If you have Instagram, you have Stories…

In 2019, Instagram dominates over 1 billion monthly active users, with more than 500 million accounts on Instagram are using stories on a daily base, According to the Instagram official data.

Instagram is a very attractive channel for companies/brands that wish to use visual media as a mean of communication, brand enhancement, and product visualization. Companies can advertise on Instagram, meaning that their ads appear on the feed or Instagram stories of the user.

Needless to say that, with great data comes great social strategy…

So, the new of its kind study conducted by Socialinsider analyzed more than 135,976 Instagram stories from a total of 2,548 business profiles to identify how brands are using Instagram stories, the best engaging content strategies for Instagram stories, and how to increase viewers.

Let’s delve into its top-line findings…

How Brands Are Using Instagram Stories in 2019?

• Over half of businesses across all profile sizes are using videos in Instagram stories.
• The more Instagram stories brands are posting, the higher reach rate and impressions they tend to be achieved.
• Brands are publishing stories 7 days within a month.
• The optimal number of stories within a day is up to 6 stories.
• This enables brands to keep more than 70% of their stories viewers engaged.
• Brands with less than 1,000 followers are publishing every four days.
• Brands with more than 100,000 followers posted 60% more photos as compared to 40% for video.
• Small brands recorded a 7.43% exit rate which is nearly two times the median rate.
• Instagram stories enable brands with a small audience to reach more than 9% of their followers.
• But brands with a small following don’t succeed at retaining their audience’s attention with stories.

The Relation Between the Number of Instagram Stories Posted Within a Day and the Reach Rate Across All Profile Sizes—2019 Data

How People Interact With Instagram Stories & What Are the Best Type of Instagram Stories?

• Only 6 people out of 10,000 stories viewers reply to stories.
• Images underperform videos by having a higher tap-forwards rate of 5.65% than videos on stories.
• Pictures in stories get more drop-offs compared with videos.
• The highest drop in stories happens between 2 and 3 stories within a day
• The most successful videos for stories are created in the vertical format.
• Engaging with people in stories is becoming challenging for handles with more than 100,000 followers which have a median reach around 5%.

Average Exit Rate For Video Stories Compared With the Average Exit Rate for Stories with Images—2019 Data

The Table of Content of the “2019 Instagram Stories Research“

• Summary
• Key Findings
• Methodology

Pricing:

• Free

Methodology:

Social Insider conducted and analyzed more than 135,976 Instagram stories from a total of 2,548 business profiles. Within this report, Social Insider provides a representative Instagram handles, which had an active presence on Instagram between August 2018 to April 2019. These business profiles had more than 1,000 Instagram followers as of the same date.