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5 Instagram Stats and Tips That You Need to Know

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New research reveals that Instagram will surpass both Google and Twitter in US mobile display ad revenues by 2017—$2.81 billion worldwide. As Instagram rolls out new features in anticipation, it’s time for marketers to get smart about how they plan to make the most of this exciting platform. Here are some stats about Instagram usage, plus tips on how to use each one to your advantage.

Stat: The top 100 brands on Instagram post 5.5 times per week, on average. 43% of the top 100 brands post daily.

Tip: This is an easy one to understand. The top 100 most successful brands on Instagram have a consistent posting cadence. This is true for any of the social media networks you’re including in your marketing strategy, and Instagram is no different. Instagram currently has 300 million monthly active users and they follow a lot of different accounts: to keep your brand at the top of their mind, you need to stay at the top of their feed.

Stat: 50% of Comments Are Posted in the First Six Hours

Tip: Most comments on Instagram happen quickly, and that shouldn’t be a surprise. For you, this means your social media manager needs to be like a hawk hovering over the account for awhile to engage with fans on the spot. But if you think about it, six hours is actually a long time in social media hours—good content has a longer shelf life. This means rather than rushing every post, you should take the time to make sure it’s good. Even as your post ages it should be eye-catching enough to make them stop scrolling for a moment.

Stat: Adding a Location Results in 79% Higher Engagement

Tip: This one is easy too. Use locations! Businesses promoting a location or an exclusive product should include the city or store. At a tradeshow? Use the location of the convention center—and hashtag the city, of course. The location feature is turned off by default, but with numbers like these, you should turn it on whenever possible.

Stat: @mentions in Captions Receive 56% More Engagement 

Tip: Just like on Twitter, using @mentions shows you know how to engage and be truly social. When you incorporate other accounts authentically (and relevantly) it gives off the impression of being part of the platform’s community, someone who connects to other people/brands—and that builds trust.

Stat: The average caption is 138 characters long, including hashtags…but there is no significant correlation between caption length and engagement.

Tip: This is one you have to figure out for yourselves. Like any marketing initiative, you should be A/B testing and Instagram is no different. Experiment with different lengths of captions and hashtags. Be as brief as a tweet in some, and a little more descriptive in others. Then compare the posts’ success. Finding your brand’s sweet spot of post length is a great way to improve the performance of your account.

There you have it: some interesting ways to drive more engagement on Instagram. But what about other social media platforms? If you want some tips for Facebook, Twitter, etc. check out our white paper.