Ten Findings From L2’s Instagram Report

L2 released this week its second annual Intelligence Report: Instagram, which evaluates the strategy and performance 250 brands across nine industry categories on the world’s most powerful social platform. Here are ten facts from the report:

1) Instagram is expected to have a 33.6% penetration rate in the U.S. market by 2019, and brands are catching on. Brand post frequency on the social platform has increased by 23% over the last five quarters.

2) With no links and the look of a high-end mall, this platform has particularly resonated with prestige brands. The average prestige brand boasts over a million Instagram followers.

3) Auto outperforms all categories (Beauty, Consumers Electronics, Travel, Watches & Jewelry, Fashion, Sportswear, Retail, Drinks) in engagement. The average interaction rate is 1.52% per post.

4) What resonates on Instagram can be surprising. Sixty-five percent of the best-performing posts on Instagram feature products, while 29% feature a brand ambassador or influencer.

5) Photos of brand products posted by users are the real drivers of conversion. Consumers who see a user-generated photo on their path to purchase have a 4.5% higher chance of conversion, which increases to 9.6% once they interact with the photo. Savvy brands incorporate user-generated photos on not just product pages, but all consumer touchpoints.

6) GoPro posted the most-liked Instagram from a brand for New York Fashion Week (#NYFW) with more than 114,000 likes.

7) Kendall Jenner posted the most-liked Instagram among brand and non-brand users of the platform. A photo of her leaving New York Fashion Week received more than a million likes.

8) Video posts on Instagram continue to lag photos in engagement, with 0.79% engagement vs. 1.03%

9) Patagonia boasts the highest engagement rate across all categories, accounting for 10.5% of the top 200 posts in engagement on Instagram.

10) Bumble & Bumble, NYX, Smashbox Cosmetics, Murad and Anthropologie populate 100% of their product pages with user-generated content.