Instagram has become a major platform, with over 400 million active users and 50,000 photos shared every minute. Success on Instagram depends on creating high-quality content, understanding audience engagement metrics, and using effective strategies like timing and hashtags. The platform continues to evolve with new advertising features, a focus on video, and updates to its API aimed at improving user experience and engagement.

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Hayes Davis
CEO, Union Metrics
hayes@unionmetrics.com
Instagram Insta-Success
Advanced Edition
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Instagram occupies a special place in our social media
world. In six short years, more than 40 billion photos
have been shared on the platform and Instagram now
has more than 400 million monthly active users.

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50,000 new photos were shared on Instagram in the
past 60 seconds. That’s 80 million new photos and
3.5 billion new likes every single day.

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So, how to succeed on Instagram? It comes down to
posting great content, finding the right audience and
understanding how the platform is evolving.

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Posting is the easy part, right? Actually, it’s harder to do
well than you might think. Let’s talk about it.

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Content is still king
Put your best foot forward and post high-quality content. While photos get
more engagement than videos on Instagram, test with your audience.

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…and it lasts longer than you think
10% of likes happen in the first 15 minutes and 90% of a post’s likes and
comments happen in the first 12.8 hours. Most content lives up to 3 days.

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Measure your performance
Here are some basic table stakes KPIs to track when measuring the
performance of owned content on Instagram.
•Post Cadence - Set a target of posts
per day and hit it
•Likes/Post, Comments/Post - The
average number of likes and
comments per post
•Follower Net Change (%) - How
much have your follower level
increased or decreased

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Find your timing
Instagram is very active on nights and weekends. Consider posting content
outside typical US business hours. Test, test, test.

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Develop the right cadence
Generally, more posts = more engagement but you will see diminishing returns.
Test to find a cadence that works for you and then stay consistent.
•Most brands post an average of 1.5
times per day (1-2 posts / weekday)
•The vast majority of brands post less
than 10 times per day
•Avoid long gaps in posting; it often
results in lost followers

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Nobody wants to post into the void. How do you find the
right audience for your content?

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Choose the right hashtags
The right hashtags can increase engagement by 30% or more but finding the
right hashtags can be difficult. Here’s how to do it.
1. Pick a set of “seed” hashtags that you
think your desired audience might use
2. Identify “adjacent” hashtags used
alongside those “seed” hashtags
3. Analyze which adjacent hashtags are
receiving strong engagement
4. Test your own content using those
adjacent hashtags
5. Repeat

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A word about hashtag etiquette
Nobody likes a blatant hashtag stuffer. Use between 3-10 hashtags per post
and consider adding them in a comment separate from the caption.

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Know your influencers (or competitors)
Most people just want to know when an “important” user follows their account.
There’s a lot more to understanding influencers.
•When monitoring hashtags,
determine which users post most
frequently and/or get the most
engagement
•Review specific posts to get
inspiration for your own posts
•Consider analyzing specific influencer
behavior including which hashtags
they use and when they post

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Find customers with geo data
Instagram users frequently tag posts with a location. Use this for regional-level
segmentation or location-specific analysis.
•Monitor community or
industry hashtags to identify
geographic groups
•Monitor brand-specific
hashtags to see specifically
where customers are
posting
•Especially valuable for retail-
oriented brands

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Instagram is evolving quickly (finally). Here are a few
things you need to know.

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API changes
On June 1st, Instagram went live with a significant update to their API. Here’s
what that means for you.
•Less spam - Instagram applications
are now approved by Instagram and
must fit into specific use cases
•More safety - Applications now
request very specific permissions to
access different kinds of data
•Death of “web viewers” - Instagram
removed the parts of the API that
duplicate core viewing functionality

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More advertising (lots more)
In September 2015, Instagram began opening their ad platform for self-service
ads. There are now 200k advertisers on Instagram.
•Deep FB integration - Utilize the same campaign
tools for Facebook and Instagram and execute
campaigns on both at once
•Changing ad units- Carousels, action buttons, ad
overlays dynamic ads
•More targeting - Retargeting, utilizing Facebook
demographics

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Product changes
A whole new (very white) user interface, a whole new (very colorful) logo, more
video, business profiles and more.
•Video - Instagram is pushing video hard, including
adding video views to the stream. Beware, video
views are not accessible via the standard API.
•Business profiles - Similar to Facebook pages.
These add a contact button and include insights
and promotion capabilities.
•Insights - Rolling out slowly. Will provide some
impression and demographic data.

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hayes@unionmetrics.com
@hayesdavis
Thank you!
#SocialPro #23A1 @hayesdavis