10 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know in 2021 [Infographic]

Whether it’s brunch, business, or the beach, we’re all wondering – is it Instagrammable?

Instagram has grown immensely over the years, and it continues to broaden its horizons. The photo-sharing app has gone a long way from once being a favorite for vacationers sharing their holiday pictures to now appealing to all kinds of influencers, advertisers, and brands.

At this point, it’s safe to say that your audience is using Instagram, and your competitors too. But keeping on top of Instagram trends (oh and did we mention algorithm changes too?) becomes a little complicated at times. Your target customers might be scrolling away on their feeds right now, the question for marketers is how and why they should be present on Instagram.

If your brand isn’t already getting in front of users, these marketing statistics will convince you why it should be and give you an idea of what you should be doing so that you can make money on Instagram.

So, let’s get started with the top 10 Instagram statistics for 2021 to shed some light on the rising importance of Instagram for your business.

1. How Many People Use Instagram?

Instagram is estimated to have 1.074 billion users worldwide in 2021 (eMarketer, 2020). That’s a big milestone for the photo-sharing network.

This is 73.5 million more than its number of users in 2020, which crossed the one-billion mark for the very first time. Experts had previously expected to hit this milestone in 2024. Incidentally, Instagram also registered a big 22.9 percent increase in the number of users in 2020. 

Analysts attribute a big part of this massive growth to the coronavirus pandemic, which drove users to sign up for Instagram.

Instagram is a social network that allows users to share and edit both photos and Instagram videos. Once used mainly by teens and young millennials, Instagram continues to grow as one of the most popular social media platforms, and the data tells us that it’s not going to change anytime soon.

If you’re questioning whether your brand should spend the time and money to invest in Instagram, the tremendous number of users should be an indication. Our team has written a guide to setting up an Instagram shop to help you understand the many nuances of the platform.

2. Instagram Hashtags Usage

Ever since the concept of using hashtags to tag and identify topics on social media was invented in 2007 (by Twitter), its usage has exploded and is today considered a quintessential element of social media.

Instagram is certainly no exception to this. From companies and Instagram influencers to even the average Joe, the use of hashtags on Instagram is popular and widespread. 

This is so much so that the latest Instagram statistics show that an average Instagram post contains as many as 10.7 hashtags (HubSpot, 2020). 

But if you’re thinking of going all out on hashtags to try and reach new users and grow your audience, think again. Studies have shown that with Instagram hashtags, it isn’t a case of the more the merrier. In fact, engagement decreases for posts with six or more hashtags, so try to use five or fewer. 

And if you want to get strategic, you may be interested to know that the most popular hashtag on Instagram, #love, has been used over two million times. So while it may emit that warm fuzzy feeling in your viewers, your post could be drowned out by the two million other posts with the same hashtag. 

For reference, #photography, #instagood, #fashion, and #art make up the next four most popular Instagram hashtags.

3. Young Adults Love Instagram

71% of the billion monthly active users on the Instagram app are under the age of 35 (Statista, 2019). This statistic provides information on the distribution of Instagram users worldwide as of January 2019. The single most popular age range is users between the ages of 25-34, followed by users between the ages of 18-24. Does your target audience include this demographic?

Understanding social media demographics will help you determine which platforms make the most sense for your brand to utilize. This way you’ll be sure that you’re not spending time creating content for a platform where your audience doesn’t have a presence. If your target market consists of young adults, you know that Instagram is the right place for you to be. Once you know this, you can start producing the right type of Instagram content that fits your user’s needs and adding all the right Instagram captions.

4. How Much Time Do People Spend on Instagram Daily on Average?

People spend almost as much time on Instagram as they do on Facebook.
The amount of time Android users dedicate to Instagram is approaching that of Facebook — In June 2018 Facebook users’ spent an average of 58 minutes per day on the platform compared to Instagram users’ 53 minutes per day (Recode 2018).

The time spent on Instagram matters because the more time people spend in the app, the more advertisements they see, and the more opportunities they have to notice your brand. Instagram also revealed that introducing the Instagram Story feature increased the amount of time people were spending on the app every day. But not only does the time spent on Instagram matter, but also the time of day that users are most active on the platform. That way, you’ll get to know the best time to post on Instagram for your brand.

5. Businesses are Using Instagram

With Instagram becoming increasingly popular, an estimated 71% of US businesses claim that they use Instagram for business (Mention, 2018). The same study also reveals that 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram are branded. And more than 80% of businesses consider Instagram engagement as the most important metric. Instagram engagement may be one of the most important KPIs for many marketers, but it’s not a straightforward task to measure it. With the Instagram platform rapidly evolving, it’s hard to keep up with the updates and what to measure.

Businesses have a great opportunity to use Instagram for social media marketing. Not only is there a huge market, but there’s an interested audience that you can reach without spending large sums of money. If you’re looking for tips and ideas for how your brand can advertise on Instagram, we’ve got you covered with these eye-catching Instagram post ideas.

6. Instagram Sponsored Content Growth

The trend of influencers publishing sponsored content on Instagram continues to grow with no signs of letting up. Over the course of the year from February 2018 to February 2019, the number of Instagram influencers using the #ad hashtag grew by 133 percent (Socialbakers, 2019).

In fact, in the first quarter of 2019, nearly 25,000 Instagram accounts published with the #ad hashtag. 

Since posts by influencers with a larger following are likely to have more views and reach, it’s expected that these accounts are more sought after for influencer marketing campaigns than those with fewer followers. 

This is reflected in the number of times these high-profile influencers have used the #ad hashtag. More than one quarter (26 percent) of influencers with over a million followers use #ad in their posts. In comparison, less than one in five of influencers with fewer than one million followers and just around two percent of micro-influencers with fewer than ten thousand do so.

And it’s not just the sponsored posts by influencers that are growing in popularity. Across all Instagram posts over this time period, the use of #ad increased by 120 percent. 

7. Instagram Stories Usage

In August 2016, Instagram launched Instagram stories. This game-changing feature allows users to take photos or videos which disappear after 24-hours. After launching this feature, people started sharing way more on Instagram. 500 million Instagram accounts use Instagram Stories every day (Instagram, 2018). Not just that but 1/3 of the most viewed IG stories are from businesses.  

Before Instagram stories, people were mostly sharing their important moments, which weren’t usually on a daily basis. Instagram nailed the hammer on the head with Instagram stories, giving people a better reason to share their everyday moments without actually having to keep the content on their profile. This is also a great opportunity for businesses to increase their visibility. There’s a post showing just how you can also start using Instagram stories to build your audience.

8. Instagrammers Follow Brands

50% of Instagram users follow at least one business (Mention, 2018) meaning that businesses have a great opportunity to increase their reach through Instagram. Whether you’re a local brand or businesses around the world, you have the potential to improve your brand by using Instagram.

With an Instagram Business profile, brands can add their additional contact information that isn’t an option available for personal profiles. This includes a business phone number and address. If you’ve got an Instagram Business profile you also have access to Instagram analytics which can provide you data about impressions and reach per post, as well as more information about your demographic. This can help you to understand what type of content your audience likes the most. So, whether it’s food, clothes, or any niche that you’re interested in, you can be hopeful that there are users who are interested to follow you or your brand on Instagram.

9. Instagram Engagement Matters

Instagram engagement is on the rise for brands. It increased by 29% between October 2017 and May 2018 (Socialbakers, 2018). This means that brands can generate over 4x more interactions on Instagram compared to Facebook.

While we understand that Instagram engagement is important for brands, the question still remains about what Instagram engagement actually is and how it’s measured. Instagram engagement is the degree of involvement that your followers show toward your Instagram content. This could be in the form of likes, comments, or shares. Instagram is a visual content based platform which is one of the reasons why it has such high engagement. It offers a platform for different types of content creation such as photos, videos, live videos, stories, and also the IGTV app. This increases content creativity, as it gives you a wide variety of content types to choose from. If you’re a brand or business, you should be making use of Instagram’s potential to improve interactions. We’ve got a bunch of tips for you to improve your Instagram engagement.

10. Instagram Has an Impact on Buyer’s Shopping Journey

We’ve already gone over the impact of Instagram for brands, but let’s take it a step further. Instagram helps 80% of Instagrammers decide whether to buy a product or service (Facebook, 2019). Instagram users report making a purchase decision based on something that they saw while browsing the app. Influencer marketing plays a huge role in influencing these purchase decisions too, so if your brand is not including Instagram to your social media marketing, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Especially if your business is targeting millennials. 

There’s a bunch of different tactics that you can use to impact the buyer decision on Instagram. So whether it’s Instagram ads, engaging users with creative stories, or including the relevant Instagram hashtags to be more discoverable, it all can matter if you do it right. Check out more Instagram tips on our blog.

Conclusion

Over the years Instagram has proven to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses that are looking to expand both their visibility and reach. We’re hoping that these 10 Instagram statistics for 2021 have helped explain why your brand should be investing in Instagram and given you some ideas of what to do on the platform next.

Summary: Instagram Statistics

Here’s a summary of the Instagram statistics for 2021:

1. There are 1.074 billion Instagram users worldwide in 2021.
2. The average post on Instagram contains 10.7 hashtags.
3. 71% of the billion monthly active users on the Instagram app are under the age of 35.
4. Instagram users spend an average of 53 minutes per day.
5. 500 million IG accounts use Instagram stories every day.
6. The use of the #ad hashtag on Instagram increased by 133% from February 2018 to February 2019.
7. Instagram can generate over 4 x more interactions on Instagram compared to Facebook.
8. 71% of US businesses use Instagram.
9. Instagram helps 80% of Instagram users decide to buy a product or service.
10. 50% of Instagrammers follow at least one business.

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Is there anything else you’d like to know about Instagram statistics and wish was included in this article? Let us know in the comments below!