Unlike many of the other popular social media platforms out there, Instagram doesn’t have its own analytics dashboard for users and brands to measure the engagement and effectiveness of their posts.
Luckily, there are a ton of analytics tools out there that can be used, with some of the best ones even being free. With that said, here are the seven best free Instagram analytics tools you should be utilizing.
ICONOSQUARE (FORMERLY KNOWN AS STATIGRAM)
Iconosquare, which some of you may know as Statigram, appeals to both the average social media user as well as big brands employing the social tool to increase business.
The desktop app provides both high-level and in-depth analytics, including the total number of likes received, a history of your most liked photos throughout the duration of your account, the average number of likes and comments you receive per photo, follower growth charts, and so much more.
But it doesn’t end there.
Iconosquare also allows users to add a custom Instagram tab to their Facebook pages to boost cross-channel engagement, and the social tool also has an embed feature to showcase your Instagram photo gallery on your website.
If you don’t mind paying to play on Instagram, you can also utilize Iconosquare’s content functionality, which lets you create Instagram contests and promotions to increase your follower base and engage with your community.
SIMPLYMEASURED
If you need to present a high-level summary of your brand’s Instagram account to your team or management executives, you’ll want to check out SimplyMeasured’s free Instagram user report.
The web-based report is available for accounts that have up to 25,000 followers, and users can expect to receive a comprehensive two-month report that reports analytical data like average engagement per photo, keyword analysis for comments, most active followers, best time to post to receive the most engagement, top locations and filters, and so much more.
For a free report, it’s arguably the best and easiest breakdown that you’re going to get.
INSTAFOLLOW
This mobile app—available to both iOS and Android users—is a simple tool that provides insight specifically about your follower base.
Upon downloading the app and syncing it up with your Instagram account, you’ll be able to:
- Track new followers and unfollowers
- Track followers who you don’t follow back
- Track users who you follow that don’t follow you back
- Follow and unfollow users with a simple tap inside the app
With this type of data at your fingertips, you’ll be able to get a better handle on who your followers are and how you can increase your following.
UNION METRICS
Similar to SimplyMeasured, Union Metrics also has a web-based tool where users can receive statistics and data about their Instagram account “in just two minutes,” according to the company.
Union Metrics boasts that they’ve incorporated some of the algorithm from their paid tool into the free report, which includes data such as when the best time to post is, what hashtags receive the most engagement, who your top fans and followers are, and what type of content you should either produce more of or cut back on.
Though not as insightful as SimplyMeasured, Union Metrics is still worth two minutes of your time for some really great data.
CROWDFIRE (FORMERLY KNOWN AS JUSTUNFOLLOW)
Crowdfire is a free Instagram and Twitter analytics tool that can be used on both the web and via mobile device (on iOS and Android).
The app is essentially a relationship management tool, helping users find and identify who their inactive followers are as well as who is unfollowing them. The free tool also helps you find new follower opportunities, locating relevant users to follow based on your current following habits and hashtags.
Additionally, have you ever taken a photo and forgot to post it to your IG account? With Crowdfire, you can set up the app to remind you to upload a photo at a specific time to post to your account.
As a brand, there’s no point in putting in the effort to make social work for you if you’re not going to track, measure, and act on the results. Deploy these free Instagram analytics tools and start making more educated decisions in your social marketing.
LOCOWISE
Locowise offers a free Instagram analysis tool that compares your profile to 2,500 other Instagram profiles and offers benchmarks against a variety of metrics.
Metrics of follower growth, follower engagement, and most popular filter are shown for your own profile. You can choose to compare your account to other accounts of various follower sizes, allowing you to get an accurate comparison.
These profiles are used to give an average of image to video ratio, posts per day, average number of interactions and the split between likes and comments, and the average response time for a comment.
SQUARELOVIN
Squarelovin is an admirably in-depth tool for a free analytics platform. It displays metrics on recent posts and growth, a monthly analysis, and a history of your posts broken down into year, month, day, and hour.
There are tabs that show engagement with your photos, both average and top posts, and an optimization tab that shows your best and worst times to post.
You can also manage your Instagram account from within the platform, creating albums, and liking and commenting other posts.
Final Thoughts
Instagram analytics tools can be important to your long-term success with Instagram marketing. This is especially true with the upcoming news feed algorithm. The three analytics tools in this article can give you all of the information you need to create higher-performing content, both immediately and in the long run.
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What do you think? How do you feel about the upcoming Instagram algorithm? Do you use any of these Instagram analytics tools? Do you use one that didn’t make the list?
Want to build your presence on Instagram? Want to gain more followers? Okay, we’ll help. Since you asked nicely. Get a FREE copy of our Instagram Tools Guide.
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