The latest report by global analytics company, InfluencerDB, has revealed new data about follower engagement on Instagram.
The results, based on an analysis of 307,000 influencer accounts across 70 countries, have revealed that engagement rates (or the ratio of likes to follower counts) have dropped across the board since 2016, but sponsored content has emerged as the best-performing. Non-sponsored engagement rates have gone from 4.5% to 1.9% and sponsored posts have gone from 4% to 2.9% so far in 2019.
In Australia, the results differ slightly with engagement rates generally higher in 2018-19 than in 2016-17. There are also clear surges in engagement on all types of content in the summer months.
Given the fact that more influencers than ever are posting on Instagram, what does this tell us?
Fast Company believes that Instagram's design isn't helping the cause. "Its simple scrolling feed limits how much we can see at any given moment. So the more influencers post, the more our feeds are made up of white noise, and the easier it is for us to disengage," reads an article on the website published last week.
Instagram's algorithms also offer higher priority to sponsored posts, so lower engagement on organic content will likely suffer as a result.
As a credit to their work, however, the numbers could also indicate a preference for sponsored posts due to the amount of care and effort that influencers put into their campaigns with commercial partners. The report suggests that people also like to see their favourite influencers working with brands and engage more as a form of support.
Finally, when it comes to the best overall engagement rates, this falls to micro-influencers – those with 1,000-5,000 followers – who track at 8.8% on average. After exceeding a threshold of 10,000 followers, the report shows that influencers maintain a consistent engagement rate regardless of their follower size.
Many industry commentators, like those at Fast Company, believe that brands will fare well if they pivot their influencer strategies to include micro-influencers going forward.
Read and download the full report here: 
InfluencerDB_Influencer-Marketing-Benchmarks-Report-2019.pdf
