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How effective are Instagram Reels for businesses? To find out, Semrush analyzed 820K Instagram posts from public business accounts between January 1, 2022 and August 4, 2023.
According to the study, Reels outperformed other content types, regardless of follower count.
Overall, Reels earned engagement:
· 59% better than Carousels
· 75% better than Images
The same was true for impressions. Reels attracted:
· 18% more impressions than Carousels
· 41% more impressions than Image posts
We segmented the data a few ways.
Here’s the breakdown by post type:
Alt: Images: 55.9% of posts Carousels: 23.8% of posts Reels: 20.4% of posts
And here is the distribution of accounts by follower count:
Accounts Distribution by Number of Followers: 0-10K followers: 21.4% of accounts 10K to 50K followers: 16.6% of accounts 50K to 100K followers: 26.1% of accounts 100K to 500K followers: 30% of accounts 500K to 1 million followers: 5.9% of accounts
Reels Are The Most Impactful Instagram Content for Businesses
While previous data showed that Carousels were king of engagement, now, Reels consistently outperform other post types across every metric we studied.
Reels earned more likes and saves than any other content type on the platform.
Average Metrics by Instagram Post Type: Images: 65 comments 1,009 likes 1,148 engagements 29,970 impressions 62 saves Carousels: 41 comments 1,082 likes 1,268 engagements 36,009 impressions 151 saves Reels: 54 comments 1,541 likes 2,009 engagements 42,236 impressions 194 saves
The pattern continues when you segment each post type’s engagement by follower count. Whether the profile had under ten thousand followers, or one million, Reels earned higher engagement.
Share of Average Engagement by Post Types: For accounts with up to 10K followers, carousels received 35% of engagement, Images received 20%, and Reels received 55%. For accounts with 10K to 50K followers, Carousels got 26% of engagement, Images for 35%, and Reels got 49%. For accounts with 50K to 100K, carousels got 28%, Images got 21%, and Reels got 51%. For accounts with 100K to 500K followers, Carousels got 27%, Images got 30%, and Reels got 44%. For accounts with 500K to 1 million followers, carousels got 31%, Images got 26%, and Reels got 43%.
Reels also outperformed for Impressions across every profile size but one. For profiles with the highest follower count (500K to 1 million), Carousels had the most Impressions. For every other group, Reels came in first.
Share of Average Impressions by Post Types: For accounts with up to 10K followers, Carousels got 30% of impressions, Images for 18%, and Reels got 52%. For accounts with 10K to 50K followers, Carousels got 28% of impressions, Images for 21%, and Reels got 52%. For accounts with 50K to 100K, Carousels got 30%, Images got 24%, and Reels got 46%. For accounts with 100K to 500K followers, Carousels got 28%, Images got 32%, and Reels got 41%. For accounts with 500K to 1 million followers, Carousels got 38%, Images got 28%, and Reels got 34%.
Impressions also have a high positive correlation (0.86) with engagement.
Of engagement types, Likes had the strongest correlation to Impressions at 0.85. Comments (0.16) and follower count (0.12) had the weakest relationship.
Correlation of impressions versus other metrics. Impressions vs likes: 0.85 correlation Impressions vs shares: 0.59 correlation Impressions vs save count: 0.55 correlation Impressions vs comments: 0.16 correlation Impressions vs followers: 0.12 correlation
That means Reels can earn high visibility with relatively few Shares or Comments, and audience size has very little impact on visibility.
This is good news for smaller creators, because you don’t need a large platform for many people to see your posts. But that doesn’t mean Reels are likely to build your follower count—the low correlation suggests it wouldn’t have a high impact.
Reels’ Popularity Is Skyrocketing
From the 820K posts we analyzed, the number of Reels being posted surged from 508 in January 2022 to 18,950 in July 2023, a staggering 10081% growth.
Reels published over time. The share of reels published starts at 15% in January 2022, and culminates at 35% in July 2023. The number of reels published starts well below 20,000 in January 2022, and peaks at 60,000 shortly before July 2023.
It may be tempting to attribute this shift to a handful of Reels-happy accounts, but the data proves otherwise. In January 2022, Reels accounted for only 15% of posts per account. Today, that figure has risen to 37%.
Instagram’s promotional efforts certainly have an impact on Reels’ popularity, suggesting them directly in user feeds, and in a separate Reels tab.
This growth could also be driven by creator and user preference, owing to the dynamic nature of the content.
Build Your Instagram Following with Diverse, Engaging Content
While the data above shows that Reels outperform other Instagram content types, one crucial question remains: Which performs better on your channel, for your audience: Reels, Carousels, or images?
Use Semrush Social to analyze your content performance and identify your most successful content types. Then, dedicate your time to creating content that drives the best results for your brand.
