10 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know in 2023 [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 2023 to shed some light on the rising importance of Instagram for your business.

1. How Many People Use Instagram?

According to the latest estimates, Instagram has 1.3 billion users worldwide in 2022 and is used by one out of every three social media users (eMarketer, 2022). 

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.

From 2019 to 2021, the number of Instagram users worldwide grew by 383 million. In fact, in 2020, the popular photo-sharing network crossed the 1 billion mark for the very first time—a feat experts had previously expected in 2024. Incidentally, that same year, Instagram registered a big 22.9% increase in the number of users. Analysts attribute a big part of this massive growth to the coronavirus pandemic, which drove users to sign up for Instagram.

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, now known as X), 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 2 million times. So while it may emit that warm fuzzy feeling in your viewers, your post could be drowned out by the 2 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

70.8% of the 1.3 billion monthly active users on the Instagram app are under the age of 35 (Statista, 2022). This statistic provides information on the distribution of Instagram users worldwide as of April 2022. The single most popular age bracket is 25 to 34 (31.7%), followed by 18 to 24 (30.2%). Does your target audience include these two age ranges?

Understanding social media age 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, Instagram is definitely the right place for you to be. Once you know this, you can start jumping on the latest Instagram trends and producing the right type of Instagram content that caters to your users’ interests and needs.

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

Facebook may be leading the social media charts in terms of users, but recent Instagram statistics show that US consumers spend more time on Instagram than they do on Facebook. In 2023, Instagram users are predicted to spend an average of 30.6 minutes per day on the platform, compared to 30.2 minutes on Facebook (eMarketer, 2023).

The time spent on Instagram matters because the more time people spend on the app, the more advertisements they see, and the more opportunities they have to notice your brand. Instagram also revealed that its Instagram Stories feature drives the amount of time people spend 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, it’s no wonder that there are over 200 million businesses marketing their products on the platform (Instagram, 2022). 

According to Instagram, as many as 70% of consumers turn to Instagram to find inspiration for their next purchase. Given the potential and not to mention the slew of tools available for brands to market on Instagram, not being on Instagram would be a huge missed opportunity.

Being active on Instagram means measuring success. One key metric that all businesses need to be tracking is the engagement rate. Recent data on the average Instagram engagement rates shows that carousel posts receive the highest level of interaction among Instagram users, with a rate of 0.77%. In comparison, the average across all Instagram posts is 0.66%. 

Not only is there a huge audience on Instagram, reaching them also does not require 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's 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% (Socialbakers, 2019).

In fact, in the first quarter of 2019, nearly 25,000 Instagram accounts were 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%) of influencers with over a million followers use #ad in their posts. In comparison, less than one in five of influencers with fewer than 1 million followers and just around 2% of micro-influencers with fewer than 10,000 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%. 

7. Instagram Stories Reach

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 and spending more time on Instagram. 

This is so much so that Instagram Stories now has a reach of 996 million people worldwide (Hootsuite, 2023). In comparison, the platform’s main feed’s reach is 1.32 billion.

Before Instagram stories, people were mostly sharing their important moments on their profiles, and these weren’t necessarily done on a daily basis. But Instagram has hit the nail on the head with 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. If you’re thinking about using or are already using Stories in your social media strategy, here’s another Instagram statistic and benchmark to keep in mind: the most active brands on Instagram post an average of 17 Stories every month.

8. Buyers Research Brands on Instagram

62.2% of Instagram users follow and research brands and products on the platform (DataReportal, 2023). This means that businesses have a great opportunity to increase their reach through Instagram. Whether you’re a local brand or have target audiences located all over the world, you have the potential to grow your business by using Instagram.

Instagram Business profiles allow brands to add their additional contact information. Note that this isn’t an option available for personal profiles. This includes a business phone number and address. 

Instagram Business also gives you access to Instagram analytics, which can provide you valuable data about how your content is performing. Aside from impressions and reach per post, you also gain key 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 or belong to, you’ll be able to better gauge how to best get users to follow your brand on Instagram.

9. Instagram's 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's Impact on Shopping Journeys

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 isn't using Instagram as part of your social media marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Especially if your business is targeting millennials. 

There are a bunch of different tactics that you can use to impact buyers' decisions 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 hope that these 10 Instagram statistics for 2023 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 2023:

1. There are 1.3 billion Instagram users worldwide in 2022.
2. The average post on Instagram contains 10.7 hashtags.
3. 70.8% of Instagram users are under the age of 35.
4. US adults spend an average of 30.6 minutes per day on Instagram.
5. There are over 200 million businesses on Instagram.
6. The use of the #ad hashtag on Instagram increased by 133% from February 2018 to February 2019.
7. Instagram Stories has a potential reach of 996 million people.
8. 62.2% of Instagram users follow and research brands and products on the platform.
9. Instagram can generate over 4x more interactions on Instagram compared to Facebook.
10. Instagram helps 80% of Instagram users decide to buy a product or service.

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Is there anything else you’d like to know about Instagram statistics and wish was included in this article?