Instagram Competitor Analytics

Instagram Competitor Analytics helps you monitor and evaluate how other brands and creators in your niche are performing. Add up to five Instagram business profiles to a report and compare their followers, engagement rate, posting activity by post type, most engaged hashtags, bios, and best and worst performing posts side by side — so you can spot trends, discover opportunities and refine your own Instagram strategy, all from the same Analytics dashboard you use for your own accounts.

How to Access Instagram Competitor Analytics

Here's how to open Instagram Competitor Analytics inside ContentStudio.

Click on Analytics from the left-side navigation menu.

In the left panel under Competitor Analytics, click on Instagram. This opens the list of your Instagram competitor reports.

Analytics in the left menu and Instagram under Competitor Analytics

Creating a Competitor Report

A competitor report (previously called a competitor list) is a saved group of up to five Instagram accounts that you can compare side by side and reopen at any time.

On the Instagram competitor report list, click Create New in the top-right corner.

Create New button on the Instagram competitor report list

In the Add competitors window, enter a name for the report in the Report Name field.

In the search box, type the competitor's Instagram username, then click the matching profile in the results to add it. Only Instagram business profiles can be found through search.

Repeat the search to add more competitors. Added accounts appear under Added Competitors with a counter showing how many of the five slots you've used. Click the cross (×) next to an account to remove it.

Click Create report. The report is saved to your Instagram competitor report list with its created date and time, and you can open it at any time.

Added competitors with the 3/5 counter and the Create report button

Good to know

You can add up to 5 competitors per report. To track more accounts, create additional reports.
Reports are platform-specific — an Instagram report can only contain Instagram accounts.
Competitor tracking is completely private. The accounts you track are never notified.

Managing Your Competitor Reports

Every saved report appears as a card on the report list, showing the report name, the competitors' profile pictures and the date and time it was created. Click a card to open the report.

To edit a report, hover over its card and click the gear icon. This opens Manage Report, where you can rename the report and add or remove competitors.

To delete a report, hover over its card and click the trash icon.

Settings (gear) and delete (trash) icons shown when hovering over a report card

You can also edit a report while it's open: click Manage Report in the top-right corner, make your changes, and click Save changes. Updating your competitors from time to time keeps your insights fresh and relevant.

Manage Report window opened from the report header, with the competitor list and Save changes

Selecting a Date Range

Selecting a Date Range

Click the date range selector in the top-right corner of a report to filter the analytics to a specific timeframe. Available presets include:

All Time
24 hours / 48 hours / Last 3 days
Last 7 Days / Last 30 Days
Last Week / Last Month / Last Quarter
Last 3 Months / Last 6 Months
Last 1 Year / Last 2 Years

You can also pick a custom date range on the calendars and click OK to apply it. Use Sync data next to it to fetch the latest data for the competitors in the report.

Date range picker with Last 30 Days selected

Understanding Your Competitor Report

A competitor report is made up of the sections below. Each competitor keeps the same colour in every chart, you can hover over any chart to see exact values, and the expand icon in the top-right corner of a section opens it in full screen. Hover over the question mark icon next to a section title for a short explanation of that section.

Competitor Cards

The top of the report shows a card for each competitor with their profile picture, name, total Followers and ER (engagement rate). The highest value across competitors is highlighted in green and the lowest in red.

Competitors' Performance Comparison

This chart plots every competitor by engagement rate (X-axis, increasing from left to right) and followers (Y-axis, increasing from bottom to top), so you can see at a glance who combines a large audience with strong engagement. Hover over a competitor's picture to see their exact followers and engagement rate.

Competitors' Comparative Table

The comparative table gives you a side-by-side numeric breakdown of every competitor in the report.

Competitors' Comparative Table

The table includes the following columns:

Followers Trend — a mini graph of each competitor's follower growth over the selected period.
Followers and Followers % chg. — total followers and how they changed.
Post/ Week and Post/ Week % chg. — how many posts the competitor publishes per week on average, and how that changed.
ER by Followers and ER by Followers % chg. — engagement rate calculated against followers, and how it changed.

Values highlighted in green are the highest in their column and values in red the lowest. Green up arrows show a gain and red down arrows a loss. Click a column header to sort the table.

Competitors’ Comparative Table with the highlight legend, sortable columns and expandable rows

Click the arrow next to a competitor's name to expand their Followers Growth Trend chart, which shows their follower count day by day for the selected period.

Expanded table row showing a competitor’s Followers Growth Trend

Competitors by Total Followers vs Net Change in Followers

This bar chart compares each competitor's total followers (the height of the bar) with the change in their followers over the selected period (the label above the bar — green for growth, red for decline), so you can see who is actually growing rather than just who is biggest. Hover over a bar to see followers, follower % change, engagement and average posts per week. The change can only be calculated when historical data is available for that competitor.

Post Activity by Competitors

Use the dropdown to switch between Carousel, Image and Reel posts. For the selected post type, the chart compares each competitor's average engagement (purple bars) with the number of posts of that type they publish per week (yellow bars), so you can see which format performs best for them. Click the list icon to switch to a table with each competitor's posts, total engagement and ER by followers, and click a column header to sort it in ascending or descending order.

Most Engaged Hashtags

This table lists the hashtags that brought competitors the most engagement during the selected period, with the number of Posts that used each hashtag, Average Eng./ Post, Eng./ Follower and ER by Followers. Click the arrow next to a hashtag to see which competitors used it and how it performed for each of them.

Post Engagement

Post Engagement compares the total engagement each competitor received (purple bars) with the number of posts they published (yellow bars) during the selected period. Hover over a competitor to see the exact figures.

Posts/Day

Choose a competitor from the dropdown to see how many posts they published each day and how much engagement those posts received, so you can benchmark their posting cadence against your own. Drag the handles on the slider under the chart to zoom in on part of the date range.

Bio Analysis

Bio Analysis shows each competitor's Instagram bio and how many of the 150 available characters it uses, so you can compare how others in your niche describe themselves and refine your own profile description.

Exporting a Competitor Report as PDF

You can turn any competitor report into a clean, well-structured PDF to share with your team or clients.

Open the competitor report and make sure the competitors and date range you want are selected.

Click Export PDF in the top-right corner of the report.

Export PDF button in the top-right corner of a competitor report

In the Export report window, choose the Report Language and use Sections to include to choose which sections appear in the PDF. All sections are selected by default.

Click Export PDF. ContentStudio generates the report for the selected competitors and date range.

Export report window with Report Language, Sections to include and the Export PDF button

Go to Analytics → Manage Reports → Download Reports. Your export is listed as Instagram Competitor Report with the accounts, period and creation date. Click Download to save the PDF.

Download Reports page listing the exported Instagram Competitor Report with its Download button

Exporting tips

Always make sure the competitors and date range are set before exporting — the PDF uses what's currently selected in the report.
Sections you can include: Competitors, Competitors' Performance Comparison, Competitors' Comparative Table, Competitors by Total Followers vs Net Change in Followers, Post Activity by Competitors, Most Engaged Hashtags, Post Engagement, Posts/Day, Bio Analysis, and Top and least performing posts.
If your export isn't listed straight away, wait a moment and refresh the Download Reports page. Earlier exports stay there, so you can download them again at any time.

FAQs

How many competitors can I add to a single report?
You can add up to 5 competitors per report. If you want to track more accounts, create additional reports for better organisation.

Which Instagram accounts can I add?
Instagram business profiles. Search for them by username in the Add competitors window.

Can I edit or delete a competitor report later?
Yes. Hover over the report on the list and click the gear icon to edit it or the trash icon to delete it. You can also click Manage Report inside an open report.

What date ranges can I apply?
Any preset from 24 hours to Last 2 Years or All Time, or a custom date range picked on the calendar. This lets you analyse performance within a specific timeframe.

Can I add Instagram and Facebook competitors to the same report?
No. Each report is platform-specific, so create a separate report for Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Can competitors see that I am tracking them?
No. Competitor tracking is completely private and competitors are not notified.

Why does a section say "There is nothing to show for the dates you selected"?
The competitors have no matching posts or data in that period. Try selecting a wider date range.

Can I customise the layout or content of the PDF report?
You can choose the report language and which sections to include. The layout itself is fixed to keep reports consistent, with clear pagination and platform branding such as competitor avatars and the selected date range.

Where can I find previously exported reports?
All exported reports are available under Analytics → Manage Reports → Download Reports, where you can track their progress and download past reports again.

What happens if the PDF export fails?
You'll see an error message with an option to retry. Make sure your internet connection is stable and that the report has data for the selected date range.

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