Instagram engagement did not rise during the pandemic

According to the most recent Instagram Engagement Report from Mention and Hubspot, more people at home did not equal greater engagement on the social media platform, leading to the question of if instagram is an effective platform for engaging with your audience. 

The report conducted research into different engagement strategies and the basis of features that instagram identifies by. The study showed:

  • Average engagement dropped from 2.26% to 1.42% 
  • Carousel posts saw the greatest engagement, ahead of single-image and video posts.
  • Women make up a greater proportion of influential users on the platform (60%). 
  • The most engaged types of accounts are related to the beauty and cosmetics industry.

Instagram is changing, away from its core value, which was to be an Image-focussed application that revolutionised the use of filters. It’s now having to adapt to the trends in the current social media landscape, with the introduction of Reels, as a direct competitor to TikTok, therefore becoming more content-focussed than image. Seemingly, however, there is a problem with Reels in the fact a lot of content has been saved and transferred from its competitor. With Reels being relatively new compared to Instagrams other features, it will be interesting to see how it performs, in relation to engagement, with its more traditional means of use.

The fact that engagement continues to plummet yet again goes to show why social media is not the silver bullet many would have you believe. Nearly all platforms with some kind of ad tech wrapped around it will slowly ratchet down ‘organic engagement’ – leaving you feeling like you’re chasing your tail round and round, faster and faster and left wondering why things are getting worse! 

News like this has been coming out for the last 8 or so years since the initial drop in organic reach, and this is why social media is important, but should form a proportionate part of your marketing strategy – especially when it’s ‘organic’.

We work with our clients to get the right balance to reduce that spinning feeling, and importantly to put money in the bank for them instead of endlessly chasing likes on instagram. We want to talk to more brands that understand this and want a refresh on their marketing campaign so if throughout this post you feel like I’ve been talking to you – then get in touch!