--- title: "Instagram Study 2019: What we learned analyzing 5.4 million posts" description: Our brand new study for which we analyzed over 34,000 profiles and 5.4 million posts of one of the most used social networks worldwide – Instagram. image: https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/quintly-IG-study-image-1.jpg --- **[🚀 ANNOUNCEMENT: QUINTLY BECOMES FACELIFT DATA STUDIO→](https://www.quintly.com/quintly-becomes-facelift-data-studio)** [![facelift-datastudio-black-1](https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/facelift-datastudio-black-1.svg "facelift-datastudio-black-1")](https://www.quintly.com) ** ** Use cases [Brands Find the KPIs you need, get deep insights and build your brand by understanding your audience on social. ](https://www.quintly.com/brands) --- [Case Study: Benefit Cosmetics How the global beauty brand gained 50% growth in engagement and increased reach across the world. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/benefit-cosmetics) [Case Study: Meliá Hotels Int. How social media data is key to Meliá Hotels International and their brand's digital revolution. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/melia-hotels-international)   [Agencies Drive better decisions based on quality data using social analytics and reporting for all your clients. ](https://www.quintly.com/agencies) --- [Case Study: The Marketing Arm How this global agency uses social intelligence to win pitches and retain clients with top brands. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/the-marketing-arm) [Case Study: bürosüd plusNew! How bürosüd plus increased their audience by 40% ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/burosud-plus-pr-and-communication-agency-quintly-case-study)   [Media Do more with your data using custom metrics and API integrations to optimize your social strategy. ](https://www.quintly.com/media) --- [Case Study: RTL Media Group How quintly helps a large news-media organization create a data-driven culture for their teams company-wide. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/rtl-media-group) [Case Study: Landau MediaNew! How Landau Media manages 50 profiles in one place ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/landau-media) FEATURES [Analytics Track, benchmark and optimize your social media. ](https://www.quintly.com/analytics) [Data in Depth Secure, trusted data quality for better business. ](https://www.quintly.com/social-media-data)   [Reporting Create or automate reports, exports and live links. ](https://www.quintly.com/reporting) [API and Integrations Take analytics further with our API and integrations. ](https://www.quintly.com/social-media-data-integration) NETWORKS [Facebook ](https://www.quintly.com/facebook-analytics) [Instagram ](https://www.quintly.com/instagram-analytics) [Twitter ](https://www.quintly.com/twitter-analytics) [Snapchat ](https://www.quintly.com/snapchat-shows-analytics)   [LinkedIn ](https://www.quintly.com/linkedin-analytics) [YouTube ](https://www.quintly.com/youtube-analytics) [TikTokNew! ](https://www.quintly.com/tiktok-analytics) Company [About Us We’re people persons – read our story here. ](https://www.quintly.com/about) [Careers Looking for a job? See what we have to offer. ](https://quintly-jobs.personio.de/) [Contact Want to get in touch? Come say hi. ](https://www.quintly.com/contact) Resources [Blog Our latest articles, social news and industry insights. ](https://www.quintly.com/blog) [Social Media Studies Browse our collection of free reports. ](https://www.quintly.com/resources) [Knowledge Base More than a help center – updates, guides and more. ](https://help.facelift-cloud.com/en/collections/6890662-facelift-data-studio)     [Free stats portalNew! Check out popular industries & countries. ](https://info.quintly.com/free-stats) [Product newsNew! Receive the latest news on improvements and updates to our product  ](https://www.quintly.com/product-news) [![facelift-datastudio-black-1](https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/facelift-datastudio-black-1.svg "facelift-datastudio-black-1")](https://www.quintly.com) ** ** Solutions [Brands Find the KPIs you need, get deep insights and build your brand by understanding your audience on social. ](https://www.quintly.com/brands) --- [Case Study: Benefit Cosmetics How the global beauty brand gained 50% growth in engagement and increased reach across the world. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/benefit-cosmetics) [Case Study: Meliá Hotels How social media data is key to Meliá Hotels International and their brand's digital revolution. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/melia-hotels-international)   [Agencies Drive better decisions based on quality data using social analytics and reporting for all your clients. ](https://www.quintly.com/agencies) --- [Case Study: The Marketing Arm How this global agency uses social intelligence to win pitches and retain clients with top brands. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/the-marketing-arm) [Case Study: bürosüd plusNew! How bürosüd plus increased their audience by 40% ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/burosud-plus-pr-and-communication-agency-quintly-case-study)   [Media Do more with your data using custom metrics and API integrations to optimize your social strategy. ](https://www.quintly.com/media) --- [Case Study: RTL Media Group How this large news-media organization creates a data-driven culture for their teams company-wide. ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/rtl-media-group) [Case Study: Landau MediaNew! How Landau Media manages 50 profiles in one place ](https://www.quintly.com/case-study/landau-media) FEATURES [Analytics Track, benchmark and optimize your social media. ](https://www.quintly.com/analytics) [Data in Depth Secure, trusted data quality for better business. ](https://www.quintly.com/social-media-data)   [Reporting Create or automate reports, exports and live links. ](https://www.quintly.com/reporting) [API and Integrations Take analytics further with our API and integrations. ](https://www.quintly.com/social-media-data-integration) NETWORKS [Facebook ](https://www.quintly.com/facebook-analytics) [Instagram ](https://www.quintly.com/instagram-analytics) [Twitter ](https://www.quintly.com/twitter-analytics) [Snapchat ](https://www.quintly.com/snapchat-shows-analytics)   [LinkedIn ](https://www.quintly.com/linkedin-analytics) [YouTube ](https://www.quintly.com/youtube-analytics) [TikTokNew! ](https://www.quintly.com/tiktok-analytics/) Company [About Us We’re people persons – read our story here. ](https://www.quintly.com/about) [Careers Looking for a job? See what we have to offer. ](https://quintly.jobs.personio.de/) [Contact Want to get in touch? Come say hi. ](https://www.quintly.com/contact) Resources [Blog Our latest articles, social news and industry insights. ](https://www.quintly.com/blog) [Social Media Studies Browse our collection of free reports. ](https://www.quintly.com/resources) [Knowledge Base More than a help center – updates, guides and more. ](https://support.quintly.com)     [Free stats portalNew! Check out popular industries & countries. ](https://info.quintly.com/free-stats) [Product newsNew! Receive the latest news on improvements and updates to our product  ](https://www.quintly.com/product-news) [![quintly.com](https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/Design/Mayday/Pricing%20Page/white%20icons/AdvancedTraining.svg "quintly.com")](https://www.quintly.com/) ** ** [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/instagram-strategy) [YouTube Data](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-data) [YouTube Metrics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-metrics) ## [5 YouTube Analytics Metrics You Should Know](https://www.quintly.com/blog/5-youtube-analytics-metrics-you-should-know) by [David Campbell](https://www.quintly.com/blog/author/david-campbell) on August 11, 2023 [Read more](https://www.quintly.com/blog/5-youtube-analytics-metrics-you-should-know) ### Filter by Category - [Instagram Strategy (214)](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/instagram-strategy) - [Reach vs Impressions (213)](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/reach-vs-impressions) - [Twitter Analysis (213)](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/twitter-analysis) - [Youtube Analytics (213)](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/youtube-analytics) - [featured (213)](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/featured) [quintly Blog](https://www.quintly.com/blog)  /   [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/instagram-strategy) [Social Media Studies](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/social-media-studies) 10 MINUTE READING TIME [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/instagram-strategy) [Social Media Studies](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/social-media-studies) # Instagram Study 2019: What we learned analyzing 5.4 million posts by [Justina Michalski](https://www.quintly.com/blog/author/justina-michalski) on September 09, 2019 ![](https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/quintly-IG-study-image-1.jpg) Instagram has [1 billion](https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/) monthly active users worldwide. It is the main communication channel for a lot of brands and [influencers](https://www.quintly.com/blog/how-to-analyze-influencers) – they announce new products and partnerships on the platform and, at the same time, they have the chance to stay in touch with their audience. Private accounts, on the other hand, often use Instagram as their visual diary. So how are all of these accounts using the platform and what kind of content really drives [engagement](https://facelift-bbt.com/en/blog/instagram-engagement-top-kpi)? We decided to take a deeper look into the data and analyzed the performance of 34,121 Instagram Business Profiles and 5.4 million posts between January 1st and June 30th, 2019.  Let’s take a look at some our results in this year’s Instagram Study! ## Data set and main focus of the study To give you a better overview of the data, we sorted the profiles into six different groups for the whole analysis. This way, you can more easily apply the findings to your own account: ![IG Study Metric.001](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/IG%20Study%20Metric_001-Aug-22-2023-07-25-40-0308-AM.jpeg?width=1200&name=IG%20Study%20Metric_001-Aug-22-2023-07-25-40-0308-AM.jpeg) Here are the six topics that we focused on in our study: - Growth Rate - Performance of Post Types - Caption Lengths - Analysis of Hashtags - Emojis usage  - Performance of weekday and weekend postings Now let’s head over to the data! ## Profiles grew to 16% Instagram is growing every day and it doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon. What gives us this idea? We detected an overall fan-growth in every analyzed profile group. More precisely, the analyzed profiles managed to grow between 9.4%-16% in just half a year! ![IG Study Metric.002](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/IG%20Study%20Metric_002-1.jpeg?width=1200&name=IG%20Study%20Metric_002-1.jpeg) ## 68.2% of all posts are single images  Instagram users have the agony of choice between publishing single images, videos and carousels. Every post type has its own unique way of telling a story and [engages with their audience](https://www.quintly.com/blog/social-media-engagement-followers) in a different way.   Now how does the share between all profiles exactly look like?  ![IG Study Metric.003](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/IG%20Study%20Metric_003-Aug-22-2023-07-25-26-5625-AM.jpeg?width=1200&name=IG%20Study%20Metric_003-Aug-22-2023-07-25-26-5625-AM.jpeg) Single images represent the primarily used post type on Instagram with a share of 68%. They are followed – at a distant second –  by video posts with a share of 18%. Carousel posts bring up the rear with just 14%. Would you like to know which post type got the most [interactions](https://facelift-bbt.com/en/blog/10-tips-and-tricks-for-greater-interaction-on-instagram)? Find it out in our study. [![Instagram Study 2019](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/75630cc0-93a0-4af2-9ed3-8caa4b89551e-Aug-22-2023-07-25-18-2576-AM.jpeg?width=1400&height=683&name=75630cc0-93a0-4af2-9ed3-8caa4b89551e-Aug-22-2023-07-25-18-2576-AM.jpeg)](https://www.quintly.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=11416c26-be8a-4248-9ec2-5d6ffc2e36e2&signature=AAH58kEGNI5jQaFvb5Qus9sTRQD0jLd37w&pageId=12735300471&placement_guid=2264593f-0db2-44db-af04-b20f5476858d&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quintly.com%2Fblog%2Finstagram-study-2019&portal_id=3330298&__hstc=146014955.edf005364a2b7677ab5751a9529b665c.1692630115804.1692630115804.1692630115804.1&__hssc=146014955.217.1692630115804&__hsfp=1561754925&hsutk=edf005364a2b7677ab5751a9529b665c&contentType=blog-post) ## 150 characters and more are used in 67% of posts It seems that a lot of profiles put a lot of thought into the captions they write for every post when you see the findings of our study: 30.8% of posts contain 150-300 characters in their post description and even 35.8% used more than 300 characters.  ![IG Study Metric.007](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/IG%20Study%20Metric_007-1.jpeg?width=1200&name=IG%20Study%20Metric_007-1.jpeg) We decided to dive deeper into this topic to find out how the chosen profile groups really used the different post lengths. So if you are interested in finding out how many characters in a caption attracted the highest engagement for each group, head over to the [full study](https://info.quintly.com/instagram-study-2019/view).   ## More than 50% of all posts don’t include emojis Face With Tears of Joy 😂, Loudly Crying Face 😭 and Smiling Face With Heart-Eyes 😍 – yes, those are the [most popular emojis](https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/the-most-popular-emojis/) and it seems like you see them everywhere, right? ### ![IG Study Metric.013](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/IG%20Study%20Metric_013-4.jpeg?width=1200&name=IG%20Study%20Metric_013-4.jpeg) Surprisingly, our data set revealed that 52.3% of the analyzed posts didn’t include any emojis at all. Now, is it really the right choice not to integrate emojis in your social media communication? We took a further look into this topic in our [study](https://info.quintly.com/instagram-study-2019/view). ## 1-3 hashtags are most used in posts  If you want to make your content more visible and reach a wider audience that might be interested in your content, hashtags are the way to go! They are a vital way to easily find your posts on Instagram. But how are hashtags being used on Instagram? Let’s dive into the data:  ![IG Study Metric.019](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/IG%20Study%20Metric_019-1.jpeg?width=1200&name=IG%20Study%20Metric_019-1.jpeg) Because we got curious about how the different profiles use hashtags and what number of hashtags works best in terms of engagement, we took a deeper look into the data in our full study.  Weekend or Weekdays? When do posts tend to receive higher interactions? Access the the answer to this question in our Instagram study 👇 [![Instagram Study 2019](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/75630cc0-93a0-4af2-9ed3-8caa4b89551e-Aug-22-2023-07-25-18-2576-AM.jpeg?width=1400&height=683&name=75630cc0-93a0-4af2-9ed3-8caa4b89551e-Aug-22-2023-07-25-18-2576-AM.jpeg)](https://www.quintly.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=11416c26-be8a-4248-9ec2-5d6ffc2e36e2&signature=AAH58kEGNI5jQaFvb5Qus9sTRQD0jLd37w&pageId=12735300471&placement_guid=2264593f-0db2-44db-af04-b20f5476858d&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quintly.com%2Fblog%2Finstagram-study-2019&portal_id=3330298&__hstc=146014955.edf005364a2b7677ab5751a9529b665c.1692630115804.1692630115804.1692630115804.1&__hssc=146014955.217.1692630115804&__hsfp=1561754925&hsutk=edf005364a2b7677ab5751a9529b665c&contentType=blog-post) ## Let’s test! I hope you found our study helpful. Maybe you could even extract some useful insights for yourself. Please keep in mind that the results of our study are averages within our specific data set – even if it consisted of more than 5 million posts. Applying our findings will not directly positively influence the performance of your profile.  Take them as inspiration for your own Instagram strategy. Please don’t forget that every Instagram profile works in its own way and, therefore, it’s necessary to keep testing and [analyzing the performance](https://www.quintly.com/blog/instagram-analytics) of your account. This is the most accurate way to discover what benefits your account and what your followers react to. Do you have any best practices to share with us? Leave us a comment and tell us how you utilize the platform for your own benefit. Looking forward to hearing from you. [![3 KPIs Head of Social](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/667eee5c-f592-410c-b0c1-d1c63f80a65b-Aug-22-2023-07-25-43-8374-AM.jpeg?width=1880&height=684&name=667eee5c-f592-410c-b0c1-d1c63f80a65b-Aug-22-2023-07-25-43-8374-AM.jpeg)](https://www.quintly.com/cs/c/?cta_guid=7d7b67f3-82be-4d8c-8929-ebbfd899edcd&signature=AAH58kGtqlfhM-8JiOtdE6P2jVt19VE8dw&pageId=12735300471&placement_guid=3a1d6fc6-2e9d-4b32-bd1e-87e7a0a03e44&canon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quintly.com%2Fblog%2Finstagram-study-2019&portal_id=3330298&__hstc=146014955.edf005364a2b7677ab5751a9529b665c.1692630115804.1692630115804.1692630115804.1&__hssc=146014955.217.1692630115804&__hsfp=1561754925&hsutk=edf005364a2b7677ab5751a9529b665c&contentType=blog-post) ## Recommend Readings [Guide to Social Media Stories and Short-form Video Content](https://facelift-bbt.com/en/guides/short-form-video-and-stories-guide) [40 social media buzzwords every marketer needs to know](https://www.quintly.com/blog/social-media-buzzwords) [How to collect customer feedback with Instagram Stories](https://www.quintly.com/blog/customer-feedback-instagram-stories) [6 Hacks that will take your Instagram Stories to the next level](https://www.quintly.com/blog/6-instagram-stories-hacks) [How to analyze Instagram Stories](https://www.quintly.com/blog/how-to-analyze-instagram-stories) [Social Media Marketing Tactics and Strategies for SMEs](https://www.quintly.com/blog/social-media-tactics-strategies) [How do Instagram Insights work?](https://www.quintly.com/blog/how-does-instagram-insights-work)   ### Related Categories [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/instagram-strategy) [Social Media Studies](https://www.quintly.com/blog/tag/social-media-studies) ### [Justina Michalski](https://www.quintly.com/blog/author/justina-michalski) [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/instagram-strategy) [YouTube Data](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-data) [YouTube Metrics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-metrics) ## [5 YouTube Analytics Metrics You Should Know](https://www.quintly.com/blog/5-youtube-analytics-metrics-you-should-know) [Read more](https://www.quintly.com/blog/5-youtube-analytics-metrics-you-should-know) [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/instagram-strategy) ## [7 Tips for Using Social Media Reporting Data To Tell a Story to Your Client](https://www.quintly.com/blog/7-tips-for-using-social-media-reporting-data-to-tell-a-story-to-your-client) [Read more](https://www.quintly.com/blog/7-tips-for-using-social-media-reporting-data-to-tell-a-story-to-your-client) [featured](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/featured) [Reach vs Impressions](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/reach-vs-impressions) [Twitter Analysis](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/twitter-analysis) [Youtube Analytics](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/youtube-analytics) [Instagram Strategy](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/instagram-strategy) [tiktok business](https://www.quintly.com/blog/topic/tiktok-business) ## [How to Build an Engaged Audience on TikTok](https://www.quintly.com/blog/how-to-build-an-engaged-audience-on-tiktok) [Read more](https://www.quintly.com/blog/how-to-build-an-engaged-audience-on-tiktok) ![](https://www.quintly.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Marketing%20/blog-en/General%20Files/5%20Ideas%20banner%20promo%20module-3.png?width=120&name=5%20Ideas%20banner%20promo%20module-3.png "5 Ideas banner promo module-3.png") ## 5 Ideas to Optimize Your Social Media Analysis   [Download the E-book](https://info.quintly.com/optimize-your-social-media-performance) ### Join the conversation. Leave us a comment below! ## See where you stand on social media. Get in touch today to track, benchmark and optimize your social media performance with advanced analytics made easy. #### Solutions #### Integrations #### Platform #### Networks #### Resources What's new #### Company #### Contact Copyright © 2024 Facelift Data Studio. All rights reserved. • [Terms](https://www.quintly.com/terms) • [Privacy](https://www.quintly.com/privacy) • [More...](https://www.quintly.com/transparency) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Justina Michalski", "url" : "https://www.quintly.com/blog/author/justina-michalski" }, "dateModified" : "2023-08-29T09:12:53.087Z", "datePublished" : "2019-09-08T22:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Instagram Study 2019: What we learned analyzing 5.4 million posts", "image" : [ "https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/archive/98%20Assets_Archive/Blog/Imported_Blog_Media/quintly-IG-study-image-1.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.quintly.com/blog/instagram-study-2019", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.quintly.com/hubfs/2024-home/facelift_logo_new_black_rgb.svg" }, "name" : "Facelift brand building technologies GmbH" } } ```