Healthcare social media benchmarks: Q3 2024 research

How do you know the “right” number of engagements to expect on your social posts? Is 100 likes a lot or a little? And when is the best time to post?

The answer is, it depends — on your industry, the social networks you use, your audience demographics, and many more nuanced factors.

But social media benchmarks can help you get pretty close to a more concrete answer. This industry-specific data tracks the norms or averages for specific metrics like social media engagement and follower growth. It gives you an understanding of how businesses similar to yours are doing — and a better sense of what those 100 likes really mean.

Keep reading for fresh 2024 benchmarks for the healthcare, pharma, and biotech industries that will help you understand how your social results stack up right now.

Psst: Once you grab your benchmarks, head to our guide to using social media for healthcare marketing to find out how to action these insights.

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Below, you’ll find recommendations for the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for maximum engagement.

Note: Time of day was localized across 118 countries where sample data came from, i.e. the graphs are accurate across time zones.

Best time to post on Facebook

According to our research, 2-5pm on Tuesdays and 2-6pm on Fridays are the best times for healthcare organizations to post on Facebook.

Best time to post on Instagram

Traditional work hours (8am to 5pm) on Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best times for healthcare organizations to post on Instagram.

Best time to post on LinkedIn

According to our research, 8 am on Tuesdays and Fridays are the best times for healthcare organizations to post on LinkedIn. Surprisingly, content posted after 10 pm on Thursdays and Fridays also seems to generate higher than average engagement.

How often should you post on social media in healthcare?

Every organization’s posting schedule is unique, and you should test different posting frequencies to find out what works best for your audience. That said, these industry-specific stats will help you find a data-informed starting point.

Our research found that healthcare, pharma, and biotech organizations post on Facebook more often than on any other social platform — an average of 20 times a week! TikTok sits on the opposite side of the scale, with only 2 weekly uploads.

Below, you’ll find network-specific data that illustrates how posting frequency corresponds to overall engagement rates.

On Facebook, performance depends on the content you post more than it does on how often you post. Organizations that posted only twice a week have seen similar engagement rates to those posting up to 17 times per week.

On Instagram, you’re most likely to keep your audience engaged if you keep your posting schedule busy and consistent. 13 posts a week seems to be the sweet spot!

On LinkedIn, companies posting 9 times a week see the highest average engagement on their posts…

… whereas on X (formerly Twitter), 3 posts a week are enough to keep engagement rates high.

Average engagement rates in healthcare

Wondering if your engagement rates are high enough? Here are the industry averages across all major social networks as of September 2024:

• Facebook: 5.9%
• Instagram: 5%
• X (Twitter): 3.4%
• LinkedIn: 2.2%
• TikTok: 2%

What should healthcare organizations post on social media?

Different social networks offer different content formats — but how do you decide which should dominate your content mix?

Here’s what our research says.

On Facebook, album posts generate the most engagement — followed by posts with links, photos, and videos.

Instagram users particularly enjoy carousel posts, which — in healthcare — generate double the engagement of Reels.

On LinkedIn, posts with photos and videos outperform posts with links or text only.

Healthcare follower growth rate

If your social media strategy revolves around growing your audience, make sure you’re setting realistic goals. Here is how other healthcare organizations are doing in Q3 2024:

• LinkedIn: 0.55%
• Instagram: 0.56%
• X (Twitter): 0.26%
• Facebook: 0.17%

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