By the Numbers: The most popular formats, times to post on Instagram
It’s not just you: reach is down across the board.
With TikTok facing a rocky future, Instagram, already one of the dominant social platforms in the world, could become even more important. Its combination of short-form video, photo posts and integration into the Meta family of tools makes it a force to be reckoned with. It also maintains strong popularity with young people: 78% of Americans 18-29 use Instagram, far more than any other social media app except for YouTube.
A new report from social media tool Metricool sheds light on what kinds of posts get the most views and engagement from Instagram to maximize effectiveness. The study examined millions of feed posts, reels and stories from more than 391,000 business, brand and creator accounts.
The study, now in its fourth year, found that reach across the board is down. So if you’ve been wondering why your posts aren’t going as far on Instagram, know you’re not alone. The changes in many cases are drastic: the reach of carousel and image feeds both fell by more than half, though every kind of post saw a decline of at least 40%.
“Overall, users should really use as many formats as they can and be versatile with their content,” said Anniston Ward, Metricool marketing manager. “Because at the end of the day, Instagram wants you to use all of its forms and wants you to be versatile on the platform and engage in all of these different aspects … People shouldn’t get discouraged just because reach overall is down.”
And it’s important to keep in mind that while reach declined, engagement has not. The study found that engagement increased for all account sizes save small and huge, which saw declines of less than 1%.
The most popular formats
The study found that brands post more stories than any other content type by far, representing nearly 72% of all brand posts. That might seem surprising, given their ephemeral nature, but Ward explains that the structure of stories makes them attractive.
“The way that Instagram has really added new elements, like linking, stickers and all these things that allow creators and brands to quickly upload something and say, ‘hey, I have this course, sign up here, or ‘here’s this product’ and link it, they’re starting to use it more as a promotional aspect,” Ward said.
However, despite their popularity, stories have the lowest overall reach of all the IG formats at about 3%. Meanwhile, just 11% of brand content is reels, yet that content type far outperforms all others, accounting for 37% of total content reach.
“This goes back to why we go on socials in the first place and the nature of socials right now is so many short videos and sound bites that we can use to gather data and engagement and entertainment and all these things,” said Ward. “That’s the main reason reels are kind of the main format, and why brands want to use them.”
Reels are driven in large part by Instagram’s algorithmic preference. The last two years, they’ve been boosting their short-form video content in a bid to compete with TikTok.
But while reels might be seen by the most people, they don’t drive the most overall engagement. That honor belongs to carousels, which see an average engagement rate of 10.15%, the study found.
Ward attributes this to the interactivity and storytelling possibility of swiping through carousel images.
“The brand can tell a little bit more of their story or showcase more of their products,” she noted. Instagram also recently increased the number of images that can be displayed in a carousel to 20, offering even more possibilities.
The time of day conundrum
One of the questions clients ask about most frequently is the best time of day to post content on Instagram, Ward said.
The Metricool survey offers answers: To reach the biggest potential audience, post on Wednesdays and Fridays between 7 and 9 p.m.
But Ward stressed that each brand is different and benefits from testing to see whether these general rules of thumb work better or if their audience responds to different timing.
“It doesn’t make or break a strategy, but I think that it’s an important piece to know to really maximize your content and make sure you’re reaching as many people as possible.”
Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
The windows of when posts are most effective definitely caters to people getting off of work around those times. Getting on one’s phone after a long day. I would imagine another good window to post would be around lunchtime. I’ve noticed people on their breaks from school or work often hop on their phones.