Mind-Boggling Instagram Statistics to Tell Your Friends

Jay Gross

The story of Instagram isn’t a new one.

In fact, if you’ve been reading Digital Marketing Tools for any amount of time, the story goes just about like most social media tools that you know and love. However, there are some surprising differences, as you’ll discover.

But as a marketer, you have to view Instagram as a whole – and the people who use it.

Who’s on Instagram day-to-day, where are they from, and what are they doing on it.

Below you’ll find everything you need, from Instagram usage statistics to Instagram influencer statistics.

And everything in between.

So read on, my friends, for some fun, engaging, and useful Instagram statistics.

Before we get to all the good stuff, we have to start you off with a little dose of history.

The History of Instagram

Kevin Systrom, a 27-year-old who worked at a travel recommendations startup called Nextstop, spent his nights and weekends learning to code.

With his knowledge, he designed a prototype of a web app called Burbn in 2009 – inspired by his love of fine whiskeys and bourbons.

Like many apps, Burbn allowed users to check-in and share their plans. But what was unique about it was the ability to share photos.

By mid-2010, after Systrom gained funding and quit his day job to focus on his new adventure, he stripped Burbn down to core functionality of photos, commenting, and “liking.”

Oh, and they decided on a rename, combining “instant” and “telegram” for none other than… Instagram! (talk about the worst “twist” ever.)

Within months, they had a surefire hit on their hands; here’s a quick timeline as we give you a history of Instagram stats:

Instagram launched on October 6, 2010.
Within 24 hours of launch, they had 25,000 users.
Within one week, users had downloaded Instagram 100,000 times.
By the end of the year, Instagram had more than 1 million users.
Twitter attempted to purchase Instagram in 2011 for $500 million, but Systrom declined the offer.
By March 2012, Instagram had 27 million users.
In April 2012, Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion.
Instagram has since broadened its horizons into other countries. Of it’s one billion users:
One hundred ten million are located in the U.S.
70 million are in Brazil
69 million are in India
59 million are in Indonesia
40 million are in Russia
Instagram has also expanded its reach with new offerings within the app, specifically Instagram Stories and Instagram Messaging, which you will hear more about.

Fun with Instagram Stats Part 1

Image by Dante DOria from Pixabay

What do you think the most-liked photo on Instagram is?

A person? A place? A thing?

Any guesses?

If you guessed an egg, congratulations – because this photo of an egg has nearly 55 million likes.

Who’s on It? Instagram User Stats

In marketing, it’s essential to know who you’re connecting with, no matter the type of marketing you’re doing. And the same holds true with Instagram.

Now I know you’ve done your research, and you know who you’re targeting and why (and if not, please read our Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing – because if you don’t know exactly who you’re trying to target, we have bigger fish to fry).

Because if you’re on Instagram, and marketing to your target audience, but your target audience isn’t there, then you may as well throw your money right in the trash.

But I understand why Instagram (just like Facebook) would be a logical place to start; it’s still worth knowing who spends most of their time there.

More than 1 billion people use Instagram every month.
71% are under the age of 35.
While 37% of all U.S. adults are on the platform.
The split is roughly 510 million females to 490 million males.
Within the U.S., Instagram is the most popular social network among teens.
In fact, 57 million U.S. teens say Instagram is their preferred social media platform.
As mentioned, while the U.S. may have more Instagram users than any country, it still only accounts for around 10% of all users.
While not one of the highest percentages of Instagram user statistics, Canada is the fastest growing.

Instagram Usage Stats

Now that you know the users, it’s essential to understand how they use them every day…

Note: Some Instagram usage stats will appear below in the ‘Instagram statistics for business’ section.

42% of Instagram users log in multiple times per day.
And 63% check-in at least once per day.
How long do they spend when they do check-in? An average of 28 minutes per day.
The average post contains 10.7 hashtags.
Over 50 billion photos have been uploaded to Instagram.
And over 995 are uploaded every second.
14% of U.S. adults use it as a news source.

Instagram Influencer Statistics, Stories Stats, and More…

If you read our post on Instagram Marketing, you’d know that Instagram is considered the birthplace of influencers – or, at least, how we know them today.

In fact, of the U.S. marketers who have an influencer budget, 69% spend them on Instagram.

For reference, the next closest is YouTube…at 11%.

U.S. marketers spend 69% of their budget on newsfeed, while the other 31% is spent on Instagram Stories.

So if you are looking for a place to spend on influencers, Instagram may just be it.

Fun with Instagram Stats Part 2

Photo by Jason Ogulnik on Scopio

What would you say are the most Instagrammed foods in the world?

Pasta? Steak? Burgers?

If you guessed pizza, then you guessed right!

Here are the top 10, some will definitely surprise:

Pizza – New York, USA – 37,900,000 Posts
Hamburger (Texas, USA) – 35,000,000 Posts
Sushi (Tokyo, Japan) – 23,600,000 Posts
Steak (Idaho, USA) – 10,200,000 Posts
Macarons (Paris, France) – 5,000,000 Posts
Pho (Hanoi, Vietnam) – 2,700,000 Posts
Lamb (Colorado, USA) – 2,300,000 Posts
Fried Chicken (Mississippi, USA) – 2,100,000 Posts
Pesto (Genoa, Italy) – 1,700,000 Posts
Poke (Hawaii, North America) – 1,500,000 Post

I’ve lived in Hawaii for a while, so GO POKE!

Instagram Statistics for Business

Here’s the part you’ve all been waiting for.

There are plenty of reasons to get out there from a business or brand perspective.

Here are just some that we could dig up for you.

And believe me, if your business or brand can leverage Instagram, and the Instagram user stats point to your niche – it’s time to get out there and start posting.

Around 75% of U.S. businesses are on Instagram in 2020.
After seeing a brand or product in Instagram Stories, 62% of people say they become more interested.
And more than 200 million users visit at least one business profile daily.
While 50% of Instagram users follow at least one business.
81% of U.S. users say they use Instagram to research products and services.
And 11% say they shop directly on Instagram.
U.S. teens say Instagram is the best way for brands to reach them at a whopping 73%.
The most popular form of Instagram video? How-to tutorials.
33% of the most-viewed Instagram Stories are from businesses.
Speaking of, Instagram Stories have become essential for brands, as over 500 million people use Stories daily.
Using User-Generated Content (UGC) has almost a 5% higher conversion rate (so start giving a human touch to your ads and content).

Pro tip:

People LOVE to see faces on Instagram.

As it stands, photos with faces get 38% more likes than those without.

And that’s not all; posts with a location get 79% more engagement.

So add a human element and be specific, folks, and it could help you see massive gains.

The Future of Instagram

If you are curious about the future of Instagram, check out our Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing.

But I’ll give you a summary in as few words as possible.

If your business can use Instagram to target your audience, get out there.

It’s great right now, but you haven’t missed anything.

Because it’s still growing like gangbusters and showing no signs of slowing.

Fun with Instagram Stats Part 3

One more, for the road.

As of 2019 (because – who knows in 2020 😬), the most Instagrammed location was…

If you guessed Disneyland, you get a gold star!

I’ll leave you with an easy one – how about the most Instagrammed city?

That’s right, friends – New York City.

So, Do You Have Instagram in Your Sights?

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

There you have it.

A plethora of Instagram statistics to help you decide whether you’re going to use Instagram as your social media marketing platform or choose another.

But if Instagram fits your business model and your target audience uses it as well, then you’re going to find it easier to reach them here than anywhere else.

You just have to have a good strategy for content and ads, with maybe a sprinkle of influencer marketing mixed in.

We hope these statistics were eye-opening, some were eye-popping, and the rest were just the icing on the cake to convince you that it’s high time you put some efforts into Instagram marketing.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please leave a comment below this article.