If you are merely a casual user of Instagram, showing a few pictures with your friends, you may not see any need to track your Instagram followers, or indeed how your posts perform. However, if you take your Instagramming more seriously, you are going to want to keep a vigilant eye on your Instagram account, along with the genuineness of your followers.
This is particularly the case for influencers and brands. In both cases, the quality of their following matters very much. Ultimately brands are only in the social space to strike a dialogue with their customers and potential clients. Their work with influencers has the same overall goal. There is little point in having followers who are not part of their target market.
It is perhaps less crucial for non-commercially minded influencers. However, they, too, are unlikely to be influential with people who couldn't care less about their posts.
Brands and influencers are also interested in the behavior of their followers. What types of posts interest them? Which topics are of little importance and get ignored? As far as serious influencers are concerned, analytics, and data about their Instagram performance can be a godsend, and help them make more interesting and valued posts.
The following list highlights tools that, in some way, help you track your Instagram followers, and in many cases, the overall performance of your Instagram account.
Tools to Track Your Instagram Followers
1. Iconosquare
Iconosquare offers both free and paid tools that help you track your Instagram followers. Their free tool provides an Instant Instagram Audit. All you have to do is to connect your Instagram account and enter your email address. They will then send you a free report that tells you where you’re shining and where you’re falling flat. Instagram Audit analyzes 20+ metrics on your latest 30 posts over the last 30 days. It provides tips on your account activity, audience engagement, account settings, and content strategy.
2. Instagram Insights
If you have a business Instagram account, you will have free access to Instagram Insights. It is Instagram’s native analytics tool that provides data on follower demographics and actions, along with your content. You can use it to access data for your account as a whole, each post, and your Stories.
Instagram Insights’ home page gives you a summary of data for the content you’ve posted in the last week. In the top section, you will find the total number of followers you have and how many you’ve gained in the past seven days.
3. Emplifi
Emplifi is primarily a social media management platform that you can use to manage all your marketing tasks together easier. It includes an Analytics & Benchmark section that covers everything from benchmarking, content, and performance to influencers and paid campaigns. You can use it to get the full information you need to understand your performance. It allows you to benchmark your organic, paid, video, and influencer performance metrics against industry averages or competitors.
Key Features: Search/Discovery, Influencer Relationship Management, Content Review, Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting, Influencer Analysis, Audience Analysis,
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter
4. Listen
Listen offers a free Instagram account checkup. It is of limited use to understanding your followers over time, although it provides some insights into how your account is performing currently.
You can use Listen to monitor all your social profiles to learn precisely how your content performs. It will show you what content works across social media – and what doesn’t, and when your audience is most receptive to find the best time to post.
5. Social Blade
Social Blade provides a wealth of stats on public Instagram media accounts. They pull data explicitly from your public profile, so you won’t find anything if you have made your account Private – but if you are a business or influencer, it makes no sense to have a Private account.
For future projections, you do need to provide them with at least two points, so you need to scan your account multiple times over time if you want to build a set of useful data.
Read More6. Squarelovin
Squarelovin offers a free in-depth analytics tool that gives you access to metrics on your recent posts and growth, a monthly analysis, and a history of your posts broken down into year, month, day, and hour. It provides you with more insights on your communities’ preferences and interests, and what drives engagement. Squarelovin even shows you your best and worst times to post.
Tracking your Instagram followers is essential for understanding your audience, improving engagement, and refining your content strategy. For influencers and brands, it helps ensure that your followers are genuine and part of your target market, which is crucial for successful marketing and influence. Instagram Insights provides data on follower demographics (gender, age, location), follower growth, and the performance of your posts and Stories. It shows metrics like reach, impressions, and engagement, helping you understand your audience better and optimize your content strategy. Yes, several tools offer free options to track Instagram followers. Instagram Insights is available for free to business accounts, providing detailed follower demographics and engagement data. Emplifi has a free Instagram Analytics Tool for basic performance tracking. Squarelovin also provides free in-depth analytics on recent posts, growth, and engagement.Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I track my Instagram followers?
What information can I get from Instagram Insights?
Can I track Instagram followers for free with any of these tools?
