Brands beware, Instagrammers unfollow as quick as they follow

Sarah Homewood
By Sarah Homewood | 14 July 2016
 

Brands need to be wary when communicating with people on Instagram because just as quickly as a consumer followers a page, they can just as quickly unfollow, new research from Facebook has found.

Facebook recently conducted a major study, however when Australia is in the spotlight, it found the average Australian Instagrammer follows two new accounts and unfollows 1.5 accounts.

It's a similar story on Facebook, with the average person on Facebook adding 1.25 friends and liking two pages, and unfriending one person and unliking one page.

Facebook has also delved into the ways in which people use its platforms and found that users turn to Facebook for opinions and Instagram is for more personal content.

The survey found that brands need to be using both platforms, but in different ways, to get the most traction.

The social site says that people may visit Facebook and Instagram for different reasons, but they spend a significant amount of time on both, with more than one in five minutes on mobile in the US being spent on the two feeds.

Facebook's lead IQ researcher, Vicki Molina-Estolano says that marketers need to understand how and why different groups of people - men, women, parents, millennials - use Facebook and Instagram so that they can engage people in a more relevant way.

“According to our study, fun on Facebook is more about humour, and fun on Instagram is more about encountering the unexpected. With Facebook it's more about exposure to new ideas and new ways of thinking, and on Instagram it's more about inspiration,” she says.

The social behemoth also looked into what different genders get out of the platforms and it found that men value Facebook and Instagram in part because each platform helps them manage their social lives.

Men also turn to Facebook to boost their confidence, with 55% of men surveyed saying they agree that Facebook makes them feel good about themselves, and 62% agree it allows them to share their expert knowledge on a subject.

The study found people are also more than likely to interact with different people on the different platforms. People surveyed said they were 1.3 times more likely to say they interact with content from musicians, athletes and other public figures on Instagram than on Facebook.

See all of the Australian stats for the study below for yourself:

Australian stats:

  • The average Instagrammer follows two new accounts and unfollows 1.5 accounts.
  • The average person on Facebook adds 1.25 friends and likes two Pages, and unfriends one person and unlikes one Page
  • 49% of men agree Facebook helps them organise their lives
  • 43% of men agree Instagram helps them organise their lives
  • 56% of men agree Facebook makes them feel good about themselves
  • 57% of men agree Facebook allows them to share expert knowledge on a subject
  • Parents are just as likely to seek out video content at the same rate on Facebook as Millennials
  • Parents are more likely to stay in touch with businesses they love

Types of content surveyed millennials seek more often on Instagram than on Facebook:

  • Celebrities
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Photography
  • Interior design
  • Travel
  • Food
  • People I don’t know whose posts I enjoy

Five types of content most sought out by parents on Instagram:

  • Friends and family
  • Celebrities
  • Food
  • Fashion
  • Travel

Five types of content most sought out by parents on Facebook:

  • Friends and family
  • News
  • Humour
  • Food
  • Travel

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