Which CPG Protein Brand Is Actually Winning on Social in 2026?

The protein category is one of the most crowded in CPG, and the brands that are pulling ahead aren't just outspending each other on ads; they're outposting, out-engaging, and out-creating each other on Instagram and TikTok.

We decided to find out who's actually winning, not based on vibes or follower counts, but on real performance data. We put five of the biggest names in the protein space under the microscope — Fairlife, Premier Protein, Quest Nutrition, RXBar, and Built Bar — and compared their Instagram and TikTok performance head to head in 2026.

Which CPG Protein Brand Wins on Instagram?

We took our data-enthused magnifying glass and evaluated all of these brands on Instagram. The following readings were produced in addition to some data annotations: 

Data Annotations:

Our Analysis

Across these five CPG protein brands on Instagram, Quest Nutrition dominates in raw scale with 1.14M followers and the highest total engagements, but their 0.18% engagement rate reveals that most of that massive audience isn't actively interacting. 

Built Bar punches well above its weight — despite having the fewest posts (27) and a mid-tier following, they lead in engagement rate (0.67%) and per-post average (2,145), and their comment totals dwarf everyone else's. 

Declaring a clear winner based on volume is often misleading when comparing multiple social accounts, as performance is always relative in social media. We can supplement our findings on the brand’s frequency and engagement habits with the following percentile plots:

These plots rank all individual 2026 content along the x-axis to provide a clearer view of the performance distribution by engagement type. They also help identify high-performing “viral” posts, which are common across all social platforms. These plots are generally well-suited for Instagram content, given the platform's performance ceiling. 

In terms of likes, Premier Protein stood out, with multiple posts appearing in the highest percentile across all brands. Although boosting was very likely an integrated strategy for some of this content across CPG brands, this channel smartly leveraged pinning as a way to amplify their post likes and essentially extend the engagement shelf life beyond the standard weeks. 

In terms of comments, Built Bar was a significant player in this category. The brand featured multiple posts in 2026 that exceeded four-digit comment totals, solidifying its position as the top CPG protein brand for sparking conversation. An evaluation of these high-engagement posts reveals a consistent giveaway strategy, utilizing clear CTAs that encourage the audience to follow, like, save, and tag others. Additionally, leveraging Instagram’s collaboration feature proved highly effective, as it immediately expanded reach by appearing across multiple user feeds simultaneously.

Quest Nutrition was a consistent player in both categories, which credits their consistent content strategy, which is often required for their larger audience base. 

Which CPG Protein Brand Wins on TikTok?

Of the five CPG protein brands analyzed on Instagram, four are also publicly active on TikTok. Fortunately, TikTok provides more granular public data—including views, likes, comments, and saves—which offers additional dimensions for our analysis. We swapped to our TikTok lenses and produced the following table:

Data Annotations:

Our Analysis

Similar to our Instagram analysis, Quest Nutrition stands out in this table. It leads the way in scale, boasting a significantly larger follower base, higher total engagement, and greater posting frequency.

However, regarding standardized metrics such as average engagement per video and engagement rate, Built Bar delivered solid results relative to the four brands. As noted in our Instagram analysis, this brand punches above its weight in average performance, a success we attribute to several of its strategic social media tactics on that platform. On TikTok, Built Bar delivered the highest engagement rate per follower, engagements per video, and total comments, despite ranking third in both total followers, viewership, and posting frequency. 

To better understand each brand's engagement spread, we created supplementary visualizations that offer a more granular view of the data:

Stacked bar charts are particularly useful in social media analysis due to their compositional nature. This chart displays average engagement types per post, which allows for a more effective comparative analysis.

We can see that on a per-post basis, Built Bar holds up pretty well against Quest Nutrition. We can also see some separation in secondary engagements, such as Comments and Saves, which are generally higher-weighted engagements. Video viewership tells the larger story in this comparison, as Built Bar raked in about 10 million fewer views than Quest Nutrition, making the engagement performance much more impressive. 

Conclusion: Which CPG Protein Brand Wins?

While Quest Nutrition led on both platforms in terms of follower base and sheer volume, content performance remained competitive across all CPG protein brands — Built Bar being a great example. Based on our observations, here are several key takeaways for the industry:

As the protein sector continues to evolve alongside shifting health trends like GLP-1 adoption, leveraging these strategic engagement levers will be essential for maintaining a competitive edge on both Instagram and TikTok.

Your brand could be in this analysis next year. The question is whether you'll be the one setting the benchmark or scrambling to catch up.

That RANDOM Agency works with CPG brands to build social media strategies that drive real performance. If you're ready to start growing, let's talk.

Contact us to start the conversation.

Here Are the 2026 Social Media Benchmarks for Retail Brands

2026 is well underway, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to share the social media benchmarks for retail brands. We will be utilizing Hootsuite’s industry-based analysis across primary KPIs for social media performance using year-wide data in 2025. 

For a deeper dive on deriving some of these core metrics, such as engagement rates, check out our previous blog! 

We will evaluate some of the core social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. 

What Are the Social Media Benchmarks for Retail Brands?

The following table summarizes different performance metrics for retail brands, calculated by Hootsuite’s latest readings.

Summary of Retail Brand Benchmarks

Based on the tables, we can summarize the following key takeaways: 

FAQs on Retail Brand Benchmarks

Why are video engagement rates lower in comparison when they’re the most popular content type in 2026? 

The question almost answers itself. Videos typically generate significantly higher viewership and reach across most platforms because they are prioritized by algorithms. This often results in a disproportionate gap between how many users engage with the content and how many consume it, directly lowering the engagement rate.

According to this data, is Facebook the best platform to digitally grow retail brand businesses?

Not necessarily. While the follower growth rate may look enticing, we must consider Facebook’s heavy reliance on paid reach. There may also be a negative correlation between its higher growth rate and its comparatively lower engagement rate when compared to our other channels because of those reasons.

As we emphasize in all our benchmarking studies, it is best to use this data as a general baseline. Nothing is more appropriate than analyzing your own social media data and optimizing based on the needs of your individual business channel.

Need help optimizing your social media based on data? Chat with our team today!

Best Times to Post on Social Media: Updated for 2026

One of the prominent questions in social media, even in 2026, remains: what is the best time to post? 

Glad you asked. In this blog post, we will review sources analyzing recent data across platforms and conduct an analysis on the best times to post across major social media platforms.

Sprout Social Analysis on 2025 Data

Sprout Social analyzed billions of interactions across a large profile dataset to identify posting time patterns across platforms. They aggregated the data to produce general windows for optimal posting times across platforms and for individual platforms. 

For this analysis, we will focus on Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and LinkedIn - the most common platforms for crossposting activity. Here are their results:

Overall Best Times to Post on Social Media: 

Mondays10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Tuesdays10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Wednesdays10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Thursdays10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Fridays10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Best days to post: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
Worst days to post: Saturday, Sundays

Facebook - Best Times to Post:

Mondays9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Tuesdays9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Wednesdays8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Thursdays8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Fridays9-11 a.m. and  2-4 p.m.
Saturdays8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sundays9-11 a.m. and 3-6 p.m.
Best days to post: Monday through Fridays
Worst days to post: Sundays

Instagram - Best Times to Post:

Mondays1-2 p.m. and 4-5 p.m.
Tuesdays11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Wednesdays11 a.m. - 6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.
Thursdays11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Fridays10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturdays10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sundays4 p.m.
Best days to post: Tuesdays through Thursdays
Worst days to post: Saturdays 

LinkedIn - Best Times to Post:

Mondays11 a.m. - noon
Tuesdays8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Wednesdays8 a.m. - noon
Thursdays8 a.m. - noon
Fridays7 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Saturdays7 - 10 a.m.
Sundays6 - 8 a.m.
Best days to post: Tuesdays through Thursdays
Worst days to post: Saturdays and Sundays

Key Takeaways for Best Posting Times

Sprout Social produced these key posting windows per platform by aggregating engagement volume by hour and day. Another key note: all times were recorded globally, so follow these windows relative to your own time zone. 

Based on what we see with these three major platforms, we can produce some additional takeaways:

Conclusion

With these resulting windows, use them as a broad starting point for publishing habits, as they reflect aggregated data.

Post engagement performance is contextually nuanced by platform and depends on factors outside the study, including platform algorithms, content type, industry, publishing cadence, and much more. 

As with all our social media platform studies, it is best to analyze your own channel data, as results often show variation from broad benchmarks. 

Need help optimizing your social media based on data? Chat with our team today!

What Is a Good Video Watch Time in 2026? Benchmarks for Instagram & Facebook Reels

As 2026 begins, we’re answering one of last year’s most common questions. What makes a good video watch time?

Over the past few years, videos have become a top content priority across most platforms. Many apps now feature video as their primary content when you open them. We analyzed whether video watch duration impacts content performance across key metrics. 

This analysis focuses on Meta’s two major platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Both have emerged as major drivers of reel-based content.

What Is Video Watch Duration and Retention Rate?

Before running each analysis across both platforms, we should outline the metrics used for this study. At the baseline level of social media analytics, you already recognize two core metrics across most platforms: engagement and reach. Engagement totals subcategories such as likes and shares, while reach allows us to see how many unique users watched the content. We will be utilizing these metrics to understand the relationship between video watch duration and content performance. 

For analyzing watch time, we also need to consider metrics unique to videos, such as average watch duration and retention rate. Average watch duration measures the mean time (in seconds) viewers spend on a specific video or reel across all plays. The average retention rate then normalizes this by dividing the video's total length by the video’s total length and multiplying by 100, which yields a percentage of completion.

Analysis: What is a Good Video Retention Rate?

For this analysis, we will review all video content shared in 2025 across each platform at That Random Agency.

We took average watch duration and retention rate across all video content on each platform and modeled them against engagement and reach to test for linear relationships. For these outputs, we removed extreme outliers due to the wide performance variation of reel content across both platforms. What we call extreme outliers, most people will also call viral. 

Facebook

From our 40 organic videos this year, we produced the following table for Facebook, showing linear fits between average watch duration and retention rate on engagement or reach.

Based on the results of each model fit, a linear relationship existed between average watch duration and reach, as well as between average retention rate and engagement. 

A summary: 

Upon reviewing the test results for average watch duration in relation to reach, we decided to investigate further by separating them into five different watch time brackets.

Supporting our conclusion of “Weak Negative Impact” from these metrics, higher video reach was achieved at shorter durations. This aligns with our findings across both Meta platforms throughout the year, given that shorter videos' boost to reach is driven by higher completion rates and algorithm preferences for quick, full watches.

Instagram

We also tested our organic Instagram video content, using a larger sample of 101 videos for the year. One thing to note about Instagram’s native reporting is that it rounds average seconds viewed to the nearest whole second, making this metric less precise than Facebook’s. This is where our larger sample size can make a difference.

After running the same tests, we observed a more linear relationship between watch duration and retention rate in relation to content performance. 

A summary: 

Once again, we can separate and see how average engagement is impacted by different watch time buckets and produce the following chart: 

Considering that 16 seconds was our upper bound for the highest watch duration in a content pool primarily composed of shorter reels, it’s no surprise that our most engaging reels were those that kept users fully engaged. We also observed that retention rate on its own doesn’t strongly impact engagement, but when paired with average watch time, it has a more significant effect. In summary, for our Instagram account, higher-engagement video content appears to hit a sweet spot around 8-16 seconds of average user watch time in 30-second videos

Takeaways: Does Video Retention Rate Affect Other Metrics?

Based on our test results, here are the key high-level takeaways:

In conclusion, as noted in all our tests, these results may vary based on factors such as industry, audience, scheduling habits, and others. What we conclude as statistically significant may not be the same for another account, even if it's another digital marketing agency. It's important to consider results based on your own social data and observations. 

Need help optimizing your social media based on data? Chat with our team today!

What Is a Good Click-Through Rate on Social Media in 2026?

As we approach the end of 2025, marking another typically turbulent year for social media, it is a great time to examine click-through rates across various platforms. So, what is a reasonable click-through rate on social media in 2026?

What is click-through rate?

Click-through rate (CTR%) is primarily a key metric used in the context of paid digital marketing. This metric measures the ratio of users to the number of times a specific content was viewed, expressed in percentage format. Given the wide variations in factors such as ad budget, targeting, objectives, and more, CTR% serves as a standardized metric to analyze how effectively a paid strategy has been implemented.

What are the click-through rate benchmarks on social media?

The following table presents recent data on click-through rates across various social channels:

PlatformClickthrough Rate%Source
Facebook0.90%-1.10%Superads
Instagram0.58%-1.58%Marketing LTB
LinkedIn0.40%-0.60%AdBacklog
TikTok0.56%-0.70%AdBacklog
YouTube~0.65%AWISEE

When evaluating clickthrough rates on a broad scale, it is best to consider them as a range when benchmarking, since countless variations impact this metric. A larger range, like we see with the percentages for Instagram, can indicate relatively higher overall variation, which makes sense for a platform like Instagram that flexes with so many different content types.

What factors contribute to click-through rate?

The following lists some of the major factors that can contribute to click-through rates for any ad:

Although a broad, platform-wide range is a good starting point for comparing your CTR% performance across different social platforms, we can narrow down comparisons further with additional context such as ad objectives, industry, or audience size. 

Narrowing down benchmarks to your specific niche and campaign goals enables more meaningful comparisons and realistic performance expectations. Ultimately, the best benchmark is one that reflects the unique dynamics of your audience, ad creatives, and conversion goals, guiding you to optimize for both higher CTR and better overall returns.

What is a good CTR percentage? This depends on your business or objective.

Personalizing benchmarks that best suit your needs is definitely more involved, but that’s where we can help!

Need Help Optimizing Your Social Media Strategy?

Want personalized help with marketing strategies to optimize your social media results? Chat with our team today!

Random Labs: Does Posting on Holidays Decrease Performance?

As we enter the peak holiday season, we thought it would be a great time to share our latest Random Labs experiment, which explores one of the most common marketing dilemmas: Does posting on holidays decrease performance?

Specifically, we are analyzing whether posting content during these holidays impacts both content and channel metrics to identify any cause and effect from a holistic perspective. We will analyze our content across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to determine any significant impact of holiday posts on performance and growth. 

The Data

Looking back at the 2024-2025 content, we decided to include eight holidays in our analysis, selecting four federal holidays and four observances to provide a broader range.

HolidayMonthType
Christmas (Winter Greetings)DecemberFederal
HalloweenOctoberFederal
ThanksgivingNovemberFederal
New YearsJanuaryFederal
Earth DayAprilObservance
International Women's DayMarchObservance
World Kindness DayNovemberObservance
Mental Health AwarenessMayObservance

Having pinpointed these eight holidays throughout the year, we will evaluate content performance and potential channel-wide effects across three platforms. This will enhance our multivariate analysis by revealing whether certain platforms have a higher affinity for specific holidays (or holiday content in general). 

The Analysis

The following percentage heat map was created to evaluate content from various holidays and observances against overall monthly post performance:

Although the output contains substantial numerical data, the interpretation is straightforward. The percentages indicate performance differences between posts related to specific holidays or observances and the monthly content average for their respective months. For instance, our Facebook post achieved 447% higher engagement and 36% higher views than the content average for December, the month in which that post appeared. Vice versa, negative percentages indicate that the holiday or observance content scored lower than the average monthly posts for each metric and platform. 

The Conclusion

When evaluating our output, the results were extremely typical of what we see daily, even for non-holiday posts: a lot of variation. For instance, we observed a slightly higher positive lift in count across Meta channels compared to LinkedIn. However, some of LinkedIn's extremely high lifts (over 100%) resulted from individual holiday posts significantly outperforming that month’s overall content. The spread of positive and negative percentage lifts likely indicates that there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that the holidays themselves are the determining factor behind content performance - especially when we start looking at the type of content itself.

So does posting on holidays decrease performance? Not inherently. 

As mentioned before, in some months, especially around New Year’s, we saw one of our relatively higher-performing pieces of content, while in other months, we fell short in comparison to other non-holiday content. The performance of holiday content is likely dictated by the same factors as any other content—primarily content relevance, content type, audience activity levels, individual platform algorithms, and other contextual variables. 

Need Help Optimizing Your Social Media Strategy?

Want personalized help with marketing strategies to optimize your social media results? Chat with our team today!

Here Are the 2025 Social Media Benchmarks for Financial Brands

We’re heading into crunch time for 2025, and thought it would be an excellent opportunity to identify key social media benchmarks for the financial industry. 

Why Engagement Rates Matter for Financial Services

Engagement rates remain a popular choice of KPI as they directly reflect how effectively financial brands are connecting with their audiences through content. We will look at these specific percentages for this industry across five of the more mainstream platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn. 

2025 Engagement Rates by Platform (Financial Services)

We will draw from Hootsuite’s report, which covers average engagement rates across various industries in a study conducted this year. 

Engagement Rates (Per Post)

PlatformEngagement Rate (Industry: Financial Services)
Facebook1.8%
Instagram3.8%
LinkedIn3.2%
X2.1%
TikTok1.6%

How Engagement Rates Are Calculated (Hootsuite Formula)

As discussed in previous blogs, when comparing to benchmarks or studies, it is essential to ensure that our KPI (engagement rate) is calculated similarly to the metrics we are referencing. Since engagement rates can vary depending on the variables and platforms used, we will use the following formula from Hootsuite as the basis for these benchmarks:

In the context of the Hootsuite report, engagement also includes the number of clicks and DMs, which may not always be conventionally included in other variations of this formula. Additionally, the number of posts is subjective to the chosen time period. For example, you may count posts from a given month or year. We recommend using monthly durations to better account for significant platform changes or updated studies. If the post volume for any given month is small, consider a duration that covers at least 30 posts. 

Platform Insights: Winners and Laggards

Based on the overall report, financial services show strong engagement performance compared to other industries on:

Meanwhile, engagement is lower (<2%) on:

What These 2025 Benchmarks Mean for Financial Marketers

Key Takeaway for Financial Services Brands

Financial institutions should:

Need Help Optimizing Your Social Media Strategy?

Want personalized help with marketing strategies to optimize your social media results? Chat with our team today!

Which Social Media Platform Has the Best ROI for Brands in 2025?

We examined which social media platforms have delivered the best return on investment (ROI)—a key performance indicator that our clients understandably value.

What is return on investment (ROI)?

Return on investment (ROI) is a key performance indicator (KPI) used to evaluate the profitability of an investment.

Assessing this KPI in the context of social media is more nuanced than in conventional businesses, since not everything on these platforms can be quantified in monetary terms.

As expected from much of our cross-platform research, our results show that each platform demonstrates varying levels of success in this category, depending on business objectives. We will dive into different platforms in this study: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube. 

The following evaluates the benefits of each platform from a marketing perspective.

What is the ROI for Facebook?

Facebook

What is the ROI for Instagram?

Instagram

What is the ROI for LinkedIn?

LinkedIn

What is the ROI for TikTok?

TikTok

What is the ROI for YouTube?

YouTube 

Which social media platform has the best ROI?

In conclusion, we can provide a general overview of the benefits of investing resources in each platform:

FacebookFacebook remains a strong platform for video-driven marketing and B2B strategies, but success increasingly depends on well-planned paid campaigns due to reduced organic visibility.
InstagramInvesting in Instagram is highly effective for driving engagement and leads, especially through video content that resonates well with audiences.
LinkedInLinkedIn is a trusted platform for B2B marketing investments, offering valuable opportunities to drive high-quality conversions.
TikTokTikTok stands out for delivering quick returns and strong audience engagement, making it a smart choice for brands targeting younger demographics.
YouTubeYouTube is a versatile platform that supports brand awareness and direct conversions, making it worthwhile for comprehensive marketing strategies across the customer journey.

Like most questions that compare different platforms, especially when it comes to ROI, there isn’t a single platform that offers the best of all worlds. The most effective choice for investing in advertising depends heavily on your specific business goals, target audience, and overall marketing strategy. Different platforms excel in different areas—some may be better for driving brand awareness, while others focus more on direct conversions or engagement with niche communities.

Ultimately, the key to maximizing ROI is tailoring your platform investments to align with your business objectives and understanding where your audience spends their time. A well-rounded advertising strategy often involves leveraging multiple platforms in ways that complement each other, rather than relying solely on one. This approach ensures that your marketing efforts are both efficient and effective in meeting your unique goals.

Want personalized help with marketing strategies to optimize your social media results? Chat with our team today!