There’s a lot of talk about Instagram’s hyper-visual nature and why that makes it a hotspot for marketers. While that’s definitely true, the main reason I think Instagram has become the gold standard for social media marketing is because it’s a trendsetter.
Instagram ushered in a new wave of marketing: influencer marketing, with its economy of creators and influencers.
As a Born on Instagram creator myself, it all started from Instagram! Ever since then, all other social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Pinterest) have started their own creator programs, trying to reel in influencers and be a means of influencer marketing.
Instagram’s no longer just a platform for doomscrolling. It’s a place to discover new inspiration and new brands, make purchases, and find products that make you happy and complete your life. Let’s have a look at all the important Instagram stats that make the platform a great choice to amplify your marketing game:
Instagram Has 2 Billion Monthly Active Users
Instagram is one of the top 4 social media networks in the world, with 2 billion monthly active users. In fact, it’s preceded by Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp, with Facebook and WhatsApp being a part of the same Meta family.
Facebook is the top social media platform, with 2.9 billion active users. Moreover, both Facebook and Instagram allow users to connect with people across geographical and economic borders in multiple languages.
Perfect for brand marketers and affiliate marketers, Instagram has an ad reach of 1.62 billion every month. As it’s also one of the top 4 active social media networks, Instagram opens up a world of possibilities for brands and businesses.
As a brand or business on Instagram, your ads have the potential to reach 200 billion active users in a single month. Moreover, 87% of buyers say they can take action once they discover a product on Instagram.
Users aged between 18 – 24 make up the largest share of Instagram’s advertising audience. The average engagement rate for all posts on Instagram is 0.71%, as shared by Locowise. The highest engagement is for carousel posts at 1.28%, followed by video posts and photo posts at 0.59% and 0.58%.
India Has the Largest Instagram Audience
There are 229 million Instagram users in India alone, which makes it Instagram’s leading market. Indians use Instagram to follow creative trends, shop for products, and discover themselves. In addition to being a high-growth market for Instagram ads, India has one of the largest numbers of creators on Instagram.
In fact, as a Born on Instagram creator in India myself, I can say influencer marketing has really caught up in India. More and more brands are collaborating with influencers and micro-influencers to promote their brand and products.
The United States takes the second place with 143 million Instagram users. Next comes Brazil, with 113 million users. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan are also close behind.
Instagram is a great place for people to discover your brands. They do so with sponsored ads, suggested posts, and viral reels. However, you can ensure organic posts are more discoverable by adding hashtags.
But, the age-old question with Instagram hashtags has been the same: How many hashtags should you use? Hubspot says the average Instagram post contains 10.743886135116517 hashtags. However, around 50% of Instagram posts use less than 6 hashtags.
You’d be amazed to find out that this is also a figure Instagram itself thinks is fit. As a part of the Born on Instagram creator course, Instagram advises its creators like me to use a maximum of 5–6 hashtags and not overuse them.
Brunei Has the Highest Instagram Reach
While India is the top market for Instagram with the largest number of users (229 million), there’s another country that takes the trophy when it comes to the highest Instagram reach, with 92% of the population on Instagram. We’re talking about Brunei.
Brunei’s Instagram engagement rate is 74%, followed by Kazakhstan, with a 72% audience reach. In Brunei, Instagram is the most popular social media network. Facebook and YouTube take a step back in the country. And, another interesting aspect is, Brunei has more female Instagram users than men.
The country sees Instagram as a creative space to express themselves and carve their identities.
Instagram’s internal data shows its advertising reach has increased at a progressive pace in January, February, and March 2023. In the three months leading up to April 2023, the total number of users has increased by 310 million, which is 23.5% compared to the previous figure.
That’s because Instagram Reels have taken the ad market by storm. Marketers are relying on sponsored ads as well as paid partnerships with creators to create a brand name and bring in more users. Moreover, Instagram allows users to experiment with several types of ad formats:
- Photo ads
- Video ads
- Carousel ads
- Stories ads
- Ads in Explore
Almost 31% of Instagram Users Are Between 18 – 24
Instagram is most popularly used by users aged between 18 – 24. This age group makes up 30.8% of Instagram’s total users, followed by 30.3% of users aged between 25 and 34.
35 – 40 is the third-largest age group, with 15.7% of Instagram users belonging to this group. The youth likes Instagram because it’s visually oriented. It’s the best place to get new inspiration, work on ideas, and discover creative things. Moreover, Instagram Reels share everything from the locations you should travel next to taxation tips to life hacks.
Trends come and go, but while they’re here, they keep the Instagram audience entertained with something new every week.
51.8% of Instagram’s Audience Is Men
I used to think Instagram was more popular among women. However, according to Statista, 51.8% of Instagram’s total audience is men. Women only take up 48.2%. While the difference isn’t big, men and women tend to use social media differently.
Snapchat is the social media platform that has the highest share of female audiences, while Twitter, with 63% men, has the highest share of male audiences. Instagram comes in second place with 48.2% women.
The norm has been that men use social media like Twitter (now X) or LinkedIn to build influence and gather information. However, as more men opt for a visual-first and video-oriented platform like Instagram, it changes the understanding of men’s social media usage.
They are also moved by the virality of Instagram Reels and are using social media for entertainment, relaxation, and creative inspiration.
Cristiano Ronaldo Is the Most Followed Person
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-followed person on Instagram, with 608M followers as of October 2023. The most-followed account on Instagram, however, belongs to Instagram with 660M followers.
Leo Messi is in the third spot with 489M followers. He rose from the fifth position to the third position after the massive FIFA World Cup 2023 win!
The most-followed woman on Instagram, as of October 2023, is Selena Gomez, with 430M followers. She’s fourth in the top ten and overtook Kylie Jenner in February 2023.
Kylie Jenner is next with 399M followers, followed by Dwayne Johnson with 391M followers and Ariana Grande with 308M followers. Other people in the top ten include Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, Khloé Kardashian.
25.9% of the Global Population 13 or Above Are on Instagram
Instagram has 1.628 billion users around the world. That makes it 25.9% of the population that’s 13 or above on Instagram. When a quarter of the world’s population is on Instagram, it’s a clear marker of why Instagram is one of the top four social media networks in the world!
Instagram is still blocked in China, so if all Chinese individuals aged 13 or above were to be removed from this estimate, the adoption rate of Instagram would jump from 25.9% to 32.2%.
Please note: This is based on Instagram’s advertising audience, and might not reflect its total user base.
33.1 Minutes for Instagram Every Day
In 2023, Instagram users are spending a minimum of 33.1 minutes on Instagram every day. In fact, that figure is higher than Facebook, where the average time spent is 30.9, Snapchat with 30.0, and Reddit with 24.1 minutes.
They are spending the highest time on TikTok, however, with a minimum of 53.8 minutes spent on it every day. That’s followed by YouTube, Twitter (now X), and Instagram.
Before 2022, people spent the most time on YouTube. TikTok has risen quite a lot in the last few years, overtaking Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube as well, for the first time!
Instagram’s Most Popular Content
In 2022, the most popular content on Instagram was posts with images. 42.2% of the content was images, followed by carousels with 26.2%.
However, that trend is changing with the popularity of Instagram Reels. In 2023, Instagram’s internal data, shared with BOI creators like me, reveals Instagram Reels and Carousel Image posts as the most popular content on the platform.
However, even in 2022, Instagram Reels were the most popular when measured for metrics like reach and likes. And images received the highest engagement when it came from comments. Now, another metric has also gained popularity on Instagram, and that is saves! Instagram Reels and carousel posts are the most saved items in 2023.
70% of Shoppers Discover Their Next Buy on Instagram
Instagram’s advertising data reveals that 70% of shoppers use the platform to discover their next purchase. Hence, it’s one of the best areas for your product to get discovered by newer audiences. For brands and businesses that are just starting out, brand awareness can be tricky.
However, with sponsored ads and paid partnerships with Instagram creators, discovering your brand or positioning a product gets easier. You start getting more purchases and more qualified leads.
Instagram Reels Have the Highest Reach
Instagram Reels have the highest reach on the platform, with 33.8% in 2023, followed by carousel posts. This is usually measured by the number of impressions reels or posts are getting. The average engagement rate is different, and currently at 30.8% on Instagram Reels.
In 2022, Instagram image posts had the highest average reach. Each image reached 1850 users in 2022, a figure already declining in comparison to 2706 users in 2021. In 2023, this figure has further declined, making way for Instagram Reels.
Carousel posts in 2022 witnessed 2325 users in comparison to 2350 users in 2021. Videos have had the lowest reach, which led to Instagram finally discontinuing IGTV in 2023.
Advertisers Can Reach 176 More Million Users
Instagram’s advertising audience has increased 12.2% in the last year, and now advertisers can reach 176 more million users. Probably, that explains why advertisers flock to Instagram ads despite the cost per click being the highest on Instagram. It’s almost double the amount that Facebook or Twitter (now X charges).
Further, according to Digital 2023 Global Overview Report, the total potential reach of Instagram ads is 1.32 billion. In fact, that’s a total of 16.5% ad reach. Instagram Reel ads are the most effective, with a reach capacity of 726.8 million.
Following and researching brands happen to be the second most popular activity on Instagram. That’s why it’s a great place for advertisers to find followers, buyers, and a target audience who’d be interested in buying your product and becoming a returning visitor.
People Visit 200 Million Business Accounts
For most businesses, one of the most important tasks is to make their brand discoverable. The next best thing is people talking about your brand or visiting your social handles! That’s why Instagram is a great place for businesses and brands. 200 million business accounts are visited every single day on Instagram.
Not only that, brands also see a 16% increase in sales according to Instagram’s internal ads data. Instagram can drive audiences to make purchases and follow your business accounts. Almost 90% of the audience on Instagram follows one or more business accounts, no matter how small their accounts are.
If you’re an individual looking for ways to make money on Instagram, you’d be thrilled to check subscriptions, reel bonuses, and coach opportunities!
The Most Popular Post on Instagram
While we’re on the talk of Instagram stats, let’s have some fun. Remember the most popular post on Instagram? It was the photo of an egg posted by an unknown user (now verified) called world_record_egg. It had started a campaign in 2019 to become the most-liked post on Instagram, beating Kylie Jenner’s last record.
What’s even more fascinating is that the egg gang only has one post on Instagram and no other activity. It looks like a social experiment and the power of human connection.
Well, it succeeded until the G.O.A.T. picked up the FIFA World Cup Trophy in 2023! You’re right, I’m talking about Lionel Messi. His winning post is currently the most popular post on Instagram, with 61.2 million likes.
The egg had a record of 55.9 million likes, according to Statista, but on Instagram Search in October 2023, I see it has risen to 60.2 million likes! Now, Instagram Search doesn’t show the like count of Leo Messi’s World Cup post (could be a glitch, could be a new feature). But one thing remains constant: he is the champion not only in the world of football but also in the world of Instagram.
Instagram’s The Rage
Instagram has overpassed all other major players in a very short time, simply because the youth aged 18 – 34 find the social media platform more engaging than even its meta counterpart: Facebook.
As the latest youth continues to be the highest audience of the platform, the users and the platform’s popularity are only going to rise. It’s just a matter of time until Instagram topples the others on its way and becomes the top social media platform.
The youth’s presence also makes Instagram a great space for advertisers, marketers, and brands. Despite the high cost per click of Instagram ads, the platform offers one of the highest engagements, a 70% conversion rate, and qualified leads.
Hence, Instagram is all the rage in the marketing world now and will continue to be the trendsetter. After all, it was from Instagram the creator industry of influencers started growing, and now Facebook, LinkedIn, and X have had to make a creator-focused platform with special offerings and such.
Next, You may also explore some top Instagram mockup generators to elevate your Instagram presence.
