Twitter Inc is lagging behind photo sharing app Instagram in one more metric. Recently the photo sharing app revealed it has more users than Twitter, and now there is evidence the app is ahead of the micro-blogging site on engagement.
Instagram way ahead of Twitter
Twitter is perceived to be a great platform for sharing information and chatting with friends, however, a new study from Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer Socialbakers shows more conversations are happening on Instagram.
The study found that an average post on Instagram among top brands commanded an engagement rate of 3.31%, while for Twitter the rate is just .07%. A similar trend was noticed on comparing the average interaction rate between users and the top profiles. Also Twitter was way behind Instagram in terms of total profile interaction figures.
Socialbakers studied the interactions of the top 25 “most engaging” brand profiles globally on both the platforms and came to the conclusion that the photo sharing platform is ahead of Twitter by a wide margin. The brands studied for Instagram included names such as Victoria’s Secret, Adidas, Starbucks and Urban Outfitters, while for Twitter, some of the brands studied were Playstation, Taco Bell, Nike and Paddy Power. Engagement is defined as the sum of all retweets, replies, and favorites on Twitter.
Instagram “making waves”
Describing the differences between the two brands, Socialbakers Editor Zachary Peterson said Instagram is “making waves,” as it has crossed over 300 million users, and of those, 70% are from outside the U.S. The editor adds that the best-performing brands are getting 50 times more engagement with organic content. Instagram provides brands with a platform to reach out to users who share a similar passion through creative storytelling and engagement with tight communities of people.
“Twitter is great for news and real-time buzz. But Instagram is now bigger, and according to our newest data, it’s the definitive place to be for brands who want to engage with their communities,” Peterson said.
Socialbakers CEO Jan Rezab told Business Insider the difference of engagement between Twitter and Instagram came as a surprise. In its defense, the micro-blogging site could say, “Engagement is easier to do on Instagram,” but then Twitter must be asked, “Shouldn’t Twitter have a lighter form of engagement too?” said Rezab.
