In 2018, single-image feed posts remained strong. They constitute the key element of Instagram content strategies, as they’re posted 84% of the time. Next come Stories (7%), videos (4.8%), and carousels (4.2%). An interesting finding here, however, is that while Stories, videos, and carousels are posted less often, they do drive a higher engagement rate in comparison to their posting frequency.
While traditional feed posts are indeed the most-preferred content type on the platform for businesses, Stories, Instagram Live, and IGTV are attracting more eyeballs as we speak.
Unarguably, introducing Stories has been Instagram’s smartest move yet.
Released in 2016, by the end of 2018 Stories grew to twice the size of Snapchat5 hitting the mark of 400 million+ daily users.
Stories were huge in 2017.
Huge in 2018.
And in 2019, they will simply become a must.
Meanwhile, Instagram’s newest feature, IGTV, is still acquiring traction.
According to our survey, only 27% of Instagram marketers reported to have tried out IGTV in 2018, while the majority, 73%, admitted that they haven’t touched the new feature yet. At the same time, 63% of Instagram marketers plan to get stuck into IGTV in the coming year.
Finally, a word on UGC.
Leveraging UGC on Instagram can save your business lots of time and money on content production, as well as help you build a loyal community. There are successful businesses that build up their Instagram presence solely on UGC, and while that might be not a rule to follow for all, incorporating UGC into your content strategy is definitely a good idea, as its engagement has been proven to increase by almost 7%6.