Socialbakers: Instagram Surpasses Twitter in Brand Engagement

If you’re looking to expand your brand and boost audience engagement on social media, then Instagram is the place to be. While Twitter remains the central hub for real time news and trends, Instagram has become the definitive place for brands that want to build a stronger relationship with their audience.

A report from social analytics firm Socialbakers—released on December 17, 2014—revealed that Instagram garners nearly 50x more engagement with organic content than Twitter. Socialbakers compared the top 25 brands on Instagram with the top 25 brands on Twitter and found that per post engagement was nearly 50 times higher on Instagram. [See Figure 1] Three months of data (from September 9, 2014, to December 9, 2014) were examined.

Figure 1 (Source: Socialbakers)

According to Socialbakers, the average Instagram post for a major brand has a per fan engagement rate of 3.31% (including likes and comments). In contrast, the average Twitter post for a major brand has a per fan engagement rate of 0.07% per tweet (including replies, retweets, and favorites).

Instagram also trumps Facebook in terms of engagement. According to the New York Times, Instagram users are engaging with content at 18 times the rate they do with Facebook posts. As a visual-centered social network, it should be no surprise that brands have found more engagement on Instagram than on Twitter or Facebook.

Instagram provides brands with “an outlet for creative storytelling and engagement with tight communities of people who share a passion for the brands’ values.” Given such powerful advantages, it’s no surprise that major brands like Forever21, Starbucks, and Victoria’s Secret have seen more engagement on Instagram than on Twitter.

Video and visual content are increasingly dominating social media in terms of growth and user engagement. Facebook has been tweaking its news feed to better showcase video content, and Twitter plans to roll out a native video player some time in 2015.

Instagram has surpassed Twitter in monthly active users (Instagram now has 300 million and Twitter 288 million). Growth for Instagram has been nothing short of explosive, with the service growing its user base from 200 to 300 million monthly active users from March to December 2014.

What other factors might account for the greater user engagement on Instagram than on Twitter?

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