To get a better handle on the opportunities and usage of Instagram for marketing purposes, we recently partnered with the team from SEMrush to conduct a survey of over 800 digital marketers to get their insights into what they're doing on the platform, what they're seeing success with and where they see future potential.

You can download our full 'State of Instagram Marketing 2019' survey report here, but this week, we're taking a closer look at each element of the data, and what it means for your marketing approach.

Yesterday, we published our first post in the series, which looked at how marketers are currently using Instagram's various options. Today, we're looking at what results brands are seeing when publishing different types of content on the platform.

Part 2: Performance of Instagram Post Options 

Based on the various responses, it was interesting to note that, while video content is hugely popular, at present, most brands are seeing best engagement with still image posts on the platform.

You could assume that more businesses are using static image posts than other options - though as we noted in our first review post, Stories are hugely popular, which suggests that, at least at this stage, basic Instagram updates remain crucial to platform success.

Of course, Stories are temporary, or are stored in the smaller Highlights bar on your profile, which would put increased emphasis on your still images, boosting their shelf-life, and that could be key in generating that higher value, in terms of business performance. But either way, the data would suggest that while Stories are increasingly popular, you can’t put all your Instagram marketing eggs in one basket – you need an integrated approach which incorporates Stories and still images in order to maximize your platform success.

Over time, with more brands posting more video content, we'd expect to see these results shift, with video and Stories taking more prominence, but at present, still image posts remain important.

Also worth noting too that influencer-generated and influencer partnered posts are lower down the list for brands, in terms of producing results, while polls are also not driving the results that brands are seeking. Of course, 'results' in this context is relative to each business - if you're trying to raise brand awareness, then your measure for 'results' will be different to those looking to drive direct conversions. But even so, the responses show that brands are getting better response - at least at present - from still image posts.

It'll be interesting to see how that evolves over time.

You can read the full 'State of Instagram Marketing 2019' report here, while we'll be breaking down more of the specifics in further posts on SMT this week.