10 stats to know about Instagram, and what they mean for you
Instagram can be a really useful tool for any small business. But how can you make the most of this social media platform? We’ve got a list of 10 statistics that you should know about Instagram, plus how you can use them to increase your engagement rate and potentially get more sales!
1. Carousel posts (posts that have more than one photo) do better on Instagram than a single photo.
According to a Socialinsider study, carousel posts have an engagement rate of 2% – a higher rate than one image (1.74%) or a video (1.45%).
This is really useful information! That’s because engagement rates basically tell you how many of your followers engage with your post. This can create a positive momentum, because the higher engagement you have, the more that Instagram will show your posts. So if you want to get a bit more traction on Instagram, carousel posts are a great way to do it.
2. Products are featured in 65% of the top-performing posts on Instagram.
Do you sell products? Then this is a great statistic for you.
If you use Instagram Shopping, you can actually tag the product in your images and videos. This makes it super convenient for your followers to check out and potentially buy your products – and clearly product posts can do very well on Instagram!
If it’s a shoppable post that provides a link to the product, users are likely to check that out too. 130 million Instagram users tap through shoppable posts every single month.
3. Posting any number of hashtags is better than not using one.
We’re sometimes asked how many hashtags you should use in an Instagram post. According to Hubspot, posts with just one hashtag got around 20 more engagements than posts with none. Posts with 2-13 hashtags get even more engagement!
This is important to remember because you’ll want to increase your engagement as much as you can – and because 18% of people use hashtags to find brands on Instagram. It’s another way to find new potential customers!
4. People watch brand stories on Instagram
Do you ever post stories on Instagram? The stats say that you should!
Apparently 86% of stories from companies are ‘completed’. This means that 86% of people answer a call-to-action on the story, such as swiping up or tapping on a product to learn more. Clearly, using stories can pique your followers’ interest, and may even lead to sales.
5. Posts that tag a location have a 79% higher engagement rate than posts that don’t.
Tagging a location is a really underrated way to increase your engagement rate. When you post on Instagram, you have the option to tag a location – that can be your shop’s address to a more general location like London or Birmingham.
Doing this not only shows your followers where you’re based, but it will also place your post in the results for that location (just like a hashtag does). This adds yet another way for people to discover your Instagram profile.
6. According to research from Hootsuite, the average business posts 1.56 times every day.
Sometimes businesses are wary of posting a lot on Instagram – but clearly many do not have that worry, and post every single day! While you don’t want to spam your followers, it makes sense to have at least one post a day. Your followers usually don’t see every one of your posts. So by increasing the number, you’re making it more likely for them to see you pop up on their feed at all.
7.Posts that feature faces get 38% more likes and 32% more comments than those without.
This is a really interesting statistic that might help you figure out which photos will perform the best on Instagram. Clearly, people like seeing faces! You can easily take some photos of people such as yourself or some of your happy customers. This is a particularly good strategy if your products or services aren’t photogenic.
Just make sure that you’re not posting unprofessional selfies!
8. Shorter captions normally perform best.
According to Hubspot and Mention, captions that are between 21 and 100 words perform the best, by a long mile! Captions that have under 20 words have the lowest number of engagements, and while longer captions do better than very short ones, Instagram might not be the place for thousands of words!
If you’ve got a lot of things to say, it might be a good idea to write them as a blog post. You can post the key facts on Instagram, and then link to the blog for anyone who wants to learn more.
9. Instagram has seen an 80% increase in the amount of time users spend watching videos since 2013.
Clearly, Instagram isn’t just a photo app – people are spending much more time watching videos on Instagram, too. Keep that in mind when thinking about your social media. Posting videos helps to break up the images on your profile, and can really show off your personality.
The ones that perform the best are ‘how-to’ videos. You could make a video showing people how to use your product, or even how to sign up to your email list.
10. Tagging other people, brands, and accounts in your posts exponentially increases user engagement across the board.
Finally, research shows that tagging another Instagram profile in a post can create 56% more engagement! It seems that the more people you tag, the better that your post will perform.
Of course, you don’t want to be tagging completely irrelevant people or companies, but if you’ve partnered with another brand or want to give a shoutout to some of your favourite local businesses, it’s a good idea to tag them in your posts.
Those are just 10 of our top Instagram statistics, plus how you can use them as a small business owner. Did any of them surprise you?
If you have any questions or want to know more about how we can help you with your Instagram profile, then you can contact us!
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