Social network is the biggest source for information and inspiration for consumers to make a buying decision. Most of the people are found hooked on to different social media platforms such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and others looking for the latest news from their favorite brands. It is therefore the best and most effective platform for the marketers to showcase their product, promote their business and brand and make a sale.

However, amongst all available social media channels, Instagram happens to be the mots popular for reasons more than one.

• It has the widest reach as compared to any other social network, even Facebook, its owner
• It has a fan base of about one billion as on date
• It is essentially a photo and video sharing app that helps the retailers to showcase their product and skill in the best possible way and
• It has the highest rate of engagement, according to research.

Not underestimating the power of other social channels, Instagram is by far the best platform that you should invest your time and effort on simply due to the reason that it has the highest rate of engagement among its large number of followers. All marketers and experts such as Stormlikesand others use Instagram more than the other social networks for that reason as well.

The engagement statistics

You will come across a lot of survey reports and data that will show engagements rates and levels of different social media channels. On the whole, it is social media that emerges as the winner because most of the consumers make a buying decision after finding a purchase inspiration through these channels, one or multiple of these.

There are a few specific figures and facts that show how different online social media channels inspire consumers to make purchase decisions as well as the importance of social media in the lives of people and businesses as well.

• In 2019, the total social media advertising expense in the US is expected to be as high as $18.4 billion showing how influencing and useful this platform is
• The spending on social video in the US on the other hand is expected to increase by 38.1% reaching $7.85 billion, according to E-marketer
• There is a significant growth noticed in social video ad and Facebook controls about 84.9% of thisgrowth.
• %0% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials find social media as the most relevant and favored advertising channel
• 57% of millennials think and believe that the ads on social media channels are now becoming more meaningful and relevant
• 27% of Baby Boomers, 45% of Gen Z and about 41% of Gen Xfeel the same
• More than 50% of consumers admit that their buying decisions are highly influenced when they see user generated content in the social media ads of their favorite brands
• The chances of the non-customers visiting retailers that invest on social media ads are three times more likely as compared to their regular customers and
• More than 49% people said that it is the convenient payment systems that encourages them to buy through social media.

All these social media engagement statistics show how exactly and effectively social media has been able to bridgethe gap between the brands and the consumers with an easy to use and effective platform to get connected and engaged with each other. It is for this reason experts suggest that brands and businesses should make the most of this opportunity provided by social media, especially Instagram and create:

• Better interaction
• Stronger relationships
• Effective communication and
• Instant connection.

This will ensure that the brand or business do not lose any potential customer, a sales prospect and revenue for business.

Making the most of the platform

There are lots of reasons to use Instagram for the business marketing purpose but the most significant one of all is the high social media engagement rates that it assures. This will in turn help the businesses to improve other important aspects that will influence the ultimate performance of the brand.

Therefore, keeping in mind with the social media engagement statistics, you will need to consider consumer preferences, engagement trends, buying pattern and behavior of the consumers. This will help you a lot as it has helped as lot of other brands to refine your engagement efforts.

To make the most out of this popular visual sharing platform, here area few other facts that you should know about the engagement rate of the platform as provided by The Sprout Index and then proceed with your social media and Instagram marketing strategies.

• 80% of all social media marketers found Instagram to be the most effective channels to increase engagement amongst the followers
• Instagram posts with links provide more information and traffic towards a site thereby increasing engagement and sales prospects on social media
• 30% of all consumers confirmed that they like to see their favorite brands on Instagram platform
• 18% of the customers preferred Images and graphics
• 17% of them preferred to see product videos
• 61% of the social marketers line uptheir posts that are intuitive and attention grabbing
• 58% of them focus on telling a story through Instagram Stories feature
• 53% focus on posts that appeal and inspire the viewers to eliminate the huge misalignment with the preference of their consumers
• 73% of all consumers prefer to see posts on social that talk about discounts and sales
• 60% of them want to see posts that are about new products and services
• 59% of them however wants to see only those posts that teach about the product
• 58% of people prefer visual-first content that includes graphics, images and videos
• 74% of them share video content from different brands on Instagram across all social media channels and
• 45% of people refer first to social channels to look for answers to their questions or issues.
• Lastly, 21% people prefer customer servicethrough social media.

With all these facts and figures, you as a brand should use Instagram as a useful platform to build relationships.

Author bio

Garrett Stones is a founder a SEO firm and also acts as an advisor to different companies like stormlikes. You will come to know a lot about Instagram posting calendar, blogs posts scheduling, social media strategies and messages if you follow him on Twitter.