THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

INSTAGRAM MARKETING

wishpond EBOOK

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 | State of Instagram Marketing

Chapter 2 | Instagram Advertising

14

Chapter 3 | Instagram Algorithm Changes

18

Chapter 4 | Instagram Best Practices (w/ Examples)

25

Chapter 5 | Instagram Contests

31

Chapter 6 | Instagram Tools

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO INSTAGRAM MARKETING

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
INSTAGRAM AS A SOCIAL PLATFORM FOR BUSINESS
Once a social platform for the simple process of photo
sharing, Instagram has become a powerhouse application
for both users and advertising dollars.

This report is designed to give an indepth analysis of current Instagram

statistics, strategy, and advertising.

Instagram has surpassed a whopping 500 million users

worldwide, 300 million of which use the platform every day!
It boasts some of the highest user engagement rates of any
social media platform and has continued its steady evolution
by offering a suite of advertising options and management
tools for businesses.
Expect Instagram to continue to offer new features to
its user base and further integrate with its big brother
Facebooks complex advertising network.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INTRODUCTION
HOW WE COMPILED OUR DATA
In order to provide a comprehensive look at the current
state of Instagram marketing, weve pulled the most up-todate information from a number of different sources to give
you a birds eye view of exactly what Instagram can offer to
your business.
All statistics mentioned in this report have been researched
by our team and compiled in a way to help improve your
Instagram marketing strategy.
We hope this report finds you well, and that youre able to
make good use of the contents inside.

Sincerely,
The Wishpond Content Team

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

CHAPTER 1
STATE OF INSTAGRAM

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
5 KEY STATISTICS IN INSTAGRAM MARKETING

An average of

95,000,000
PHOTOS

Posts with at least one

hashtag receive

12.6

% MORE

are shared on
Instagram everyday.

THAN

of the top brands in

the world are active on
Instagram.

By 2017,

71

OF COMPANIES

100+
EMPLOYEES

with

MORE

will be using
Instagram.

ENGAGEMENT

The media and apparel

industry are the most active
on Instagram, but there
has been a steady increase
across all industries.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
USER STATISTICS
Instagram has:

500
300
MILLION MILLION
monthly active users

Instagram Takeaway:
Though its a bigger platform than
some of its competitors, it can be
challenging to find exceptional
engagement if your product isnt
visually appealing.

daily active users

This puts it above Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn in popularity

28

internet users have

% ofanallInstagram
account

80

24%
OF MEN

31%

OF WOMEN

55% OF PEOPLE AGED 18-29

Instagrams users are

% oflocated
outside the U.S.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
USAGE STATISTICS

Photos and videos on Instagram receive

4.2 BILLION
likes on a daily basis

30

of Instagram
accounts are
inactive

An estimated

% of accounts
are fake

Almost half of Instagram

users conduct product
research on social media.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
ENGAGEMENT STATISTICS
Instagram posts generated a per-follower engagement rate
of 4.21% the most of any social network.
58x more than Facebook
120x more than Twitter

4.21

0.07

%*

0.03

Base: 1,526, 388 user interactions on 162 Instagram brand posts

*
Base: 1,405, 249 user interactions on 329 Facebook brand posts

Base: 98, 298 user interactions on 910 Twitter brand posts

On average, more than half of the comments received on a

post are generated in the first six hours.
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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
ENGAGEMENT STATISTICS
Instagram posts that include @mentions
in their captions earn 56% MORE
ENGAGEMENT than posts without.

Instagram Takeaway:
Due to its updated algorithm,
engagement is more important than
ever on Instagram. You should take
some time to engage with other
accounts, too.

Photos generate 36% MORE LIKES than

videos. Only time will tell if this holds true as
video content increases in popularity.

The average caption on Instagram is 138

characters long. HOWEVER, caption length
has not been proven to have any real effect
on engagement (unlike Facebook and Twitter
post captions).

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
ENGAGEMENT STATISTICS
Instagram posts tagged with locations drive 79% more
engagement than posts without locations.

2.5k

45M
40M
35M

Posts

2k

Engagement

30M

1.5k

25M
20M

1k

15M
10M

500

5M
0
Sept 14

June 14

Mar 14

Dec 13

Sept 13

Jun 13

Mar 13

Dec 12

Sept 12

Jun 12

Mar 12

Dec 11

Sept 11

Jun 11

Mar, 11

Average engagement per post has increased 416% over the past two years.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM
ENGAGEMENT STATISTICS
Instagram posts with more white-space and single dominant colors
receive more likes and engagement Than posts without.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

CHAPTER 2
INSTAGRAM ADVERTISING

INSTAGRAM ADVERTISING
STATISTICS
Instagram is expected to bring in $595 million in mobile
ad revenue this year and $2.81 billion by 2017, surpassing
Twitter. The mobile revenue from Instagram will account for
over 10% of parent company Facebooks global ad revenue.

Instagram net mobile ad revenues

2.81

% of Facebook total ad revenues

1.48

0.60

7.1%

10.6%

3.7%
2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017

% of US Facebook net mobile ad

revenues

10.7%

20.1%

28.0%

% of non-US Facebook net mobile

ad revenues

0.5%

1.3%

3.7%

% of Facebook net moble ad

revenues worldwide

5.0%

9.5%

14.0%

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INSTAGRAM ADVERTISING
STATISTICS
52% of marketers say they are planning on increasing their
use of Instagram for promotion and advertising, up from
42% in 2014.

Physical products were the top content types advertised on

Instagram for the top 200 brands in terms of engagement.

A whopping 96% of US-based fashion brands use

Instagram for promotion.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INSTAGRAM ADVERTISING
STATISTICS
Number of active advertisers on Instagram: 200,000
Average CTR of an Instagram Ad: 0.11%
Average CPM of an Instagram Ad: $5.78
For advertisers, Instagram offers 3 types of ads:
Photo
Video
Carousel (a set of photos)
Instagram Ads are:
Targeted, meaning advertisers can target audiences using
demographic and psychographic information.
Interactive, meaning they link to a page of the advertisers
choosing, and can include a call-to-action (CTA) button.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

CHAPTER 3
THE NEW ALOGRITHM

THE NEW ALGORITHM

OVERVIEW
In March 2016, Instagram announced new
algorithm-based changes to the newsfeed to reflect
user engagement preferences.
Now that Instagram has grown to the level that it has,
the company recognizes the need for some form of
organization.
Engagement is king according to the new algorithm. Users
will be shown more posts relevant to them based on their
past actions and behaviors.
Instagram has slowly been perfecting its ad platform and
now has enough pull to force brands to pay if they wish to
reach the audience they once did.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

THE NEW ALGORITHM

ACTION
Now that the Instagram news feed algorithm awards
engagement, businesses must:
Aim to create more engaging content
Prompt followers to like and comment in post captions
Increase the use of industry specific hashtags to reach
new audiences (Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post)
Pay further attention to Instagram usage and
engagement data, measure, and optimize

For more on how your business can combat t the

Instagram algorithm change, check out our article
Instagram Algorithm Changes: 7 Strategies to
Employ Right Now

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

THE NEW ALGORITHM: BEN & JERRYS

CREATE CAMPAIGN-SPECIFIC LINK
Ben & Jerrys adds CTAs to all of their posts like click
the link in our profile to see The link in their bio drives
followers to their website, where they can learn more about
the companys products.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy
Add CTAs to your Instagram posts
Direct traffic to a page on your website, like a landing
page or blog post

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

THE NEW ALGORITHM: REI

USER-GENERATED CONTENT & STORYTELLING
REI reposts photos from other users, accompanied by the
story behind the photo from the users. Like Ben & Jerrys,
they direct followers to their website with a CTA.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy
Search for hashtags related to your product, identify
profiles with content you would like to feature, and
reach out to them.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

THE NEW ALGORITHM: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

INORPORATE TRENDING TOPICS
The Seahawks react to trends (movies, news, etc.) and
creatively incorporate these trends into their Instagram
content.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy
Look at themes like holidays (even little-known ones),
seasons, popular films, regional news, etc.
Avoid controversial, political, or divisive statements so
as not to alienate your audience

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

THE NEW ALGORITHM: NASTYGAL

MONETIZE ENGAGEMENT
NastyGal uses a service called Like2b.uy, a profile link that
leads to a page which allows customers to buy the products
they see in their photos. This helps the brand convert the
impressions and engagements it generates on Instagram
into sales.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy
Look into products like Like2b.uy and Have2Have.It to
aid in converting interested Instagram followers into
sales.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

CHAPTER 4
INSTAGRAM BEST PRACTICES

BEST PRACTICES
TOP BRANDS ON INSTAGRAM
Almost half of all U.S. brands have Instagram accounts. Of
the top 100 brands in the world, 90% use Instagram.
The most followed brands on Instagram* are:
1. Nike (55.7 million followers)
2. National Geographic (55.6 million followers)

Instagram Takeaway:
Though Instagram is a great place to
market your brand, dont forget to
showcase the people behind it once
in a while. A majority of Instagrams
most-followed accounts are people,
not brands.

3. Victorias Secret (42.3 million followers)

4. 9gag (31.5 million followers)
5. H&M (15.5 million followers)
These brands made it to the top with a combination of
existing popularity, hard work, and a strict adherence
(but creative approach) to Instagram best practices.
Lets take a look...

*excluding sports teams/celebrities

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

BEST PRACTICES, DEMONSTRATED BY NIKE

EMPHASIZE LIFESTYLE & PEOPLE
Nike highlights athletes (both professional and amateur)
on its Instagram account to reinforce its position in the
industry as a go-to sportswear brand, fit for athletes.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy
Show your followers the people and personality behind
your productssell an ideal or lifestyle instead of being
product-focused.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

BEST PRACTICES, DEMONSTRATED BY H&M

HAVE A SIGNATURE
H&M maintains Instagram brand consistency through
similarities in the visual characteristics of each photo. In
addition to its recognizable top-down layout, the brand
places a heavy focus on featuring uniform color schemes.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy

Create a visual style - try to keep most of your photos
similar in their composition (e.g. using certain colors or
a specific angle)
Use only a few filters for your photos. Followers
will eventually recognize the characteristics of
your photos.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

BEST PRACTICES, DEMONSTRATED BY THE NBA

USE VIDEO
NBA uses video to highlight short, exciting moments from
games - in fact, more than half of its feed is made up of
videos.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy

Instagram Takeaway:
Videos are muted by default - make
sure the message of any videos you
post is clear, even without audio.

Though it seems simple, make sure videos offer more

value than an equivalent photo.
Explore new types of video content - Instagram now
supports videos up to 60 seconds long.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

BEST PRACTICES, DEMONSTRATED BY ADIDAS FOOTBALL

USE INFLUENCER MARKETING
Though Adidas sponsors its athletes, the idea is the same:
partner with notable people with loyal followings to
generate interest in your brand.
How you can add this to your Instagram strategy
Identify your target market, and reach out people with
large influence within the market.
Encourage these people to create content and share
their own thoughts on your product
through incentives. You can provide them with a
product sample, or they may have a set price for
sponsored posts.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

CHAPTER 5
INSTAGRAM CONTESTS

INSTAGRAM CONTESTS
WHAT IS A HASHTAG CONTEST?
A hashtag contest is one of the simplest ways to get fans
interacting with your brand on Instagram. It involves an
individual posting their own picture on Instagram then
tagging it with a specific hashtag that your business has
chosen.
This type of contest allows you to deepen the emotional
connection you have with followers. You get them
communicating about your business to their own networks
while also capturing user-generated content which you can
then use for future marketing efforts.

Instagram Takeaway:
Products like Wishpond make it easy
to host hashtag contests - just pick
a hashtag and youll be able to track
votes and likes to find a winner.

Whats better than having fans as brand advocates?

Not much at all.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INSTAGRAM CONTESTS
HOW DO HASHTAG CONTESTS WORK?
As mentioned, users enter a hashtag contest by posting
their own picture on Instagram, tagged with the unique,
campaign-specific hashtag your business has chosen. These
pictures are then displayed in a gallery on your website (or
Facebook page) for people to view.
Once in the gallery, all photos with the hashtag can then be
voted on, shared or liked. This increases the reach of your
contest and your business massively, allowing other users to
discover you on the platform.
You can then choose if you want to display submissions in
the gallery based on most votes, most recent submission, or
randomly.
Once the contest is over, you can choose a winner based on
votes, shares, likes, or even the photos you feel represent
your business best.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INSTAGRAM CONTESTS
WHO DO HASHTAG CONTESTS WORK?
As a contest provider for the past few years, we at
Wishpond know exactly what types of contests work in
engaging followers and increasing your fanbase.
So why all the fuss? What makes an Instagram Hashtag
Contest so effective?
Using a specific hashtag allows you to spread the word
about a campaign, exposing your business to new users
(as you can see, Zara promotes their Autumn & Winter
line with #aw16)
It requires little effort from your business - the hardest
part simply being coming up with a good, catchy hashtag
and theme
You get rewarded with engaged followers and authentic
images from the customer themselves, showing your
business through their eyes
With the Wishpond Instagram Hashtag app you can
require contest participants to follow your business
account and/or @mention your name in their photo.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

CHAPTER 6
INSTAGRAM TOOLS

INSTAGRAM TOOLS
ANALYTICS
Iconosquare ($30-$500/month, 7 day trial available)
Analytics and marketing platform for Instagram
Recently rebuilt
Follower growth monitoring and location information
Identification of follower influence
Post timing optimization & engagement rate
Competitor benchmarking
Crowdfire (Free-$200/month)
Primarily centered around followers
Analyzes people you follow, people who follow (or dont
follow) you, and people you should follow
Allows you to copy followers from other businesses,
such as competitors
Also features post scheduling

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INSTAGRAM TOOLS
ANALYTICS
Repost (Free, iOS/Android)
Hassle-free app that makes it simple to repost photos
from other users
Copies photo and adds text box with Instagram handle
of original poster
Easy way to utilize user-generated content
Later (Free-$50/month, Web/iOS/Android)
Instagram content scheduling app
Though Instagram doesnt allow automation, Later
reminds the user to post at the scheduled time
Allows uploads from phone, computer, Google Drive,
and Dropbox
Copies photo and caption straight to Instagram so user
only needs to click post
Features hashtag searching and reposting of other
users content

Instagram Takeaway:
Posting on a regular schedule leads
to increased consistent engagement,
which will keep you at the top of
followers feeds based on the new
algorithm.

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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

INSTAGRAM TOOLS
ECOMMERCE
Have2Have.It (Free-$300/month, 30-day trial available)
Single link (to be placed in Instagram profile) leads to
interactive gallery linking photos to content
Photos can link to featured products, blog posts, landing
pages, etc.
Particularly useful for retailers and news publications,
who often release new products/articles
Overcomes Instagrams limitation on links

Instagram Takeaway:
Besides Instagram Ads, the platform
isnt the best place to convert
impressions into sales - but with one
of these tools, youll have a way to
monetize engagement.

Like2Buy (Free-$50/month)
Similar to Have2Have.It with particular focus on
retailers, links photos to products to make a users
Instagram feed shoppable
Offers analytics including impressions, clicks, and
revenue generated on each photo
Wishpond ($45-$129/month)
Full marketing suite featuring Instagram hashtag
contest tool
Offers real-time analytics for contest performance
Collects lead data that can be exported
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| The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing, Wishpond, July 2016

STATE OF INSTAGRAM MARKETING

SOURCES
1. http://sproutsocial.com/insights/5-instagram-stats/
2. http://get.simplymeasured.com/rs/801-IXO-022/images/TheCompleteGuideToInstagramAnalyticsSecondEdition.pdf?mkt_
tok=eyJpIjoiTVRZMFlqTTJaR0k1TXpKbSIsInQiOiJ3NFwvV2NybElmUlQ2RjRLS3ZyXC9ISlZZNjNoeHlUSVwvVVViWklZUU1cL2J0bmttZXB0NEJVNmRzNEdIeHp3eTA3OG1FNmNwWlRDO
FwvTDhcL3MxXC93VFVXc3doSlZIbWpieVplOW9Ja1dsUit1YzQ9In0%3D
3. https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics-for-business/
4. https://later.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-using-instagram-hashtags/
5. http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Instagram-Mobile-Ad-Revenues-Reach-281-Billion-Worldwide-2017/1012774#sthash.7mg3egse.dpuf
6. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2015.pdf
7. https://www.instagram.com/press/?hl=en
8. https://clutch.co/agencies/resources/small-business-digital-marketing-and-social-media-habits-survey-2016
9. http://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675436753/instagram-algorithm-changes-7-strategies-to-employ-right-now
10. http://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675436747/6-instagram-lessons
11. http://blog.wishpond.com/post/115675436783/10-instagram-tools-for-business

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Wishponds social media marketing platform drives

lead generation through social promotions like
Instagram hashtag contests and maximizes your
social spending through landing pages and website
optimization. Were built for small businesses.
Click below to learn more about how we can help
you make your social media efforts go farther

LEARN MORE

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