The new year comes and so do the social media tips and trends. It can be difficult to know what is in and what is old news, especially on Instagram, where the algorithm seemingly changes every week! Although a new report from Quintly hopes to offer the best practices we should be using on Instagram for 2019. Let’s touch on each one.
- Videos receive significantly more engagement than still images
While this isn’t entirely surprising, the study found that videos receive up to 21% more engagement than photos. Although, photos are still published more on the platform than videos. In 2019, consider posting more videos to your profile. The extra engagement certainly couldn’t hurt!
2. Bigger profiles use video more often
Quintly found that bigger profiles are more likely to post video content than those with smaller followings. This can be taken one of two ways. First, that bigger profiles have better tools and resources to produce quality videos, OR that accounts that post more videos have more potential to become popular on Instagram. Either way, the engagement doesn’t lie, so get out there and start posting those videos!
3. Longer captions are common, but shorter ones receive better engagement
A trend of 2018 is long, personal captions that increase the connection between an influencer and their followers. However, is the newest trend of 2019 short and to-the-point captions? Quintly found that captions that contained only 1-50 characters saw the highest engagement among followers, while those over 300 saw the least. But Instagram users are still posting longer captions. In 2019, save the words for your blog and stick to short and sweet!
4. The fewer hashtags, the better
Quintly found that Instagram posts that used 1-3 hashtags received engagement that surpassed those who used over 5. However, they also noted that those accounts that used no hashtags at all, received the best engagement. Surprising, considering that Instagram suggests using hashtags as a means to increase reach! But maybe considering dropping a few hashtags to get a better rate and see what happens.
As we go into 2019, it’s clear that Instagram is not going anywhere. Be sure to take these practices and use them on your profiles! Happy engaging!