Blog Jan. 31, 2018
Instagram Survey! Stories by Influencers Have Overwhelming Amount of Views Compared to Businesses
It has been a year since the Instagram Stories was introduced in August 2017. Although users can already advertise through the Stories, a lot of them still do not know how it works. Even if some of them do, the effects are still not realized.
Since the Instagram analysis tool was offered in August, New York-based software company Delmondo surveyed over 800 Instagram accounts to find out the usage trend and the best practice of the Stories.
The following trends were identified:
■ List of Contents
1. Stories have high viewing rates and the brands are of their interests
2. Influencers are taking the lead in Instagram Stories
3. Relationship between completion rate and the number of posted Stories
4. Afternoons and night times are ideal?
1. Stories have high viewing rates and the brands are of their interests
Stories contribute to the increase of reaches and engagements, especially for brands and influencers. However, their businesses’ diffusion rates are still low.
Out of over 800 accounts surveyed, 16% posted Stories in the last 30 days (in October).
2. Influencers are taking the lead in Instagram Stories
Delmondo particularly used the completion rate (the rate of users who viewed Stories from beginning to end) as the basis of measurement in the analysis.
The graph shows that the completion rate of influencers’ Stories is over 80%, followed by entertainment and sports accounts’ at 67%. Like in Japan, influencers, compared to business accounts, are more active in using the Stories. So it is not surprising that the influencers are taking the lead in all industries.
3. Relationship between completion rate and the number of posted Stories
The graph below shows the relationship between completion rate and the actual number of posted Stories.
The completion rate of 0 to 10 Stories is approximately 70%, and 11 to 20 posts is at 65%. As the number of posts increases, the completion rate gradually decreases. However, there is a temporary increase in the rate when the number of posts exceeds 60.
There are only a few accounts that post over 60 Stories and one is Chipotle, a restaurant company that serves Mexican grilled dishes. They create flip-book compilations that they post multiple times in their Instagram Stories. These posts most likely affect the completion rates. It is one way of making the Stories recognized by the users.
▲ Actual Stories by Chipotle
https://www.instagram.com/chipotlemexicangrill/?hl=ja
4. Afternoons and night times are ideal?
From the posts that had at least 70% completion rate, Delmondo observed that the best times to post Stories are 12pm-7pm and 8pm-12am.
For the SNS marketing and account management, the recommended posting time can be an interesting discussion. However, it is best to remember that posts with strong contents always outshine the posts with subtle contents on the best day and time.
Although the results in this survey may not be completely reliable, they can certainly be used for other surveys on future uses of Instagram Stories.
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“This article is posted with the permission of Nick Cicero, CEO of Delmondo. Revisions were based on the translation of “What We Learned About Instagram Story Performance By Analyzing Over 800 Accounts”.”
This article is translated from “Social media lab“.
