The Complete Guide to Instagram Analytics by Simply Measured (http://simplymeasured.com) Third Edition

1. The Complete Guide to
INSTAGRAM ANALYTICS
Third Edition

2. TABLEOFCONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
LEVERAGINGINSTAGRAM’SMOSTRECENTUPDATES
The Impending Algorithmic Feed
60-Second Videos
THEKEYTOINSTAGRAMANALYSIS
Engagement Metrics
Likes
Comments
Total Engagement
Engagement per Post
Engagement as a % of Followers
Hashtag Mentions
Hashtag Volume
Hashtag Reach
Hashtag Impressions
Engagement Optimization
Set up a Benchmarking Program
Solicit User-Generated Content
Leverage Ancillary Apps
Follower Metrics
Total Number of Followers
Percent Change in Followers
Follower Growth Tips
Use Hashtags Effectively
Encourage User-Generated Content
Promote on Other Channels
The 4 Essential Instagram Analytics Tactics
Learn About and Cater to Your Audience
Pay Attention to Timing
Employ Competitive Benchmarking
Work with Influencers (And Measure Success)
CONCLUSION
ABOUTSIMPLYMEASURED

3. INTRODUCTION
Instagram is top-of-mind for any social marketer, and with 400 million monthly
active users and 80 million photos posted daily, it’s no surprise that the network
has been focused on adding more value for the brands using the network.
The photo sharing network has continued to innovate, with several recent
additions to the platform: Instagram has recently added 60-second videos, video
view counts, and is planning on an algorithmic feed to increase relevance and
enable marketers to surface their best content.
The mobile app also has a full network of “feature” apps like Hyperlapse,
Layout, and Boomerang, boasts an intuitive Direct Messaging service, and has
developed a robust ad platform.
In March, Instagram added notifications and the “Discovery” section to their web
app, making the platform even easier to use.
Instagram is changing the way that brands evaluate their audiences and
create content. This is clearer now than ever before. 90% of the Interbrand 100
companies are active on the network, and a recent study from eMarketer found
that by 2017, over 71% of companies with 100 employees or more will be using
the network.
Whether your brand is just starting to invest time and energy in Instagram,
or is an established powerhouse on the network, you’ll want to optimize your
strategy. This must be done without a solid understanding built on analysis.
Through research and measurement, you can develop a solid foundation of what
works, what doesn’t, and what to focus on for your specific brand. This guide to
Instagram analysis and optimization outlines the metrics required to measure and
fully understand the photo and video-sharing network, and walks through some
tips for using these metrics to plan and optimize your Instagram campaigns.
3

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ADAPTINGTOANALGORITHMICFEED
Instagram announced in March that the network would be moving from a
chronological feed to an algorithm that will surface the content that Instagram
believes a person cares about most.
As is its way, the internet freaked out:
As marketers, we tend to get too excitable about changes like this, but this
time, we shouldn’t be surprised or upset.

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Instagram’s newsfeed update is not the first we’ve seen. Facebook first
adopted this strategy in 2009. Twitter added this feature as an option earlier
this year. We freaked out about both of those, and the world has continued to
spin.
That said, this will change how you use Instagram as a marketer. Here are a
few things we’ve learned from these changes when they happened on other
networks.
1. Engagement for CLTV?
With these algorithm updates, the content that people “would be most
interested in” is surfaced first. What this means is that customers who regularly
engage with your content will see more of it. This can keep your brand top-of-
mind for the people who are already interested in it.
As Instagram and other third-party services make it easier to connect to
purchase points directly from the app, this can mean the users engaging with
your content will have a higher likelihood of buying.
2. Quality Will Likely Be Key: Don’t Spam
When Facebook updated its ranking algorithm in 2013, the network penalized
pages that “asked for Likes” (as opposed to posting content that is relevant
and engaging).
This will likely become a factor on Instagram as well. Focus on content that
people want to engage with, instead of telling them to.
3. The Importance of a Paid Strategy
Like we’ve seen on other networks, this will likely impact organic reach. All this
means is that you’ll need to incorporate a paid strategy (as well as an organic
one) on Instagram.

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Paid and organic social are becoming more and more intertwined, and if your
strategies live in silos, you’re missing out on big opportunities.
4. Connect with Your Audience
Like Facebook, there’s a good chance that the relationships between users will
have an impact on the content that’s surfaced first. Your follower count won’t
be the only audience factor that matters. As a brand, you’ll want to develop a
“follow” strategy to ensure that the right users have the highest likelihood of
seeing your content.
5. Prioritize Your Influencer Strategy
Influencer marketing is becoming a major component on Instagram, and this
will only amplify that. Influencers will likely surface higher in feeds because
they’re creating engagement within groups of users that have similar
characteristics.
If you use Instagram for marketing, there’s a good chance this change will
impact you. Luckily, it’s not the end of the world. If you can stay focused on
delivering good content to relevant audiences, the tactical shifts will seem less
daunting. Keep an eye on brands you respect to identify strategic shifts as this
change takes hold.
What can you learn from them?

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INSTAGRAM’SNEW60-SECONDVIDEOS
Instagram also recently increased the maximum video length from 15-seconds
to 60-seconds. Combined with view counts, this lends well to optimization.
Time spent watching video on the network has increased by 40%. This means
the opportunity to impress, entertain, and convert viewers is greater than ever.
For the Creative Class
Instagram brands itself as a creator’s network, with influencers at the core, and
this extension is a signal of that focus.
As we found in our 2015 Instagram Influencer Report, the most-followed
accounts on Instagram aren’t brands; they’re influencers like Ciara or Kim
Kardashian. Just as relevant to marketers are the niche influencers who are
known and respected within specific industries and segments.

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For brands, partnering with these micro-influencers is a great way to get in front
of a targeted group of potential customers. These are people who gained their
audience by producing high quality content, and Instagram has just given them
more flexibility to get creative with the visual stories they tell on the network.
Instagram is also bringing back the ability for iOS users to create videos from
multiple clips in their camera roll. This is another way for influencers, who don’t
always have a full production studio, to leverage Instagram as a tool.
For the Data Geeks
Brands are posting more than ever before on Instagram, and while video
engagement has risen, it hasn’t caught up to photos.

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More flexibility is always better for a marketer, especially one who tests and
optimizes content based on data. What can you do with 60 seconds that you
couldn’t with 15?
Instagram has already started showing “views” on posts, and if the network
follows Facebook’s suit, it’ll eventually share data about view length.
Understanding what is getting your followers to stop and watch a clip is as
important on Instagram as anywhere else.
Flexibility Is Always Good
Whether you’re a data geek or a creative type (or a bit of both), this new update
gives you the flexibility to develop better-quality videos that your audience will
want to watch, however long they are. And isn’t that the point?

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THEKEYTOINSTAGRAMANALYSIS
To understand any network, you need to know its parameters: what it does,
which actions users can take, and which metrics count toward your success.
You can’t analyze what you don’t know, so we’ll start by defining the different
ways of measuring Instagram. Armed with the proper metrics, you’re able to
research, measure, and optimize your Instagram programs.
Engagement Metrics
Likes
Likes on Instagram are much like Facebook Likes or Twitter Favorites. They
are a signal that the image you’ve posted has resonated with your followers.
A user taps a photo or video twice in the center to like it, and the heart icon
beneath the post turns solid red. Next to this icon is a count of how many Likes
an image has earned.
Comments
Besides liking posts, users can also share comments. The comments appear
under the photo, with the option to collapse or expand when there are more
than three. Users can tag other Instagram users and include hashtags and
emojis in their comments.
Total Engagement
Total engagement is the sum of Likes and comments on your Instagram posts
during an established time period.
Total engagement gives you insight into how active your audience is and how
well your strategy is working.
Engagement per Post
The engagement per post metric provides deeper insights than just total likes
or comments. It gives you an average of how much engagement you’re getting

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per post and helps you discover which posts earn the most interaction. Keep
in mind that some of your posts will resonate well and earn high engagement
numbers, while others will fall flat.
In addition, it’s important to look beyond average engagement per post
number and take a magnifying glass to your content. This can be done by
breaking engagement per post into engagement per video and engagement
per photo to give you more tactical insight on which types of content your
audience responds to most.
Engagement as % of Followers
Engagement as a % of followers is calculated for a specific time period, and is
an invaluable tool for benchmarking.
Engagement as a % of followers shows the portion of your current followers
interacting with your posts during a specified time period. By comparing this
metric period-over-period, marketers have a starting point to find valuable
insight into their specific tactics.

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Hashtag Engagement Metrics
A secondary type of engagement on Instagram is interaction with your brand
hashtag. An “engagement” with a hashtag happens anytime an Instagram
user mentions a hashtag in a comment or caption on any photo or video
across the network.
Hashtag Volume
Hashtag volume is the total number of hashtag mentions during an established
period of time. If you’re more interested in how viral a campaign hashtag is
rather than how your Instagram account is being interacted with, you’ll want to
pay attention to hashtag volume, the number of times a hashtag has been used
in any given period.
Potential Hashtag Reach
Your potential reach shows you how many people have seen your hashtag on
Instagram. For the most part, reach is considered a “potential” metric; just
because a post appears on a feed doesn’t mean the target user has seen it.
Potential Hashtag Impressions
Your number of potential impressions is the amount of times that photos and
videos using your hashtag are displayed in a user’s stream. Just like reach,
this is a “potential” metric.
Reach
The number of unique people who have seen
content associated with your page
Impressions
The number of times content associated with
your page is displayed

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Engagement Optimization
Benchmarking account Performance
Take a look at your brand’s engagement for a specific period or campaign
and compare it to similar timeframes.
By benchmarking period-over-period, you can develop a predictive model
for future content and campaigns, gaining valuable insight into tactics that
moved the needle. Look for anomalies in your engagement and identify the
tactics that caused them.
This kind of analysis tells you what your strongest and weakest engagement
levels look like, and helps you put together more ambitious goals for the
future.
Benchmarking Against Competitors
The engagement metric is also useful for benchmarking your own progress
against industry innovators and competitors on Instagram.
You might find that a brand you consider your biggest competitor in terms of
revenue or popularity on another social network is actually not your biggest
competitor on Instagram.
After you have a good idea of where you stand in comparison to the other
brands in your space, take a look at the posts among all those brands that
drove the greatest amount of engagement.
You might find that a brand you consider your biggest competitor in terms of
revenue or popularity on another social network is actually not your biggest
competitor on Instagram. After you have a good idea of where you stand
in comparison to the other brands in your space, take a look at the posts
among all those brands that drove the greatest amount of engagement.
This information about your success and that of your competitors will show
you what kind of content, specifically, gets Instagram users to comment and
Like a post.
Measuring the Value of User-Generated Content
Instagram is a great place to encourage user-generated content, whether by
contests, compelling content, or a mix of both. A lot of brands ask followers
to “double tap” (Like) and tag their friends for a chance to win a prize.
This is a great way to gain brand awareness and, subsequently, followers —
but only if it is tested well to make sure it’s effective.

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Here’s what you should do to see if the people being tagged in your comments
actually become new followers: First, make a list of all Instagram users tagged in your
Comments section.
Next, wait two weeks (you don’t only want to see how many new followers you’ve
gained — you want to see how many you’ve retained) and then take a look at your
follower growth over that time period, from the start of your contest on.
More specifically, dig into the data and come up with a list of all the Instagram handles
of your new followers. Compare this list with the list of folks tagged in the Comments
sections of your contest posts.
Come up with a ratio of people tagged: new followers. This will help you set a baseline
for future benchmarking.
Leverage Ancillary Apps
Instagram has built a comprehensive suite of apps to improve your ability to engage
your audience in an entertaining way.
These apps allow any social marketer with a smartphone to quickly create compelling
visual stories for their audience without any professional video equipment.
Hyperlapse
Hyperlapse allows users to create high-quality time-lapse videos without worrying
about stabilization.

15. BRAND HIGHLIGHT: NIKE
Nike is among the many large brands to find success with Hyperlapse, giving a high-energy vibe
to their videos. This Hyperlapse of a shoebox-shaped electronic billboard created a massive level
of conversation among the shoe brand’s fans.

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Layout
Layout brought the functionality of third party apps like PicStitch in-house,
allowing Instagram users to create collages that they can share on Instagram
and other social networks.

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BRAND HIGHLIGHT: SEPHORA
Sephora uses Layout to show step-by-step make up tips to it’s active follower base.

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Boomerang
Boomerang is Instagram’s standalone video app that loops one-second videos.

19. BRAND HIGHLIGHT: TIMBERLAND
Boomerang is a relatively new service from Instagram, offering users the ability to create 1
second video clips that play forward and then bounce back (hence the name). Timberland was
one of the first brands to use the service.

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Follower Metrics
New Followers
Your total number of new followers on Instagram during a given time period
% Change in Followers
The percentage by which your Instagram follower count has changed during a
given time period.
Follower Growth Tips
Use Hashtags Effectively
By analyzing the data behind past, current, and competitive Instagram
hashtags, it’s easy to set objectives, show what works, monitor progress, and
keep track of audience reaction. Whether you’re interested in a high-level view
or deep.

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With in-depth information about your top cities for Instagram engagement,
you can build Instagram campaigns that focus on those cities, and begin doing
further research to figure out why your brand gets so much Instagram love
there and not in other places.
Pay Attention to Timing
Measuring engagement by a specific day or time helps magnify your
engagement, and shows you how posting times influence your content’s
reception.
How often you post is largely dependent on your audience. Many audiences
appreciate more frequent posts, but too many posts tends to turn users off.
When you post is also dependent on your audience. Different audiences
access their Instagram accounts at different times of the day.
This hashtag performance overview from the Simply Measured Hashtag Performance Report
allows users to see a snapshot of their branded hashtag for any established time period.
PRO TIP:
Taking a peek at the metrics
for one of your previous
hashtag campaigns (or a
competitor’s) can provide
you with a good benchmark
for where you should set
volumes, reach, impressions,
and engagement goals on
your upcoming or current
campaign.
#

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Set Clear Hashtag Goals
The best way to do this analysis is to look at the performance of a previous
branded hashtag, using several components as the basis for your review:
• The number of unique people who’ve used the hashtag in the past
• The number of times the hashtag was used
• The number of people those posts potentially reached
• The number of potential impressions
• The total amount of Instagram engagement with the hashtag
Grow a Hashtag Campaign
Focus first on which day your previous hashtag was most popular, and also which
type of media was most successful—photo or video. Figure out what caused
momentum for your comparable hashtag, then model your own hashtag and
Instagram posting techniques after those successes. Possibly more important than
volume is what folks are saying when they use your hashtag—the good, the bad,
and the ugly.
This “Hashtag Mentions” chart from the Simply Measured Hashtag Performance Report allows users to
analyze a hashtag over time and identify peak performance days.
PRO TIP:
Many brands don’t give
their unique hashtag
enough time to grow and
become commonly used and
associated with them. Make
sure you’re including your
hashtag on every relevant post
so that you have the metrics
you need to track progress
later down the line.
#

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Identify Success on Other Channels
Check out previous Instagram hashtag campaigns you wish to emulate (or avoid)
to inform your own campaign and foster cross-channel hashtag success.
Identify the Influencers Who Add Value
The engagement outside of Instagram chart from Simply Measured’s Instagram Hashtag
Performance Report showcases the engagement Instagram photos and links have generated on
Facebook and Twitter.
This chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Hashtag Report identifies the top impression driver
during the specific period.

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Look at the hashtag for a past Instagram campaign to figure out who your top
impressions drivers are, and when they were the most active.
Carefully Choose Your Hashtag Terms
Look at the most-used keywords for either a previous hashtag or one that has
achieved an effect you wish to replicate. This information tells you the hashtags
and keywords that are most often mentioned in post captions along with the
targeted hashtag. You can then produce more content with that hashtag and the
most popular keywords to drive greater engagement and attract new followers.
PRO TIP:
Engage with your most active,
impression-driving users to gain
broader reach for your current
and future campaigns.
PRO TIP:
Look at data on your brand name
as the hashtag. You’ll then be able
to see the other hashtags that
Instagram users are deploying
in conjunction with your name,
providing you with some valuable
insight into how the public
perceives your brand and how to
play on this moving forward.
#
This top keyword chart from the Instagram Hashtag Performance Report lets you know which terms your
audience is organically using with specific hashtags.

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Encourage User-Generated Content
You can leverage user-generated content in a variety of ways, but the two
major avenues are contests and reusing content which Instagram users have
already posted (after asking their permission, of course). Let’s take a look at the
steps required for each of these tactics.
The Contest Approach
Step 1: Find Out What People Are Saying About Your Brand
First, you’ll need to find out what people are saying around your brand handle,
your brand hashtag, and any keywords directly related to your brand. This will
give you a solid starting point for understanding what the conversation around
your brand already is and directing your contest that way, instead of trying to
impose your own idea of what your Instagram audience will respond to.
Step 2: Make Sure Your Goals Are Clear
The goals of your campaign should be crystal clear. Do you want to gain more
followers? See your engagement as a percentage of audience skyrocket?
Simply gain a better feel for what your Instagram audience is like? It’s fine to
have more than one goal, but make sure you have at least one, so you can
have a way to gauge success.

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Step 3: Run Your Contest
Now it’s time to execute. Run your contest with a unique, clever contest hashtag
you’ve brainstormed from your research on what people are saying around your
brand. Having a consistent hashtag which people have to use to enter your
contest is an easy way to capture data around your contest.
Some successful contest creation strategies include:
• Ask followers to “double tap” your photo/video and tag a friend to
enter the contest
• Run a contest in which your followers have to post a different picture each
day, such as a month-long gratitude challenge or yoga challenge, and tag
friends to join them
• Run a clue-finding contest over a week, and ask followers to tag a friend to
join the fun
• Ask followers to post a picture of a beautiful view with your chosen hashtag
and describe what the scenery means to them
• Ask followers a question and incite them to film an Instagram video with their
answer using your contest hashtag
• Have a GIF contest! Ask followers to use Boomerang to make a GIF and use
your contest hashtag to enter.
Step 4: Test, Test, Test
Here’s what you should do to see if the the people being tagged in your
comments during a contest actually become new followers:
• First, make a list of all Instagram users tagged in your Comments section.

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• Next, wait two weeks (you don’t only want to see how many new followers
you’ve gained — you want to see how many you’ve retained) and then take
a look at your follower growth over that time period, from the start of your
contest on.
• More specifically, dig into the data and come up with a list of all the
Instagram handles of your new followers. Compare this list with the list of
folks tagged in the Comments sections of your contest posts.
• Come up with a ratio of people tagged: new followers. This will help you
set a baseline for future benchmarking.
Here’s what you should do to see if your contest got you more followers:
Look at your follower count and growth period-over-period. Say your contest
took place over the course of a week. Evaluate the contest week next to the
previous week and the following week to see how your contest week compares
to the norm.
Here’s what you should do to see if your contest got you more
engagement: Look at your engagement total and growth period-over-period.
Say your contest took place over the course of a week. Evaluate the contest
week next to the previous week and the following week to see how your
contest week compares to the norm.
The Reuse Approach
Step 1: Find Out What People Are Saying About Your Brand
First, you’ll need to find out what people are saying around your brand handle,
your brand hashtag, and any keywords directly related to your brand. You’re
looking for posts that your Instagram audience has already tagged you in
which you might want to highlight using your own account.

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Step 2: Ask to Reuse
Reach out to the Instagram user and ask if you can post the photo or video to
your own account, giving him or her credit, of course.
Step 3: Reuse
Now it’s time to execute. Post the photo and tag the photo-taker, while also
explaining why you chose the photo and encouraging future posts tagging
your brand and/or using your brand hashtag.
Step 4: Test, Test, Test
Reusing is especially useful if your brand wants to connect with and leverage
nascent influencers. If your brand does “takeovers,” where an influencer takes
over your account for a day or week, then you should be testing your takeovers
against one another. This will show you which kinds of influencers are most
relevant to your Instagram audience.
Here’s what we recommend: run a period-over-period report for the two weeks
that two different influencers took over your Instagram account. Look for
strengths and weaknesses in both takeovers, and keep this in mind for future
campaigns.
+ Promote on Other Channels
Don’t be afraid to shout your Instagram account’s existence from the rooftops
on your other social channels. The most likely pool of people to be potential
Instagram followers? Those who are already Twitter followers, Facebook
followers, etc.

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The 4 Essentials of Instagram Strategy
If you don’t take anything else away from this eBook, make sure you
understand these five essentials of Instagram strategy -- and the analytics that
are inextricably tied to them.
Learn About and Cater to Your Audience
The most successful brands on Instagram know their audiences and post
content that appeals to them. Sometimes you can’t tell who your audience is
on a network right away, even if you have a pretty good idea of who’s attracted
to you on other social networks or offline. It’s always best to start with your
market instead of trying to push your pre-packaged messaging at people. So,
how do you figure out who you’re marketing to on Instagram? You start with
the data. This will help you identify tactics that resonate with your audience.
Find Your Most Active Commenters
Use your most active commenters to get information about which types of
people love your Instagram content.
This “Most Active Commenters” chart
from the Simply Measured Instagram
Account Report shows which of your
followers left the most comments
during a specific time period.

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Conduct a Keyword Analysis
Keyword analysis is not only a fantastic way to gauge which content
components are most meaningful to your audience, it’s also a great way to
contemplate future hashtag campaigns.
Check our example “Keyword Analysis” chart above. For example,
#ToastyQuiznos is going to have a lot more resonance and brand association
with Quiznos sandwiches than #ToastySandwich, which could refer to any
toasty sandwich on the market.
However, it is important to remember that common hashtags allow you to
newsjack or capitalize on seasonal events like #backtoschool or other popular
topics for maximum discovery.

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Identify Your Top Location
You can know exactly where your audience lives more easily today than ever before.
With in-depth information about your top cities for Instagram engagement, you
can build Instagram campaigns that focus on those cities, and begin doing further
research to figure out why your brand gets so much Instagram love there and not in
other places.
Pay Attention to Timing
Measuring engagement by a specific day or time helps magnify your engagement,
and shows you how posting times influence your content’s reception.
• How often you post is largely dependent on your audience. Many audiences
appreciate more frequent posts, but too many posts tends to turn users off.
• When you post is also dependent on your audience. Different audiences access
their Instagram accounts at different times of the day
Start gathering data on engagement trends. One option is to run an A/B content
test, posting very similar content in set time increments, or at the same time each day.
This “Top Cities” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Account Report shows where most of your
engaged followers were located during a specific time period.
PRO TIP:
If you’re just beginning your
brand’s Instagram journey,
or simply want a fresh
perspective, look at the “Top
Cities” metric for a similar
brand or competitor. You’ll
wind up with a much greater
understanding of your target
audience and what they
respond to on Instagram.

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Then examine the number of comments and Likes for each of those posts, and
begin charting your data to find the “sweet spot” for your post cadence.
For example, based on your post cadence and frequency, you may find that
posts at 9 a.m. PST perform well. Developing an understanding based on this
information and your audience location data can help you target content to
your audience when they’re most likely to be active.
For example, with this information about 9 a.m. PST, you may realize that your
West Coast audience has just arrived at work and is catching up on the day’s
news, and your East Coast audience is now on their lunch break, giving them
time to surf the Web. You can cater your content to each of these audiences.
Employ Competitive Benchmarking
Choosing Your Competitive Sets
Competitive benchmarking is defined as looking at your primary competitors
on a regular basis to understand top-performing (and low-performing)
accounts and campaigns. It’s the only way to know where you stand in the
context of the brands you want to beat.
This “Comments and Posts by Day and Time” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram
Hashtag Report shows which days of the week and times of day people used your hashtag
most during a specific time period.

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There are three major kinds of competitive sets you should incorporate into your
competitive benchmarking program.
1. Competitors for Share of Wallet
Who are your brand’s top competitors when it comes to revenue?
For instance, if you’re Beyoncé, you might look at other high-grossing musical
artists who you know are dropping an album around the time you are, or going
on tour at around the same time. This would be a great competitive set to keep
an eye on consistently in the months leading up to your big release or tour.
2. Competitors for Social Engagement and/or Follower Count
Who are your brand’s top competitors on social right now?
Which brands are excelling when it comes to the following metrics, and/or
picking up a lot of press?
You won’t know the answer to these questions off the top of your head, but you’ll
probably have some good guesses. Make a list of who you think your brand’s top
competitors on social, then validate it by looking at a report which includes all
these competitors.
You might find that a brand you think of as a big fish on social is actually seeing a
decline in audience growth, or that a brand you added to this competitive set on
a whim is blowing you out of the water when it comes to impressions. Running
a report which shows you how you stack up against your competitors is the only
way you’ll find out for sure.
3. Aspirational Competitors
Who are the brands you look up to? Remember that these brands don’t have
to be direct competitors for wallet or even on social. These are just brands you
see doing cool, innovative things on social and reaping rewards from those risks.
Or they’re brands with the kind of engagement you can only dream about. They
don’t even have to be in your industry.

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The Metrics That Matter
Competitive measurement is vital not only for knowing what your competition
is doing but also for benchmarking your own progress against industry
innovators on Instagram.
Here are the top three metrics you should be paying attention to.
1. Engagement
You know what your engagement looks like, but what about your competitors?
You might find that a brand you consider your biggest competitor in terms of
revenue or popularity on another social network is actually not your biggest
competitor on Instagram.
This “Instagram Comparison: Total Engagement” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram
Competitive Analysis shows total engagement and engagement as a percentage of followers for
Oscar De La Renta, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada.
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After you have a good idea of where you stand in comparison to the other brands
in your space, take a look at the posts among all those brands that drove the
greatest amount of engagement.
This information about you and your competitors’ success will show you what kind
of content, specifically, gets Instagram users to comment and Like a post.
Relative Share of Followers
Once you’ve determined who your true competitors on Instagram are, it’s time to
pay attention to the size of the competitive pie you own.
This excerpt from the Simply Measured Instagram Competitive Analysis shows total
engagement, from largest to smallest, for Oscar De La Renta, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada
during a specific time period.
PRO TIP:
Use the top posts for total
engagement among you and
your competitors to draft
a list of the different types
of posts that are proving
successful in your field. In
your next content planning or
brainstorming meeting, use
this list as a jumping-off point.

36. 36
Add up all of the follower counts among you and your competitors, then figure
out who has what percentage of that total. It’s useful to check this “relative share”
metric on a weekly basis, especially since a lot of progress on this front can happen
very quickly.
2. Number of Daily Posts
This chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Competitive Analysis shows how Oscar De La Renta,
Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada stack up when it comes to follower count.
This chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Competitive Analysis shows how Oscar De La Renta,
Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Prada stack up when it comes to number of posts.

37. 37
Take a look at how the daily volume of new posts and videos produced by you
stack up next to your competitors on Instagram. Could you stand to back off or
ramp up?
Try to compare yourself to a group that is seeing faster follower growth than
you. There is no magic potion for winning at Instagram. That’s why testing and
measurement are so important on the network to begin with.
When you’re contemplating the metrics we’ve outlined above, trying out
strategies or watching your competition make moves, remember not to lose your
own story. Remain true to your brand or transform it in a conscious, measurement-
based way, but always remember: it’s authenticity that’s truly engaging.
Week 1: 1 Post Per Day
Week 2: 2 Posts Per Day
Week 3: 3 Posts Per Day
Week 4: 4 Posts Per Day
Week 5: 5 Posts Per Day
Keep tabs on your engagement numbers and relative share of followers
compared to your competitors on a weekly basis as your test progresses.
By the end of the testing period, you’ll have a solid idea of your best cadence for
posting. Conduct the same test, but with different ratios of videos to photos per
week, to see which kind of content performs best for you.
Work with Influencers (And Measure Success)
In a recent study, nearly 60% of marketers stated that they are planning to
increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2015.
Variety magazine found that six out of ten teens are more likely to believe and buy
from YouTube stars than movie stars.
PRO TIP:
Conduct testing on your post
cadence to see what your
audience responds to best.
Choose a high frequency
and a low frequency. Then,
run weeklong tests for each
cadence in between.

38. 38
And, earlier this year, a survey from digital agency Burst Media found that
influencer campaigns are a good deal for brands, earning $6.85 in earned
media value for every $1.00 of paid media.
Influencer marketing is now a vital brand strategy for building credibility and
boosting sales.
But what is an influencer, anyway?
An influencer has a loud voice, substantial reach, and a significant network,
including followers, readers, or viewers. He or she has the ability to sway
opinions of a specific audience by association.
Knowing what an influencer is and what benefits an influencer-brand
relationship can reap isn’t enough — you need to know how to work with an
influencer to get the most out of that relationship.
Here are some tips for working with influencers, by influencers.
1. Look for Influencers Everywhere: Okay, maybe not “everywhere,” but look
in a variety of places. Some influencers make themselves easy to find because
they’re already talking about your brand via blog posts or social media. A
simple Google or social search can unearth those influencers.
Work with affiliate networks like GLAM Media,
who vet, reach out to, and sign bloggers to their
network. Affiliate networks are an easy one-stop
shop for a brand to reach multiple influencers at
once. The network facilitates the contract and
partnership.
--Jess Estrada, Content Strategist at Bezos Family
Foundation, FreshJess.com Creator, and Lifestyle
Influencer
2. Make Sure Your Values Are Aligned: Ideally, influencers only support
and promote brands and products that completely align with their values. An
influencer will be much more intrinsically motivated and passionate about a
brand if there is a natural alignment in personal values.
Build out a dossier on each prospective influencer
before making the initial contact; strive to find out his
or her top values and favorite hobbies on Instagram.
--Mari Smith, Social Media Thought Leader and Top
Facebook Marketing Expert
Knowing what an influencer is and what benefits an influencer-brand relationship
can reap isn’t enough — you need to know how to work with an influencer to get
the most out of that relationship.
3. Build a Rapport Pre-Approach: The beauty of social media is it allows
you to build rapport with someone before you reach out directly. If your brand
wants to work with an influencer, retweet his or her content and share his or her
Instagram photos. This will help you engage your fans through a different lens
and flatter the influencer that you’re consuming and sharing his or her content.
This makes it easier when you want to reach out to
the influencer for a partnership because you’ve built
a relationship in advance.
Neal Schaffer, Global social media speaker, creator of
the Maximize Social Business blog, Forbes top-ranked
influencer

39. 39
4. Pay Attention to Content Resonance:
When we work with influencers, we gauge success by looking at how our
content resonates with their audience.
In theory, an influencer’s audience should be like an
extension of our audience.
We’re looking for the indicators of well-received
content: web traffic, engagement, and positive
qualitative feedback
Jade Furubayashi, Social Media Manager at Simply
Measured
5. Make It Easy and Mutually Beneficial: Make it easy for the influencer to
work with you. Also ensure that you both win from the relationship.
This could be in the form of increasing both brands’
awareness, credibility, and also a financial reward for
the influencer.
Each influencer will want different things from the
relationship. Make sure you know what that is and it
should be included in initial discussions and ongoing
conversations, because that could change.
Jeff Bullas, CEO at Jeffbullas.com, social media
marketing strategist and speaker, Forbes-ranked
influencer
6. Consider the 1-9-90 Model: Think of it this way: the 1% are influencers who
create content, shape the market, and drive conversation about a topic.
The 9% are highly active online. They are brand advocates.
They recommend, share, sign up, download, comment, and
let their communities know what they think.
The 90% are the great majority of any market. They
lurk and learn. They are satisfied with using search or
consuming peer content. They decide how compelling the
1% and the 9% really are in telling your brand’s story.
Michael Brito, Head of Social Strategy at WCG,
a W2O Company
7. Treat Everyone Like a Who: You might define your short list of the most
influential influencers to work with specifically, but be generous with how you
define “influencer” in any ongoing program.
A clear strength of our social, connected world is that
everyone has a voice and can be heard.
Consider incorporating less-obvious influencers from
time to time in your program—nurturing them along as
you nurture your own business and marketing, by making
them part of your success story.
Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer atMarketingProfs

40. 40
8. Know the Influencer’s Community: Oftentimes, brands approach the
relationship with a “me first” mentality” rather than identifying what matters to
the influencer and their community.
Take your time to properly piece together a pitch
that clearly spells out the benefits. An influencer
has the ability to lead a community and impact
decisions, bringing your brand to a potential new
marketplace.
If you want to engage an influencer, get to know them
and their community before hastily making contact.
Rebekah Radice, Social media strategist, speaker,
digital marketing specialist, and Chief Experience
Officer at Imagine WOW
The Metrics That Matter
Measuring the success of your influencer program is an important step towards
understanding, first, which influencers you should partner with, and, second,
if the partnership is beneficial on an ongoing basis. Here are the top three
metrics you should consider in the influencer marketing space.
To Find an Influencer
posts using your brand’s hashtag (or a hashtag relevant to your brand).
If an Instagram user is driving significant engagement around your hashtag, he
or she has many followers and will likely be worth contacting for an influencer
partnership.

41. 41
To Compare Influencers
compare influencers, you’ll want to view all their major stats side-by-side to compare,
then drill down into particularly successful posts to get a more tactical view.
This will help you choose between influencers and/or see the different strengths that
difference influencers bring to the table -- and when/where you should leverage each.
To Track Success
How do you know if your influencer program is bearing fruit? By choosing the metrics
which matter to you -- engagement around your brand’s hashtag? Awareness around
a new hashtag? Followers? -- and keeping an eye on those metrics throughout your
influencer campaign.
CONCLUSION
Now you have a well-rounded understanding of
basic Instagram metrics, along with some tried-and-
true tactics to deploy in your upcoming campaigns.
Whether you’re looking to harness already-
existing buzz around your brand or you’re building
awareness from the ground up, be sure to turn to
this resource whenever you find yourself needing
some more Inspiration.

42. ABOUT SIMPLY MEASURED
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