Here's Who Advertisers Should Be Trying To Reach On Instagram

Now that Instagram has officially launched ads on the network, brands are deciding who best to target there. As they do, the demographic makeup of the network - and the activity and engagement of Instagram's users - is becoming even more important.

Already Instagram is not just a photo- and video-sharing app. It's also the world's 14th-largest social network. It has 150 million people who are active on it and over 90% of them are under 35. It is also popular with women; 68% of Instagram's users are female.

In a recent report from BI Intelligence, we break down the demographics and usage behavior on all the major social networks. We find that Instagram is largely made up of urban, youthful demographics, with a significant skew towards women. Our report also spotlights the opportunities that lie ahead for Instagram and other social networks, how demographics affect usage patterns, and why some platforms are better for brands than others.

Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Risk-Free Trial Today >>

Here are some of the top statistics on Instagram's users:

• Instagram is agnostic in the smartphone wars: The app's users are neatly divided 50/50 between owners of Android and Apple devices.
• Similar to Pinterest, another photo-heavy platform, Instagram skews heavily toward women, according to Appdata.
• Instagram also leans toward urban users; 17% of U.S. adult residents who live in urban areas use Instagram, compared to only 11% in suburban and rural areas.
• Instagram is about quality not quantity. Instagram accounts for 7% of daily photo uploads among the top four photo-sharing platforms. So it's not as much of a heavyweight, in volume terms, as some might believe.
• Early data shows that Instagram video attracts more engagement than Instagram competitor, Vine.

In full, the special report:

• Analyzes gender, income, and age statistics for each social network
• Breaks down the best data for Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+
• Includes 16 charts and datasets that provide an in-depth picture of demographics on each of the major social networks
• Discusses mobile activity on social media and its relative weight on each of the platforms
• Looks at daypart statistics to gauge how demographics drives daily activity peaks on each of the networks
• Examines how international the user bases of each social network have become

For full instant access to the report on Social Media Demographics, sign up for a free trial subscription to BI Intelligence.