 15 minutes signals that even though they’re prioritising short-form content, they recognise the value of longer storytelling. As TikTok and YouTube continue to embrace longer content, the pressure will mount on Instagram to follow suit, especially as more users and brands gravitate toward platforms that support deeper, more meaningful content.”

This shift could also be influenced by the growing popularity of edutainment—a blend of education and entertainment—which is thriving on platforms like TikTok. As users demand more substance, brands that utilize long-form videos to engage their audience in meaningful ways will build stronger connections, trust, and loyalty.

The Value of Long-Form Content for Brands

Long-form videos excel in their ability to answer questions, tell stories, and evoke emotions. This makes them an invaluable tool for brand storytelling, as they give brands the time and space to dive deep into their message. From in-depth product reviews to behind-the-scenes footage, long-form videos create more opportunities for viewer engagement.

On platforms like YouTube, long-form content remains the backbone of successful channels. YouTube’s introduction of Shorts shows that the platform is willing to play in the short-form space, but long-form content remains a core part of YouTube’s strategy. Creators on YouTube build loyal communities by delivering deep dives into various topics, which ultimately leads to higher engagement and advertising revenue.

Instagram’s Unique Position

Despite Instagram’s current focus on short-form video, Shareef believes that the platform will eventually adopt longer content. Instagram’s decision to kill IGTV in 2022, citing a lack of user adoption, didn’t mean the end of long-form content on the platform. 

Instead, the introduction of 15-minute Reels serves as an indicator that Instagram may still expand in this direction in response to market demand. As more brands and influencers recognise the power of long-form content on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, Meta will likely face pressure to give more visibility to longer Reels to stay competitive.

For now, Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes shorter Reels, particularly those under 90 seconds, as they perform better in terms of engagement and reach. Shorter content fits Instagram’s ethos of connecting users through quick, shareable moments. However, brands should remain mindful of the potential shift and prepare to integrate long-form video into their broader strategy as user preferences evolve.

In summary, while Instagram remains focused on short-form content, the push toward long-form video across the digital landscape is undeniable. Shareef’s prediction that Instagram will eventually adopt a more balanced approach to long-form content makes sense, given the pressures from TikTok and YouTube. Brands that recognize the value of both short and long-form video will be better equipped to tell their stories and create meaningful connections with their audience in 2024 and beyond.

The Introduction of Mutual Follower Restrictions on Instagram Story Comments

In 2024, Instagram introduced mutual follower restrictions on Story comments, a move designed to foster more authentic, personal, and controlled interactions. This strategic decision benefits brands by ensuring that the engagement they receive is from followers who are genuinely interested in their content, as opposed to random users or trolls.

Increased Value of Followers

With Story comments limited to mutual followers, the value of building a genuine follower base becomes even more critical for brands. Companies must now focus on not only increasing their follower count but also cultivating mutual connections with their audience. This creates opportunities for engagement strategies that promote two-way interaction, such as polls, Q&As, and incentives for interaction.

Personal and Trustworthy Engagement

Limiting Story comments to mutual followers creates a more intimate dialogue between brands and their audiences, enhancing the trustworthiness of each interaction. This is particularly vital for brands in industries like fashion, beauty, and health, where authenticity and trust are key to customer loyalty. Brands can further capitalise on this by adopting relationship-driven marketing strategies.

Algorithmic Benefits for Brands

From an algorithmic perspective, stories with high engagement (including comments) are more likely to rank higher and be pushed to a broader audience. By encouraging followers to comment on Stories, brands can boost their content’s visibility and reach.

Long-Term Engagement and Follower Growth

Instagram’s mutual follower restrictions shift the focus toward sustainable follower growth. Brands that prioritise building loyal, engaged communities over acquiring large numbers of passive followers will benefit from higher engagement rates over the long term.

Combatting AI Content and Deepfakes

With the rise of AI-generated content and deepfakes, social Continuing to Combatting AI Content and Deepfakes:

As AI-generated content and deepfakes become more prevalent, platforms like Meta (Instagram), TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are actively taking steps to combat disinformation driven by AI. In 2024, these companies signed agreements to develop AI detection tools aimed at identifying and removing deceptive content. For example, Meta launched educational campaigns to help users recognise AI-manipulated content and raise awareness about the risks posed by deepfakes, particularly around political misinformation.

TikTok has similarly rolled out AI labelling initiatives, enabling users to distinguish between authentic and AI-generated videos. X, on the other hand, has committed to developing technologies that target AI-driven political disinformation, ensuring that fake content does not compromise democratic processes.

According to Michael Shareef, “The rise of AI content poses significant challenges for brands, but it also creates opportunities for creative content. The key for brands will be to adopt AI responsibly while ensuring transparency, particularly when using AI to generate content. Authenticity will remain critical for maintaining trust.”

In conclusion, the social media landscape in 2024 is rich with opportunities and challenges. Instagram, TikTok, and X offer evolving platforms that require brands to remain adaptable and data-driven. By focusing on trends like visual storytelling, leveraging short- and long-form video content, building genuine communities through mutual follower engagement, and navigating algorithmic changes, brands can optimise their social media strategies for sustained growth. 

Furthermore, as AI technology advances, brands must also take a proactive stance on ethical content creation and deepfake detection to build trust and ensure long-term success in a rapidly evolving digital world.

For more insights and expert guidance on how to craft a winning social media strategy, visit The Digital Cellar.