The odds of striking it big on social media are already low. Trying to grow your Instagram account without paying attention to analytics makes them even lower. Instagram analytics hold the key for growing your account’s presence but to access them, you’ll need to use the right tools.
There are plenty of amazing Instagram analytics tools you can use to see what’s really going on with your profiles. Depending on the tool, you’ll be able to monitor key metrics, generate reports, and even automate part of your social media growth strategy.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to eight of the best Instagram analytics tools in the market and help you find the right fit. Let’s get to it!
1. Instagram Insights
If you have a business, brand, or personal project that relies on Instagram, it makes sense to leverage the platform’s built-in analytics tools. Instagram Insights is available for business accounts and it enables you to access a ton of data about your audience and your content’s performance on the platform and to do it for free.
Before you start experimenting with other Instagram analytics tools (particularly paid ones), take a look at the data the platform already tracks. If you use other Meta products, it also makes sense to leverage the Meta Business Suite tools whenever possible.
Key features:
- Gain access to in-depth information about follower demographics and who’s engaging with your Instagram content.
- Use Instagram Insights to track growth, engagement, and reach over time.
Benefits:
- If you have an Instagram Business account, you can get access to Instagram Insights (it’s free for everyone).
2. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management tool geared towards brands and businesses. The service works with a broad range of social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and of course, Instagram.
In terms of analytics, Sprout Social gives you access to a broad range of metrics for Instagram and other social media platforms, such as engagement, impressions, shares, and more. The platform also takes it a step further and it leverages AI to try and identify growth opportunities based on what your followers are talking about and their behavior.
These features don’t come for cheap, though. Sprout Social plans start at $199 per month for up to five social media accounts. If you’re not monetizing social media or managing multiple accounts, it might make more sense to use a free alternative.
Key features:
- Generate in-depth reports on engagement, reach, impressions, and other metrics.
- Gain insights into Instagram competitors and generate benchmarks to aim for.
- Schedule content publication and automatically track performance for new posts, reels, and stories.
Benefits:
- Sprout Social supports almost every popular social media platform on the planet and it enables you to jump between accounts quickly.
3. Iconosquare
Iconosquare is a social media management platform that supports Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram.
With Iconosquare, you can manage and run multiple Instagram accounts from a single web interface. In terms of analytics, Iconosquare provides insights into how people are engaging with your content, the demographics you’re reaching, and more. The service also enables you to customize the dashboard so you only see the metrics that matter for your accounts.
You can also use Iconosquare to generate reports, which makes it a great alternative to Sprout Social for businesses. It’s also significantly cheaper, with plans starting at $49 per month for managing up to five Instagram accounts.
Key features:
- Get detailed insights into account growth and follower demographics.
- Follow engagement metrics for posts and stories.
- Customize the metrics you see in the dashboard.
- Track hashtag performance for your posts and get tips on how to optimize it.
- Generate reports using templates and custom designs.
Benefits:
- Iconosquare’s interface is fantastic from a user experience standpoint and the platform gives you actionable insights for growing your Instagram accounts.
4. Later
Later is a social media management solution for Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram. It offers tools for scheduling content, setting up link in bio pages, and getting hashtag suggestions.
As far as driving growth, Later Analytics offers insights to help you select better hashtags, track your profile’s growth and reach, and get access to demographic data.
You can export all of this information in simple reports and Later plans start at around $17 per month for multiple social media profiles. However, its plans limit the number of posts you can make using Later, which can be a problem for fast-moving profiles.
Key features:
- Find the best time to post on Instagram based on analytics.
- Use data to choose better hashtags and track their performance.
- Track your profile’s growth and reach and get access to demographics data.
- Find user-generated content (UGC) that works for your brand.
Benefits:
- You can use Later to manage your Instagram publication calendar and see what hashtags you should be using to maximize reach.
5. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most popular platforms for managing social media accounts. If you work in social media management, you’ve likely heard about it.
This platform enables you to manage accounts for all major platforms, but let’s focus on what it does for Instagram. You can use it to plan content and it integrates with Canva to provide you with tools for editing publications.
Hootsuite enables you to schedule content for the best time based on audience insights. Hootsuite Analytics can help you segment data for free and paid content, track how much you’re spending and what your social media ROI is, and more. It also integrates with Google Analytics so you can have web and social media data available under one roof.
Hootsuite is a very mature platform for social media management and monitoring analytics. Plans start at $99 per month, which makes it a well-suited option for growing businesses and brands (but perhaps not so much for solo influencers).
Key features:
- Track performance for posts, stories, and campaigns.
- Generate customizable reports for analyzing engaging and audience growth metrics.
- Analyze competing accounts and gain insights into their audience and engagement rates.
- Automatically schedule content for the best time based on audience behavior.
Benefits:
- You can monitor web and social media analytics using a single platform (if you use Google Analytics). It’s also a fantastic option for social media marketing across multiple channels.
6. Tailwinds
Tailwinds is an AI-first automation and management tool for social media, focusing on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
You can use Tailwinds to automatically find the right hashtags for your Instagram content and generate captions for it. The platform also offers a large library of templates you can use to create posts if you’re struggling for inspiration.
When it comes to analytics, Tailwinds gives you access to the most important Instagram metrics, including growth rates and engagement over time. It’s also one of the most affordable platforms on the list, with plans starting at $14.99 per month (but with support for only one Instagram account).
Key features:
- Monitor engagement metrics and account growth.
- Get insights into the behavior of your followers.
- Analyze the performance of different hashtags for your content and audience.
- Visualize how content will look in your Instagram grid using drag-and-drop tools.
Benefits:
- Tailwinds is a great option if you want access to basic analytics for Instagram and tools to help you create content using modern templates.
7. SocialBee
SocialBee is a social media management service that integrates with most platforms, including Facebook and Instagram (and even Bluesky!).
You can use SocialBee to generate content for it and schedule it. The platform enables you to leverage a full-on AI-powered social media manager. That AI social media manager can generate a calendar for your Instagram account, including auto-scheduled AI-generated content.
SocialBee also enables you to monitor Instagram analytics, including reach, what type of content your audience prefers, demographics and growth data, and more.
SocialBee plans start at $24 per month for connecting up to five social media accounts.
Key features:
- Monitor engagement and performance metrics for Instagram content.
- Track the growth of your audience and gain insights into what kind of content they prefer.
- Automatically schedule content for publication using AI tools.
- Categorize content for easier organization.
Benefits:
- SocialBee gives you access to Instagram analytics and insights and offers interesting AI tools you can use to automate planning, scheduling, content creation, and publishing.
8. Spotlight’s Analytics
Spotlight enables you to share your Instagram feeds in WordPress and do it in style. The plugin connects with Instagram and pulls the content you want and it gives you full control over how to display it on your website.
To make your work easier, Spotlight analytics enable you to keep an eye on your Instagram performance without leaving the WordPress dashboard:
You can use Spotlight to keep track of new followers, likes, and comments, and to monitor engagement across content types like photos, videos, and galleries. Spotlight automatically collects new data once a day, but you can refresh the analytics at any time to get up-to-date information.
Benefits:
- Embed your Instagram feeds in WordPress.
- Choose from different feed templates to display your Instagram content.
- Create custom feeds focusing on the type of content you want using filters or hashtags.
- Offer social proof of your social media presence and increase website engagement.
Conclusion
There are a lot of interesting Instagram metrics you should be keeping an eye on. Most Instagram analytics tools give you access to the most important data, such as growth stats, demographics information, engagement, and more. With that in mind, your choice can come down to the other features they offer.
All of these tools offer very different experiences and features outside of Instagram analytics. Take a look at the features and benefits each tool offers and try the ones that fit your workflow better.
If you’re trying to grow your Instagram account without data, stop. Instagram gives you access to a wealth of analytics information. Leverage that data to make better decisions and grow your Instagram presence.
