Launched in 2010, Instagram is a free photo and video sharing platform that was originally only offered on iOS. However, within a few years, it became a staple of social media, and in 2012, Facebook grabbed it for $ 1 billion.
One of the biggest recent changes to the platform has been the waiver of application exclusivity, giving users the ability to access their online accounts. In addition, the social network made smart choices, moving from chronological to algorithmic channel, allowing some variation in the size of photos and videos and introducing influencer marketing.
1. The beginnings of Instagram
Within 2 months of the app being opened to the public, Instagram stats pointed the platform towards the big leagues, tipping the scales with one million Instagram users. A year later, it reached 10 million users.
Six days before Facebook bought Instagram, the platform became available for Android. In November this year, Instagram users could take advantage of Internet profiles. Then, in February 2013, the company launched its web channel, celebrating 100 million Instagram users.
Instagram introduced videos in June 2013, and direct messaging was introduced in December of the same year.
With a huge user base, Instagram began to further monetize its resources and accelerate Instagram’s growth by introducing ads for select brands in October 2013, making them available to everyone else in September 2015.
Then, a month before the platform followed in Facebook’s footsteps and in June 2016 it switched from a chronological channel to an algorithmic channel, it changed its brand, changing the logo.
Instagram ended 2016 with a blast blow by stepping into the ring with Instagram Stories, a version of ephemeral Snapchat content that only lasts 24 hours.
2. Instagram demographic data
Almost every third Internet user is an Instagram user. With 1 billion monthly active users in 2018, Instagram is currently the fastest growing social network with 5% growth per quarter – well ahead of Facebook (3.14%) and Snapchat (2.13%).
According to a 2018 Social Media Use survey by Pew Research, 35% of adults say they use Instagram, compared with 28% in 2016.
In fact, the site is dominated by people between the ages of 18 and 34, which is not a big surprise as Instagram is mostly associated with millennials, with the 18-24 age group accounting for 32% of users. Americans in this age group are conquering these numbers – 71% of Americans aged 18 to 24 use Instagram.
However, no matter where people come from, the users of this app are addicted to it. According to a Pew Research study, 60% of Instagram users visit the site every day, compared with 51% in 2016. On average, users spend between 24 and 32 minutes scrolling through an app or posting content each day.
3. User involvement
According to Instagram, more than 40 billion photos have been published on the social network. To that add more than 95 million additional photos published daily.
Statistics show that this is the social network where the most engaged users are. Instagram engagement rates range from 2% to 7% by whiite list. That might seem low until you realize that Facebook’s engagement rates range between 0.10% -1.5%, and on Twitter, those rates are even lower.
4. User Generated Content
Instagram is dominated by content from funny, sincere moments captured with a camera to impressive professional drone footage.
UGC also affects conversion rates in industries such as fashion, jewelry, footwear, beauty, and consumer electronics.
5. Instagram and video content
When Instagram introduced videos, 5 million videos were shared in the first 24 hours. That’s over 208,000 movies an hour.
And although for a while the photos still aroused more commitment than the movies – this is not the case anymore. In response to Instagram users’ excitement about videos, the social media giant did not give up. Instagram now allows users to post videos in a variety of formats: live, stories, posts, and ads.
In addition, Instagram recently introduced video chat via its direct messaging feature, as well as IGTV, which allows users to post longer videos – opening the door for Instagram users to even more creative ways to create engaging content.
6. InstaStories function
Snapchat may have popularized ephemeral gaming on social media, but it’s losing ground. Because Instagram Stories is used by over 400 million people daily.
Instagram statistics show that brands will definitely prefer Instagram Stories to Snapchat as they post twice as much on Stories. The popularity among brands is most likely related to the “Swipe Up” feature, which allows users with over 10,000 followers to post external links, thereby improving click-through and conversion rates.
The new feature allows Instagram users to record music stories from Instagram’s internal library. While it is only available in select countries, it will be rolled out to others soon. As if the music and Swipe Up feature weren’t enough for most marketers and influencers, Instagram also allows users to shop.
7. Stay up-to-date
The two most important features Instagram recently shared are IGTV and video chat .
Have you ever thought about taking an Instagram video on the fly? Then IGTV is exactly the feature you’ve been waiting for. It allows you to upload vertical videos up to 10 minutes long for regular users and up to an hour for users with more followers. if you want more Instagram followers, go to Sociallygo site and get real followers at a cheap price. While IGTV is available through its own standalone app, you can watch them in the app – that’s basically Instagram’s answer to YouTube.
The video chat feature in Instagram Direct is also a major expansion in an area of the internet where competition is fierce – especially Facetime, Google Chat, and Facebook Messenger. However, this feature allows Instagram users to video chat with up to four friends at the same time.
8. Hashtags
Hashtags are an integral part of Instagram. They let you find content, which helps people find Instagram users with similar interests. They are also used by brands and influencers to measuring the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns, gather information about how their brand is perceived by users, and see how many people are talking about them on the platform.
There are two types of hashtags used on Instagram: social and branded.
Community hashtags are more general ones, such as #love, #InstaFood, #ootd, #TBT, and so on. These are the tags that users know best.
However, branded hashtags that target a specific brand in order to track their user-generated campaigns dominate.
One of the statistics on Instagram that marketers and influencers pay special attention to is how many hashtags they put in a post. While Instagram users can add up to 30 hashtags, this may not be the best idea. As it turns out, the optimal number of hashtags is 10.
9. Statistics for companies
According to Instagram, 80% of users follow at least one business on Instagram, and as of November 2017, there are 25 million active business profiles on Instagram.
This means a sharp increase from 15 million in July of the same year. It is estimated that 71% of businesses are on Instagram as of 2017, compared to 48.8% in 2016.
This surge in business profiles can be attributed to features available only to business profiles, such as the ability to post contact information, as well as access to Instagram’s advertising features and analytics.
Businesses invest time, money, and energy in Instagram for good reason. As of March 2017, more than 120 million people have sent a message to the company, visited the website or called and received directions from the company via Instagram. Of course, people are interested in getting involved and using Instagram as a source to connect with businesses.
The shopping feed allows brands to tag their products in Instagram posts. You will learn that the posts can be purchased on Instagram as there is a shopping bag icon in the top right corner of the post. After touching the photo, users can see detailed information about the product. Clicking on the details takes them to an external page where they can buy the product – without leaving the app.
10. Instagram and advertising
Given that 70% of Instagram posts are not viewable, businesses are investing in advertising so that their posts receive guaranteed views by targeted followers. There are over 2 million advertisers on Instagram.
With so many advertisers using the platform, it doesn’t take a lot of investment from each one for Instagram to make a lot of money.