Research Summary. While not the largest Social Media platform in the world, Instagram is still a major hub for sharing photos and videos, as well as promoting brands. In fact, Instagram is one of the most important places to market, as shown by our extensive research:
As of 2022, Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users.
Instagram is poised to reach 2.5 billion monthly active users by 2023.
81% of Instagram users use the platform to research new products and services.
At least 95 million photos and videos are posted on Instagram each day.
The average user spends 53 minutes per day on Instagram.
90% of Instagram users follow at least one business.
For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Demographics | User Behavior | Business Profiles | Product Discovery | Trends
Though Instagram is considerably younger than some of its counterparts, like YouTube and Facebook, the platform is still vastly popular. To understand how big Instagram is and why it’s such an important platform, here are some general facts about the site:
As of 2021, there are over 500 million Instagram Stories users.
From 2016-2018 alone, the number of Instagram Stories users increased from 100 million to 400 million. For context, that’s a considerable 400% increase.
At least 95 million photos and videos are posted on Instagram every day.
That means that even if the average person only spent one second looking at each photo or video, it would still take them three years to go through one day’s worth of Instagram content. And believe it or not, over 40 billion photos have been shared on the site since its conception.
17.6% of the global population uses Instagram.
And in the United States, those numbers are even higher, as 41% of the American population (138 million people) now use Instagram.
At least 500 million Instagram users access the platform daily.
Instagram is becoming more popular for daily use, as at least one-fourth of the platform’s total monthly active users also use it once a day as well.
Instagram’s annual ad revenue in 2021 was $33.25 billion.
That’s a 168% increase from 2019 when the platform’s ad revenue was only $12.4 billion. Additionally, this revenue is only expected to grow exponentially larger, poised to reach $39.7 billion by 2023.
Instagram’s total annual revenue in 2020 was $51.4 billion.
Instagram’s total annual revenue has been increasing steadily since 2015 when the social media site only gained $500 million dollars. Since then, Instagram’s annual revenue has shot up to $24 billion, growing 47X larger in only five years.
| Year | Revenue (in billions) |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $0.5B |
| 2016 | $1.8B |
| 2017 | $4. 1B |
| 2018 | $10.3B |
| 2019 | $17.7B |
| 2020 | $24B |
| 2021 | $47.6B |
| 2022 | $51.4B |
Instagram is the fourth largest social media platform based on MAUs (monthly active users).
Instagram has 2 billion monthly active users, making it the fourth-largest social media platform. Others among the top five include: Facebook (2.9 billion), YouTube (2.2 billion), WhatsApp (2 billion), and Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion).
| Social Media Platform | MAUs |
|---|---|
| 2.9B | |
| YouTube | 2.2B |
| 2B | |
| 2B | |
| Facebook Messenger | 1.3B |
| 1.26B | |
| TikTok | 1B |
| Telegram | 0.7B |
| Sina Weibo | 0. 5B |
| 0.5B |
As with any social media platform, certain demographics use Instagram more than others. When comparing Instagram users based on gender, age, and other demographics, our extensive research shows that:
Those between the ages of 25-34 make up the largest percentage of Instagram users, at 31.5%.
While those between 25-34 make up the largest age demographic of Instagram users, those 18-24 aren’t far behind at 30.1% of users. The percentage of users drops off from there, with 8.5% of users being 13-17, 8% being 45-54, and 5.7% being 55+.
15% of teens report Instagram as the app they use most often.
While this is a considerable portion, Instagram isn’t the most popular app teens use. In fact, more teens report Snapchat and YouTube as their most widely used apps, with 35% and 32% saying so, respectively.
56.9% of Instagram users are women.
As opposed to 43.1% being men, what’s more is that this gender disparity is the same across all ages. For instance, there are 10% more female users in the 25-34 age category and 25% female users in the 45-54 age category.
India has the most Instagram users, at 230.25 million.
Others among the top five countries with the most Instagram users include: the United States (159.75 million), Brazil (119.45 million), Indonesia (99.15 million), and Russia (63 million).
| Country | Audience Size (in millions) |
|---|---|
| India | 230.25M |
| United States | 159.75M |
| Brazil | 119.45M |
| Indonesia | 99.15M |
| Russia | 63M |
| Turkey | 52.15M |
| Japan | 46.1M |
| Mexico | 37.85M |
| United Kingdom | 31. 75M |
| Germany | 29.85M |
Instagram wouldn’t be so popular if it didn’t have features that set it apart from other social media platforms. This, combined with user demographics, can affect the platform’s user behavior. According to our research:
Instagram has the highest engagement rate of any social media platform, at 2-7% per post.
While that might not seem like a lot, sites like Facebook often receive less than half of 1% engagement per post, making Instagram’s numbers pretty impressive. After all, if there are 500 million people using the site every day, that means each post could see up to 35 million engagements.
Instagram posts with only one hashtag receive up to 12% more engagement.
Surprisingly, having only one or two hashtags is the best way to gain more engagement on Instagram. In fact, posts with three or more hashtags actually get less engagement on average than those with none.
60% of U.S. Instagram users log in at least once per day.
The majority of Instagram users use the platform every day, but they aren’t even the most frequent users. In fact, 38% of U.S. users access Instagram multiple times per day.
Cristiano Ronaldo has the most followers on Instagram, at 514 million.
This world-famous Portuguese soccer player has more followers than any other human on the platform. In fact, Ronaldo was the first person to reach 200 million Instagram followers.
Others among the top five most-followed accounts include: Kylie Jenner (373.7 million), Selena Gomez (361.9 million), Lionel Messi (356.5 million), and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (352 million).
| Person/Account | Number of Followers (in millions) |
|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 514M |
| Lionel Messi | 443M |
| Selena Gomez | 401M |
| Kylie Jenner | 382M |
| Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson | 369M |
| Ariana Grande | 361M |
| Kim Kardashian | 349M |
| Beyoncé | 301M |
Instagram is a popular social media platform for marketing, in part due to its high engagement.
To understand the business side of Instagram, here are some interesting facts about just that:
71% of U.S. Businesses use Instagram.
And the U.S. isn’t the only country where Instagram marketing is popular, as there are over 200 million business profiles on the platform worldwide.
Brand-posted stories on Instagram have an 87.2% monthly completion rate.
Unlike other social media platforms, consumers are highly likely to watch Instagram stories to completion. For context, story completion rates for sites like Facebook and YouTube can be as low as 40-50%.
The average brand posts four to five Instagram stories per week.
In general, brands tend to post around 17 stories per month, but these numbers can be much higher for top brands. For example, the top 25% of most successful brands on Instagram tend to post stories up to seven times per week (once per day).
Roughly 70% of all Instagram hashtags are branded.
These are hashtags that are created by businesses to promote their own brand. Some of the most common examples of these include:
#ShareACoke by Coca-Cola.
#LikeAGirl by Always.
#OreoHorrorStories by Oreo.
#letsdolunch by Domino’s Pizza.
#OpenYourWorld by Heineken.
As mentioned previously, many consumers follow brands and research products on Instagram. This practice is common, leading to many businesses finding a home on the platform. Overall, here are the facts about how users discover products on Instagram:
90% of Instagram users follow at least one business.
72% of users report that Instagram content helps influence their buying decisions.
33% of users have bought something directly from an ad they saw on Instagram.
58% of consumers are more interested in a brand after seeing it in an Instagram Story.
26% of Instagram users used the platform for social commerce purchases in 2020.
96% of U.S. fashion brands use Instagram for marketing purposes.
Instagram might be the fourth most popular social media platform by MAUs, but that hasn’t always been the case. Further, just because Instagram claims the fourth place spot now doesn’t mean that won’t change in the future. To understand where Instagram might be headed, here are some interesting trends and projections:
Between 2015 and 2022, Instagram’s annual revenue grew by 1,028%.
In 2015, Instagram’s annual revenue was only $500 million, a number that grew to $51.4 billion in 2022. On average, the platform’s revenue grew by an astonishing 150-175% each year.
Between 2015 and 2020, Instagram’s revenue as a portion of Facebook’s total revenue grew by over 1,000%.
In 2015, Instagram only accounted for 3.
3% of Facebook’s total revenue. However, that percentage has since risen to a whopping 45% in 2022.
Between 2013 and 2020, the number of annual Instagram users increased by 1,080%.
Growing over 10X larger since 2013, Instagram’s number of annual users increased from 110 million in 2015 to 1.3 billion in 2020. Further, that number only continues to climb at a consistent rate.
| Year | Number of Annual Users |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 110M |
| 2014 | 200M |
| 2015 | 370M |
| 2016 | 500M |
| 2017 | 700M |
| 2018 | 1B |
| 2019 | 1.1B |
| 2020 | 1.3B |
How many active users are on Instagram?
There are currently 2 billion monthly active users on Instagram. This includes users around the world and in the United States.
From 2013 to 2020, Instagram’s number of annual users increased by over 1,000%, from 110 million to 1.3 billion. It’s also worth noting that Instagram’s MAUs make it the fourth largest social media platform in the world based on that metric.
Is Instagram decreasing in popularity?
Yes and no. While Instagram’s growth has declined from 6.7% in 2019 to only 1.8% projected in 2023, both of those numbers still show positive trends. For the most part, there are a few reasons why Instagram is growing more slowly and losing popularity. These reasons include:
Instagram has already grown rapidly, resulting in less novelty and fewer newcomers.
Instagram is most popular with Millennials, and Gen Z is more interested in apps like TikTok.
Instagram has pivoted toward e-commerce, making it less popular with certain users.
Is TikTok more popular than Instagram?
TikTok is not more popular than Instagram yet.
Yet being the important caveat. Currently, Instagram has at least 1.3 billion annual users, while TikTok has around 1 billion. On its own, that means Instagram is larger.
However, TikTok has been growing rapidly in recent years. In 2020 alone, TikTok’s user growth was 85.3%, compared to Instagram’s 22.9%. If these trends persist, TikTok’s active users will eventually surpass Instagram’s.
What percentage of Facebook revenue is from Instagram?
As of 2020, 36.9% of Facebook’s revenue came from Instagram. This percentage has increased consistently and rapidly over time. For example, in 2015, Instagram only accounted for 3.3% of Facebook’s total revenue. However, that percentage has since risen to 36.9%. That’s an increase of 1,000% in only five years.
Who uses Instagram the most?
The two major demographics who use Instagram the most are Women and Millennials. Women are more likely to use the platform than men, with 56.
9% of Instagram users being women compared to 43.1% being men.
And in the case of generation, 61.6% of those who use Instagram are between the ages of 18-34, and a majority within that age group would be considered Millennials.
As the social media platform with the fourth-largest number of MAUs in the world, Instagram is a force to be reckoned with. In fact, the platform has seen its number of users increase ten times over within only five years, and its revenue increase by 47X within that same time period.
While Gen Z may be showing less interest in Instagram going forward, the platform is still one of the best out there for branding and digital marketing. Overall, with high engagement and conversion rates, businesses can expect to continue making a profit off Instagram.
Statista. “Number of monthly active Instagram users from January 2013 to December 2021.” Accessed on April 24th, 2022.
MediaKix.
“How Many People Use Instagram Stories? [User Growth Chart].” Accessed on April 24th, 2022.
NapoleonCat. “Instagram users in United States of America.” Accessed on April 24th, 2022.
Statista. “Annual Instagram advertising revenues in the United States from 2018 to 2023.” Accessed on April 24th, 2022.
BusinessofApps. “Instagram Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022).” Accessed on April 24th, 2022.
Buffer. “20 Top Social Media Sites to Consider for Your Brand in 2022.” Accessed on April 24th, 2022.
Statista. “Distribution of Instagram users worldwide as of January 2022, by age group.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
Hootsuite. “Instagram Demographics in 2022: Most Important User Stats for Marketers.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
Statista. “Leading countries based on Instagram audience size as of January 2022.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
Mention. “Social Mythbusters: Does Using Instagram Hashtags Mean More Engagement?” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
Brandwatch. “The Top 20 Most Followed Instagram Accounts.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
Flick. “Completion Rate on Instagram: Everything you need to know.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
RivalIQ. “How Often to Post on Social Media.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
Retail TouchPoints. “72% Of Users Make Purchase Decisions Based On Instagram Content.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
MarketingDive. “1/3 of Instagram users have bought directly from an ad, study finds.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
eMarketer. “US adoption of Instagram shopping exploded in 2020, though it’s already slowing.” Accessed on April 25th, 2022.
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Launched in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012, Instagram has taken the mobile photo-sharing niche by storm, with no signs of stopping soon.
Thinking about using Instagram to market your business? Want to become Instagram famous? Here are the coolest, most surprising Instagram statistics and facts to know in 2022. (Check out our big list of Facebook stats, too!)
1. 80% of Instagram users are outside of the US.
2. Most Instagram users are between 18-29 years old.
3. Six in ten online adults have Instagram accounts.
4. Female internet users are more likely to use Instagram than men, at 38% vs. 26%.
5. 32% of teenagers consider Instagram to be the most important social network.
6. 32% of Instagram users attended college.
7. 26% of Instagram users make more than $75,000 per year.
1. The most followed account as of 2021 belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo has 315.75 million and is followed by Dwayne Johnson at 275 million.
2. The record for the most-liked Instagram post belongs to a satirical account, @world_record_egg, made to surpass popular celebrities’ posts—which garnered almost 56 million likes.
3. As of 2021, there are over 1 billion active Instagrammers.
4. Half of those users (500 million) are active every day.
5. There are 16,600,000 Google searches for “instagram” per month.
6. There are 165,000 searches per month for “kylie jenner instagram”
7. 51% of Instagram users access the platform daily, and 35% say they look at the platform several times per day.
8. 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram per day.
9. Over 40 billion photos and videos have been shared on the Instagram platform since its conception.
RELATED: The 6 Biggest, Baddest Social Media Platforms of 2022 (and How to Wield Their Power). Put your armor on.
1. There are over 200 million business profiles using Instagram worldwide in 2021.
2. 60% of the top brands on Instagram use the same filter for every post.
3. Over 80% of accounts on Instagram follow a business, and over 200 million Instagrammers actively a business profile every day.
4. It’s estimated that Instagram brought in $24 billion in revenue in 2020, accounting for roughly 36.9% of Facebook’s annual revenue.
5. More than 80% of businesses say engagement is the most important metric to measure for Instagram marketing.
6. Currently in 2021, over 70% of U.S. companies use Instagram for marketing.
7. 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business on the platform.
8. 81% of people use Instagram to research products or services.
1. 500 million users use the “stories” feature daily.
2. Instagram posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without.
3. The best time to post on Instagram is 11 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
4. The most used emoji is the heart <3
5. According to British anti-bullying organization Ditch The Label’s annual survey, Instagram was the most widely used cyberbullying network in 2017, with 42 percent of those cyberbullied reporting that Instagram was the network of choice.
6. Pizza is the most widely Instagrammed food, directly ahead of steak and sushi.
7. The most popular filters are Clarendon, Gingham and Juno/Lark.
Know any important Instagram statistics that we missed? Let us know!
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
How often do you post on Instagram? Many bloggers, no matter how many followers they have, don't know if they should post new posts once a day, three times a week, or several times a day.
You don't want to bore your audience with too frequent posts, but being forgotten is a so-so prospect.
What to do?
There may not be a universal answer to this question, but in this article you will find advice from 20+ marketers with years of experience in managing Instagram accounts. You will learn how to develop a strategy that is right for your company and audience.
How often to post on Instagram: best practices
Daily posts
1.
Instagram algorithms may reward you
2. Increased visibility
3. You keep the attention and interest of the audience
Posting 3-5 once a week
1. Engagement rate can grow
2. Opportunity to improvise
3. You won’t have to post irrelevant content
Posting 1-2 times a week
Do I need to make a schedule?
Quality over quantity
What's next?
If you've been looking for the secret formula to find the exact answer to this question, we're going to have to disappoint you: best practices vary by industry and company type. Much depends on the preferences of your audience.
Only one thing is universal - you need to study your subscribers and find out how often they want to see you in their feed. Below you will find recommendations from marketers, most of whom have been blogging on Instagram for more than three years (>40% of respondents), which means they have had enough time to test different strategies and find out which ones work best.
Read also: How to grow your business by attracting leads from Instagram?
Some companies benefit from publishing new posts every day. This may depend on your goals, or whether you work in B2B or B2C, or what other channels you use to promote your products or services.
If Instagram is your main social media platform for finding new potential buyers, then according to experts, posting every day can be especially beneficial for your company.
There are three reasons for this:
You may have heard complaints about Instagram's algorithms: if you take a moment to distract yourself, your audience reach shrinks. While it's not true that all activity on an app is tracked by a single algorithm, frequent and regular posts do get more engagement.
John Frigo of Best Price Nutrition says, "Instagram's algorithms, and indeed most social media, reward frequent posts, so it's best to post daily."
Many companies benefit from publishing one post each day. Marketing experts believe that this frequency of posts is optimal: they do not overload the audience and at the same time do not let you be forgotten.
Only 10% of survey participants have an audience between 25,000 and 50,000 subscribers, the majority (more than 30%) have less than 1,000. In order to attract more, increase visibility and expand your reach, it can be beneficial for you to post every day.
For Finding Balance's Lily Ugbaia, daily posts are the best fit for her company and audience. This frequency of posting helps to attract the attention of new followers: “Instagram is a very visual platform.
Therefore, to get the most out of it, you need visuals that represent your company so that customers and potential buyers can see you all the time.”
Harriet Chen of CocoFinder also believes that daily posts increase visibility on Instagram. It can be useful to post even a few posts a day: “Experts believe that you need to post new posts every day. But for maximum engagement, you need three posts a day. This frequency increases the visibility of your brand and helps boost sales of your products.”
Daily posts give engaged audiences exactly what they want. If your followers enjoy interacting with brands, posting daily will help keep them engaged and allow followers to enjoy new content all the time so they don't lose interest.
“For years, we have been experimenting with post frequency and choosing the best strategies for our business Instagram account,” says Jonathan Ofrey of Growth Hackers Agency.
"We've found that daily posts work best because by providing content regularly, we keep engagement without overwhelming our community."
Chloe Sisson of Zen Media agrees that posting more than once a day can overwhelm subscribers unless the posts are related to each other. “If Instagram is your main marketing tool, it is recommended to post once a day. Set a specific time for this so your followers know when to expect your content. We post once a day. We have found that this frequency works best for our audience.”
Read also: How to build a large audience on Instagram: 7 recommendations
What if you can't post every day? Or, for example, is your audience dissatisfied with an overabundance of content? Do not worry. Some experts recommend posting once or twice a week, as well as posting on weekdays rather than weekends.
Once again, it all depends on your audience. If your target followers commute during the week and spend the weekend with their family without looking at their phones, you'll schedule your schedule so your best posts don't go unnoticed.
The majority of survey participants (more than 30%) name an engagement rate of 1-3%, and this is good for Instagram. The majority of those surveyed only post a few times a week because such a schedule increases engagement. The audience has more time to explore the content and interact with it.
Sometimes something unexpected happens that you want to tell subscribers about. If your schedule calls for two or three posts a week, you can always cram in an announcement or post something impulsively without overwhelming your audience.
A strict schedule also robs your profile of authenticity. Authenticity is important because people want to get to know you, feel your energy, and see if you're the right fit for them. People want to talk to people, not robots.
So always leave space for spontaneous posts, as Stephanie Gutierrez of Online Optimism advises. She thinks it's best to post 3-5 times a week if you want to "maintain an active Instagram account that grabs and keeps attention. It's important to leave room in your content plan to accommodate the new material that's coming out this week and stay on schedule."
What if you post a post a day and have nothing prepared for today? Will you post anything just to stay on schedule? Frequency is important, but not enough to post irrelevant content.
Dennis Hancock of Mountain Valley MD thinks you shouldn't post just to tick off a plan. The best practice is to “post often enough for your audience to remember your brand, and if your posts are engaging, Instagram will reward you with a wider audience reach. Posting once a day is good if you share something important. No need to post irrelevant or weak content.”
Charlotte Spence of Mattress Nerd says, “Posting 3 times a day is annoying for most users and will quickly lead to unfollowing. Make a schedule and post anywhere from 5 posts per week to 2 posts per day, but only if you're sharing high quality content. Create your posts ahead of time when you have a good idea, and if you don't have a good post ready, don't post anything. Better to remain silent than to post irrelevant content."
Read also: Lead generation on Instagram: how to create photo captions?
If Instagram is just one of your marketing channels, then you don't need daily posts to maintain your online presence and keep your audience up to date with all the latest news about your brand.
Posting once or twice a week works well if you're consistent. Mitchell Harad of Expert Opportunities says it's important to stick to a schedule, and consistency is "the most valuable quality" for a company looking to win over an audience.
“If you only post once a week, that's fine. Just make it a habit to do it at the same time so your audience will expect it. The same goes for posting three times a week. This strategy isn't three times better: it's just as valuable if you stick to your schedule. The audience craves consistency, and when the frequency of your posts provides it, that's good."
This is true: people love routine and predictability. If your followers are used to reading your content over their Tuesday morning coffee, don't disappoint them.
"It's important to set up a schedule and stick to it so your community knows what to expect from you," says Jordin Jewell of Simple Machines Marketing. - If you decide to post twice a week, then twice a week share valuable, engaging content that your audience will want to keep and forward to friends. If you can post content like this five times a week, that's great! But it’s better to share valuable content 1-3 times a week than to post anything every day for show. ”
Read also: Why Your Instagram Posts Don't Engage: The Scientific Reason
Does every company need a schedule for posting content? Scheduling is useful because people will get used to you posting at certain times and will wait for them.
Tarlia Smedley of Pulse Recruitment says consistency is key. “Instead of requiring a fixed number of posts every day or every week, I believe that success on Instagram depends on the quality and consistency of the posts.”
“There is no point in posting low quality content, especially if you are not achieving the desired engagement metrics. In that case, I would suggest posting less content overall to focus on the quality of posts with higher engagement rates.”
For those who don't know how often to post, Smedley's advice is: “Determine how much content you can create in a week and stick with that amount of posts. You may only post them three times a week, but if you spread them out by day of the week and stick to a schedule, you'll get better results in the long run. Each company is different, so set achievable goals for yourself and post at least once a week and no more than three times a day.”
Engagement is important, of course, but sometimes it can be difficult to create engaging content for Instagram, especially if it's not the only platform you use to advertise and find new audiences. Alex Birket of Conversion.AI thinks the key is to create something of value and attention: “Actually, I think you shouldn't be posting as often as you think. Creating interesting content for Instagram is not easy, especially for companies: you are competing with friends and family of your followers. Your ad may not be the most interesting thing they see in a day.”
Most people don't go to Instagram to shop and watch ads, so your job is to create an interesting and engaging story. Birket says: “I think you should post when you have something interesting for your followers. But don't overdo it. Instagram algorithms are such that the more followers interact with your content, the higher you will appear in their feed, and vice versa. Therefore, quality is more important than quantity. Anyway, it's about posts, but you can post more stories."
Also read: Stop organic social media activity to increase profits
All experts agree on one thing: quality is always more important than quantity.
Over time, your audience will get to know you better and understand which of your posts are authentic and which are posted for show. If you don't have the time or material to create a quality post, it's best not to post anything.
It takes a lot of time to experiment and find out what works for your audience. To get started, try the best practices recommended by the experts. This way, you will probably find your ideal posting frequency faster and develop a schedule that works for you and your audience.
The main thing is to listen to what your followers want and monitor their reactions to your posts. Then you will be able to strike a balance, delight and engage your audience, and provide them with high-quality content so that your Instagram community will grow and grow.
Suppose you have collected a large number of followers on your Instagram account, how to convert them into buyers? A prominent avatar, a competent offer, a clear call to action in the profile and a link to a mobile landing page are aimed at attracting potential customers from Instagram as much as possible. Therefore, if your bio does not contain these elements, it's time to correct this omission.
High conversions for you!
Source: databox.com. Image: freepik.com
02-09-2021
How often do you post on Instagram? Many bloggers, no matter how many followers they have, don't know if they should post new posts once a day, three times a week, or several times a day.
You don't want to bore your audience with too frequent posts, but being forgotten is a so-so prospect.
What to do?
There may not be a universal answer to this question, but in this article you will find advice from 20+ marketers with years of experience in managing Instagram accounts. You will learn how to develop a strategy that is right for your company and audience.
How often to post on Instagram: best practices
Daily posts
1. Instagram algorithms may reward you
2. Increased visibility
3. You keep the attention and interest of the audience
Posting 3-5 times a week
1. Engagement rate can increase
2. Ability to improvise
3. You don’t have to post irrelevant content
Posting 1-2 times a week
Do I need to make a schedule?
Quality over quantity
What's next?
If you've been looking for the secret formula to find the exact answer to this question, we're going to have to disappoint you: best practices vary by industry and company type. Much depends on the preferences of your audience.
Only one thing is universal - you need to study your subscribers and find out how often they want to see you in their feed. Below you will find recommendations from marketers, most of whom have been blogging on Instagram for more than three years (>40% of respondents), which means they have had enough time to test different strategies and find out which ones work best.
Read also: How to grow your business by attracting leads from Instagram?
Some companies benefit from publishing new posts every day. This may depend on your goals, or whether you work in B2B or B2C, or what other channels you use to promote your products or services.
If Instagram is your main social media platform for finding new potential buyers, then according to experts, posting every day can be especially beneficial for your company.
There are three reasons for this:
You may have heard complaints about Instagram's algorithms: if you take a moment to distract yourself, your audience reach shrinks. While it's not true that all activity on an app is tracked by a single algorithm, frequent and regular posts do get more engagement.
John Frigo of Best Price Nutrition says, "Instagram's algorithms, and indeed most social media, reward frequent posts, so it's best to post daily."
Many companies benefit from publishing one post each day. Marketing experts believe that this frequency of posts is optimal: they do not overload the audience and at the same time do not let you be forgotten.
Only 10% of survey participants have an audience between 25,000 and 50,000 subscribers, the majority (more than 30%) have less than 1,000. In order to attract more, increase visibility and expand your reach, it can be beneficial for you to post every day.
For Finding Balance's Lily Ugbaia, daily posts are the best fit for her company and audience. This frequency of posting helps to attract the attention of new followers: “Instagram is a very visual platform. Therefore, to get the most out of it, you need visuals that represent your company so that customers and potential buyers can see you all the time.”
Harriet Chen of CocoFinder also believes that daily posts increase visibility on Instagram. It can be useful to post even a few posts a day: “Experts believe that you need to post new posts every day. But for maximum engagement, you need three posts a day. This frequency increases the visibility of your brand and helps boost sales of your products.”
Daily posts give engaged audiences exactly what they want. If your followers enjoy interacting with brands, posting daily will help keep them engaged and allow followers to enjoy new content all the time so they don't lose interest.
“For years, we have been experimenting with post frequency and choosing the best strategies for our business Instagram account,” says Jonathan Ofrey of Growth Hackers Agency. "We've found that daily posts work best because by providing content regularly, we keep engagement without overwhelming our community."
Chloe Sisson of Zen Media agrees that posting more than once a day can overwhelm subscribers unless the posts are related to each other. “If Instagram is your main marketing tool, it is recommended to post once a day. Set a specific time for this so your followers know when to expect your content. We post once a day. We have found that this frequency works best for our audience.”
Read also: How to build a large audience on Instagram: 7 recommendations
What if you can't post every day? Or, for example, is your audience dissatisfied with an overabundance of content? Do not worry. Some experts recommend posting once or twice a week, as well as posting on weekdays rather than weekends.
Once again, it all depends on your audience. If your target followers commute during the week and spend the weekend with their family without looking at their phones, you'll schedule your schedule so your best posts don't go unnoticed.
The majority of survey participants (more than 30%) name an engagement rate of 1-3%, and this is good for Instagram. The majority of those surveyed only post a few times a week because such a schedule increases engagement. The audience has more time to explore the content and interact with it.
Sometimes something unexpected happens that you want to tell subscribers about. If your schedule calls for two or three posts a week, you can always cram in an announcement or post something impulsively without overwhelming your audience.
A strict schedule also robs your profile of authenticity. Authenticity is important because people want to get to know you, feel your energy, and see if you're the right fit for them. People want to talk to people, not robots.
So always leave space for spontaneous posts, as Stephanie Gutierrez of Online Optimism advises. She thinks it's best to post 3-5 times a week if you want to "maintain an active Instagram account that grabs and keeps attention. It's important to leave room in your content plan to accommodate the new material that's coming out this week and stay on schedule."
What if you post a post a day and have nothing prepared for today? Will you post anything just to stay on schedule? Frequency is important, but not enough to post irrelevant content.
Dennis Hancock of Mountain Valley MD thinks you shouldn't post just to tick off a plan. The best practice is to “post often enough for your audience to remember your brand, and if your posts are engaging, Instagram will reward you with a wider audience reach. Posting once a day is good if you share something important. No need to post irrelevant or weak content.”
Charlotte Spence of Mattress Nerd says, “Posting 3 times a day is annoying for most users and will quickly lead to unfollowing. Make a schedule and post anywhere from 5 posts per week to 2 posts per day, but only if you're sharing high quality content. Create your posts ahead of time when you have a good idea, and if you don't have a good post ready, don't post anything. Better to remain silent than to post irrelevant content."
Read also: Lead generation on Instagram: how to create photo captions?
If Instagram is just one of your marketing channels, then you don't need daily posts to maintain your online presence and keep your audience up to date with all the latest news about your brand.
Posting once or twice a week works well if you're consistent. Mitchell Harad of Expert Opportunities says it's important to stick to a schedule, and consistency is "the most valuable quality" for a company looking to win over an audience.
“If you only post once a week, that's fine. Just make it a habit to do it at the same time so your audience will expect it. The same goes for posting three times a week. This strategy isn't three times better: it's just as valuable if you stick to your schedule. The audience craves consistency, and when the frequency of your posts provides it, that's good."
This is true: people love routine and predictability. If your followers are used to reading your content over their Tuesday morning coffee, don't disappoint them.
"It's important to set up a schedule and stick to it so your community knows what to expect from you," says Jordin Jewell of Simple Machines Marketing. - If you decide to post twice a week, then twice a week share valuable, engaging content that your audience will want to keep and forward to friends. If you can post content like this five times a week, that's great! But it’s better to share valuable content 1-3 times a week than to post anything every day for show. ”
Read also: Why Your Instagram Posts Don't Engage: The Scientific Reason
Does every company need a schedule for posting content? Scheduling is useful because people will get used to you posting at certain times and will wait for them.
Tarlia Smedley of Pulse Recruitment says consistency is key. “Instead of requiring a fixed number of posts every day or every week, I believe that success on Instagram depends on the quality and consistency of the posts.”
“There is no point in posting low quality content, especially if you are not achieving the desired engagement metrics. In that case, I would suggest posting less content overall to focus on the quality of posts with higher engagement rates.”
For those who don't know how often to post, Smedley's advice is: “Determine how much content you can create in a week and stick with that amount of posts. You may only post them three times a week, but if you spread them out by day of the week and stick to a schedule, you'll get better results in the long run. Each company is different, so set achievable goals for yourself and post at least once a week and no more than three times a day.”
Engagement is important, of course, but sometimes it can be difficult to create engaging content for Instagram, especially if it's not the only platform you use to advertise and find new audiences. Alex Birket of Conversion.AI thinks the key is to create something of value and attention: “Actually, I think you shouldn't be posting as often as you think. Creating interesting content for Instagram is not easy, especially for companies: you are competing with friends and family of your followers. Your ad may not be the most interesting thing they see in a day.”
Most people don't go to Instagram to shop and watch ads, so your job is to create an interesting and engaging story. Birket says: “I think you should post when you have something interesting for your followers. But don't overdo it. Instagram algorithms are such that the more followers interact with your content, the higher you will appear in their feed, and vice versa. Therefore, quality is more important than quantity. Anyway, it's about posts, but you can post more stories."
Also read: Stop organic social media activity to increase profits
All experts agree on one thing: quality is always more important than quantity.
Over time, your audience will get to know you better and understand which of your posts are authentic and which are posted for show. If you don't have the time or material to create a quality post, it's best not to post anything.
It takes a lot of time to experiment and find out what works for your audience. To get started, try the best practices recommended by the experts. This way, you will probably find your ideal posting frequency faster and develop a schedule that works for you and your audience.
The main thing is to listen to what your followers want and monitor their reactions to your posts. Then you will be able to strike a balance, delight and engage your audience, and provide them with high-quality content so that your Instagram community will grow and grow.
Suppose you have collected a large number of followers on your Instagram account, how to convert them into buyers? A prominent avatar, a competent offer, a clear call to action in the profile and a link to a mobile landing page are aimed at attracting potential customers from Instagram as much as possible.
