Instagram Users Doubles in Size (Again)

Instagram’s growth has been astonishing, to say the least. From everyday pictures of meals to breath-taking images of natural beauty, mobile app-only Instagram has proven to be a big hit with the visual social media platform now nearing a billion active users.

Massive Growth

As of September 2017, Instagram has 800 million active users, of which 500 million use the app every day. It’s not just the number of users that is shocking marketers, but the rate of growth. It may be down to a few factors, including the introduction of Instagram Stories, a feature that has more than 250 million daily users. That is more than rival Snapchat’s entire number of users. It’s a way of adding a picture or video that will last for only 24 hours before disappearing. Although Snapchat runs on a similar function, it seems users are preferring Instagram.

Advertisers See Benefit

Because the growth in users has been so great, the advertisers have followed. There are currently over two million advertisers using Instagram, double the amount this time last year. The level of engagement on Instagram goes far beyond any other social media platform at 58 times more per follower than Facebook and 120 times more than Twitter. Although Facebook is still king of the social media platforms, organic reach is becoming increasingly difficult. Instagram makes it a lot easier to be seen and engage with potential customers with the rate of engagement growing on average 53% every year. With 500 million users logging in every day, there’s a great chance marketing efforts will be seen and not go to waste.

How Small Businesses Can Use the Power of Instagram

If your business targets people in their 30s and younger, then Instagram might be ideal for you. This makes up nearly 40% of the user base, and you’re far more likely to be seen by your target audience here than anywhere else.

If your target audience in local, you will really see benefit of being on Instagram. By including a location along with hashtags, you will be seen by an even wider audience, exposing you to local people.

You will have a better chance of competing if you are active on Instagram. 73% of brands on there now post at least one picture or video once a week to keep appealing to audiences. The number of brands on the visual social media platform with over 100,000 followers has grown 163% in only two years. This proves that Instagram makes it so much easier to get seen than other platforms and appeal to audiences who are looking for what you have to offer!

The visual content on Instagram is generally more appealing and is more likely to be remembered than just a bunch of text. People remember 80% of what they see, so if you aren’t getting your business up on Instagram, you could be doing your brand a great disservice.

Overall, if your customers are using Instagram, you should be too. If you are having trouble harnessing the power of the visual social media platform, then Matter Solutions are here to help. We can help you find the right balance of hashtags to accompany amazing eye-catching visuals that will turn Instagram users into followers and followers into customers. We take the time to find the key hashtags that are relevant to your industry so people who are looking for things that your business has to offer will find you. Contact our team of social media experts today to discuss how we can integrate Instagram into a remarkable digital marketing strategy for your business.