5 Instagram Stats You Should Pay Attention to Now
Originally written on the Simply Measured Blog by Lucy Hitz
“Are you already planning for Q1 2016? Are you wondering what the biggest brands are doing on Instagram right now, and how you can implement their successes on your own profile, whether it’s nascent or in full bloom?
Wonder no more! Our just-released 2015 Instagram Industry Report offers a specific, vertical-by-vertical breakdown highlighting what the top brands in the world are doing on Instagram and the results they’re seeing, from automotive to tech to alcoholic spirits — and everything in between.
But it also contains information which transcends industry boundaries and is universally applicable. Let’s take a look at these stats and explore what they mean for you, the social marketer.
#1: 90% of Interbrand 100 Companies Now Have Instagram Accounts
Instagram has gone from “nice to have” to “need to have,” becoming an essential network for social marketers.
Brands on the Interbrand 100 list range from sporting goods and luxury products to energy and financial companies. Regardless of the industry, there’s now an interested audience on Instagram. The network boasts 400 million monthly active users, 80 million posts each day, and 3.5 billion daily likes.
An audience that engaged is hard to ignore, and as of today, 90% of the top brands in the world are using Instagram to get their piece of the proverbial pie.
Standalone apps like Boomerang, Layout, and Hyperlapse have made creation on Instagram easier than ever, and brands are investing more and more every day.
What You Should Do: If you have an Instagram account, don’t ignore your brand’s presence there. Resolve to post more often in 2016, and make sure to measure your activity so you can optimize. If you don’t have an Instagram account and you’re wondering whether it’s time to invest in one, wonder no more.
#2: Engagement per Post Has Grown at a Rate of 53% Year-over-Year
As brands have gained access to better Instagram analytics solutions and developed best practices for their activity on the network, engagement has grown at a rapid rate.
Hashtags and location tags have proven to be useful tools on Instagram.
What You Should Do: It’s time to do some testing. Make sure you include a hashtag and location tag in every post for a week and see if your average engagement per post increases.
#3: Photos See More Average Engagement Than Videos
Videos might be winning brands massive engagement on every other social channel, but photos remain king of the hill for the biggest brands on Instagram.
For the Interbrand 100, curating audience-appropriate photos still reaps more rewards than posting videos.
What You Should Do: Feel free to use clips of digital video content you’ve created for your other channels on Instagram, but don’t create videos specifically for Instagram. Make sure the photo content you’re putting up is visually unified and compelling.
#4: 70% of the Most-Used Hashtags Are Branded
Among the Interbrand 100, brand captions included 5,596 hashtags, equating to 2.5 hashtags per brand post.
Of the most-used hashtags, 70% were brand related, with #BMW and #MercedesBenz ruling the roost.
What You Should Do: Come up with a hashtag around your brand, whether it’s simply your brand name or a creative twist on your brand name, and use it consistently on posts throughout the next quarter to aid brand discovery and awareness.
#5: Love Wins
Emojis are everywhere, and Instagram is no exception. Between emojis and hashtags, brands are finding creative ways to spice up captions.
The heart emoji is the second-most used emoji by brands, and the most engaging.
What You Should Do: Consider including one of the top ten most engaging emoji in your future posts, and look at posts which use these emojis to understand the context of their success (so you can replicate it!).
For more details, brand profiles, and complete industry breakdowns, download the full report below.”
This content originally appeared on the Simply Measured Blog and we are re-posting it here because we believe Simply Measured is one of the best sources online for information on marketing your brand on the web in 2016, which is no small task! If you are interested in learning more about our thoughts on what’s going to happen in 2016, please reach out and schedule a meeting with our team in Pennsylvania.
Originally published at https://www.tumblr.com on December 17, 2015.
