In our Instagram study Q1 2016 we were able to detect a significant drop in interactions since Q1 2015. As well as that we found a moderate increase in own posts. The share of videos increased by over 10% points since 2015.

1. Instagram Study
Q1 2016
quintly analyzed 13,000
Instagram profiles during
the first quarter of 2016

2. In this study quintly reveals important
developments on Instagram during
the first quarter of 2016.

3. Instagram own posts increasing moderately
Brands ramp up Facebook post frequency in Q1 ’16
During 2015 Instagram own posts increased
slightly. This trend seems to continue further for
the average profile in 2016.
Facebook surprises here with a by far stronger
increasing post frequency. This shows that
brands further increase their investment in
Facebook.
Chart: Daily own posts on Facebook and
Instagram in Q1 2016.
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram profiles
and 140k Facebook pages.
Data Period: First quarter of 2016
JAN FEB MAR
Own Posts
Own Posts
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

4. Profile Size
1-1k Fans 0.23 0.23
1k-10k Fans 0.65 0.7
10k-100k Fans 1.63 1.41
100k-1m Fans 4.36 2.31
1m-10m Fans 9.32 2.76
10m+ Fans 9.46 2.13
As shown in the table on the right, analyzed
profiles posted with a significant higher
frequency on Facebook than on Instagram.
Especially once pages reach over 100k fans the
post frequency on Facebook goes up. Brands
and other pages analyzed seem to rely on
Facebook in Q1 ’16.
Table: Average daily own posts in Q1 2016.
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram profiles
and 140k Facebook pages.
Data Period: Jan - Dec 2015
Lower post frequency on Instagram than on Facebook
The average brand tends to post 3x more on Facebook

5. Find out how your
page is performing!
Try quintly for free: quint.ly/start_free

6. The decreasing interaction rate on Instagram is
driven mainly by two factors:
On the one hand this trend shows that people
interact less in increasingly crowded timelines.
On the other hand this phenomenon is
reinforced by the massive increase in followers,
which results in a decreasing rate.
Chart: Average interaction rate; all interactions
divided by posts and followers.
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram profiles
and 140k Facebook pages.
Data Period: First quarter of 2016
Instagram interaction rate decreases in Q1
Interaction rate remains stable on Facebook
Interaction rate
Interaction rate
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0
JAN FEB MAR
0.50

7. 15.6%
84.4%
Businesses active on Instagram increasingly invest in
video content. The possibility of 15 seconds emotional
content seems to give brands great ways to get
creative.
Compared to the analysis we published for Q1 in 2015
the share of video posts increased by 10 percent points.
Chart: Share of video posts on Instagram timelines of
the analyzes profiles.
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram profiles.
Data Period: First quarter of 2016
Video content further on the rise
Increased 10% points since Q1 2015
Share of video /
image posts

8. Due to the increase in own posts of Instagram profiles
during 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 timelines get
increasingly crowded.
The table on the right shows that crowded timelines do
not lead necessarily to more interactions. Compared to
Q2 2015 we can report a distinct drop in interactions.
Table: Comparison of video and image post interactions
in March 2016.
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram profiles.
Data Period: First quarter of 2016
Images receive higher interactions than videos
Image post interactions dropped by 66% since Q2 2015; video post interactions by 39%
Profile Size
1-1k Fans 25 20
1k-10k Fans 87 80
10k-100k Fans 535 474
100k-1m Fans 4,083 3,844
1m-10m Fans 36,297 29,190
10m+ Fans 407,042 221,223

9. Profile Size MAR ’15 MAR ’16 MAR ’15 MAR ’16
1-1k Followers 25 25 0 23 20
1k-10k Followers 114 87 124 80
10k-100k Followers 747 535 685 474
100k-1m Followers 6,414 4,083 6,309 3,844
1m-10m Followers 59,916 36,297 63,119 29,190
10m+ Followers 612,672 407,042 584,432 221,223
-36%
-34%
-39%
-39%
-54%
-62%
VideosImages
-29%
-24%
-31%
-35%
-13%
-27% -39%

10. In the following pages we clustered our findings in different sized
groups of Instagram profiles. With these tables you are able to
compare your own performance with the average profile in your
profile size.
For each cluster there are two slides of information, analyzing
six differently sized groups in total. Here we analyzed the same
metrics as in the first part.

11. Own Posts
Jan 6
Feb 7
Mar 8
Own Posts,
Growth Rate,
Interaction Rate,
Own Posts / Average
Interactions per Post
comparison in 2015
Profiles with 1 - 1k followers
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram
profiles. Data Period: First quarter 2016
Growth Rate
Jan 1.18
Feb 1.18
Mar 1.19
Interaction Rate
Jan 7.12
Feb 6.57
Mar 6.92
Image
Posts
Video
Posts
Jan 6 0
Feb 6 0
Mar 8 1
Image
Interactions
Video
Interactions
Jan 25 30
Feb 23 23
Mar 25 20

12. Own Posts,
Growth Rate,
Interaction Rate,
Own Posts / Average
Interactions per Post
comparison in 2015
Profiles with 1k - 10k followers
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram
profiles. Data Period: First quarter 2016
Own Posts
Jan 19
Feb 19
Mar 21
Growth Rate
Jan 1.17
Feb 1.17
Mar 1.16
Interaction Rate
Jan 2.47
Feb 2.27
Mar 2.20
Image
Posts
Video
Posts
Jan 19 1
Feb 19 2
Mar 21 2
Image
Interactions
Video
Interactions
Jan 90 90
Feb 91 65
Mar 87 80

13. Own Posts,
Growth Rate,
Interaction Rate,
Own Posts / Average
Interactions per Post
comparison in 2015
Profiles with 10k - 100k followers
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram
profiles. Data Period: First quarter 2016
Own Posts
Jan 41
Feb 42
Mar 45
Growth Rate
Jan 1.15
Feb 1.14
Mar 1.15
Interaction Rate
Jan 1.70
Feb 1.55
Mar 1.46
Image
Posts
Video
Posts
Jan 38 3
Feb 38 4
Mar 40 4
Image
Interactions
Video
Interactions
Jan 622 622
Feb 566 517
Mar 535 474

14. Find out how your
page is performing!
Try quintly for free: quint.ly/start_free

15. Own Posts,
Growth Rate,
Interaction Rate,
Own Posts / Average
Interactions per Post
comparison in 2015
Profiles with 100k - 1m followers
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram
profiles. Data Period: First quarter 2016
Own Posts
Jan 68
Feb 69
Mar 73
Growth Rate
Jan 1.15
Feb 1.1
Mar 1.11
Interaction Rate
Jan 1.54
Feb 1.31
Mar 1.23
Image
Posts
Video
Posts
Jan 61 7
Feb 62 7
Mar 65 8
Image
Interactions
Video
Interactions
Jan 5,103 5,644
Feb 4,384 4,249
Mar 4,083 3,844

16. Own Posts,
Growth Rate,
Interaction Rate,
Own Posts / Average
Interactions per Post
comparison in 2015
Profiles with 1m - 10m followers
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram
profiles. Data Period: First quarter 2016
Own Posts
Jan 78
Feb 85
Mar 88
Growth Rate
Jan 1.11
Feb 1.09
Mar 1.08
Interaction Rate
Jan 1.58
Feb 1.38
Mar 1.30
Image
Posts
Video
Posts
Jan 68 10
Feb 73 13
Mar 74 14
Image
Interactions
Video
Interactions
Jan 44,967 37,878
Feb 39,911 32,481
Mar 36,297 29,190

17. Own Posts,
Growth Rate,
Interaction Rate,
Own Posts / Average
Interactions per Post
comparison in 2015
Profiles with 10m+ followers
Data Source: quintly analyzed 13k Instagram
profiles. Data Period: First quarter 2016
Own Posts
Jan 90
Feb 84
Mar 84
Growth Rate
Jan 1.09
Feb 1.08
Mar 1.07
Interaction Rate
Jan 1.37
Feb 1.19
Mar 1.14
Image
Posts
Video
Posts
Jan 69 21
Feb 64 20
Mar 63 21
Image
Interactions
Video
Interactions
Jan 475,769 308,438
Feb 425,002 252,838
Mar 407,042 221,223

18. Find out how your
page is performing!
Try quintly for free: quint.ly/start_free