Let’s talk about the best social media analytics tools in 2022! 

Do you often feel confused that one day your posts get so much engagement and then

… the next day barely anyone seems to notice them? 

It might be a “change in the algorithm” you’re thinking.

But it might also be the fact that you’re just posting without a proper strategy.

That’s a huge mistake and one that can slow down your growth on social media.

In marketing, you don’t want to be spending money, time and resources on content that isn’t working.

That’s where understanding your social media analytics comes in.

Why Social Media Anlaytics is important?

For anyone using social media for marketing, tracking analytics is such a necessary step that can help you optimize your Instagram performance. 

When you know which content performs well and gives you the results you’re expecting you can post more of that. And if you find something isn’t working, you can be quick to identify it and respond to changes in real-time.

Luckily for you, if you don’t want to hire a content strategist (aka. me) to help you audit & plan your Instagram strategy, you can learn how to analyze your Instagram performance yourself! 

How? You can do that if you have a basic knowledge of social media insights, a list of metrics to track (Audit checklist) and the right analytics tools!

What you need to do a social media Audit:

1. An audit checklist
2. A list of metrics to track (eg. Engagement rate, Impressions, URL clicks, etc)
3. An audit spreadsheet to track changes over time
4. A good social media analytics tool (or tools)

In this post, I’ll share my top recommendations for social media analytics tools.

If you’re looking for an Instagram Audit Checklist you can download mine here and watch a FREE tutorial on how to improve your Instagram.

The 7 Best Social Media Analytics Tools for Growth

Over the past 3 years working in social media marketing, I’ve compiled a list of my favourite Instagram analytics tools.

These tools have become staples in my Instagram business kit because they are easy to use and they allow me to access enough data toe optimize any Instagram business profile. 

But first, you may be thinking: “Why do you need to use an Instagram analytics tool?”

Isn’t Instagram giving us insights for free?

Yes, you’re right.

The Instagram app comes with insights, but they’re typically not detailed enough and difficult to use as a benchmark.

A good analytical tool will give you detailed Instagram insights that help you understand:

• How are you performing now vs. 30, 60, 90 days ago?
• How are you performing vs. your competitors?
• What are some areas you can to improve?
• What are some things you are doing well and should continue doing?

7 Best Social Media Analytics Tools for Growth

Popsters – Paid (7-day FREE Trial)

Popsters is a content-focusing analytics tool.

It’s great for conducting competitive analysis or to get fast content or engagement stats.

The content analysis data will help your find out:

• which posts are more popular than others
• what type of attachments are more efficient
• best or worst posts for any pages
• you can also do a quick hashtag analysis

It works fine on mobile and it’s convenient if you need to access your Instagram post insights fast without a PC nearby.

Great for those who work on the go!

Try this tool: https://popsters.com

Phlanx Engagement Calculator – FREE

Phlanx is a straightforward engagement calculator.

I like using it to check the engagement rate of any Instagram account.

How it works:

As long as you have an Instagram business account you can key in your username and Phlanx will generate a very brief report card of your Instagram engagement, including average interactions (likes, comments) per post.

While you won’t get a lot of insights (as with other analytics tools), you can use it to check your engagement rate.

So what does the engagement rate tell you?

As a rule of thumb, an ER rate above 3% is considered desirable for accounts between 1k – 10k followers.

Phlanx is a beginner-friendly platform that is FREE to use by anyone who wants to know their engagement rate. 

Instagram Insights – FREE

While there are so many third-party apps & websites, you shouldn’t neglect your inbuilt insights.

Instagram’s native “Insights” feature is another FREE analytical tool for your profile.

You can easily access & track your post insights, followers growth, geolocation and reach up to 30 days back.

This is a good tool to keep your strategy in check and see which posts get you the best engagement & reach.

If you can see a pattern (ie. quote posts get more views in 1 month) you can quickly adjust your content strategy. 

Learn how to use Instagram Analytics from the video below

PallyySocial – 14 day FREE trial

PallyySocial is one of the best social media analytics tools that allow business accounts to access insights into their hashtags, posts, and competitors.

I like it because it’s very easy to use, and you get a bunch of unique insights that you would otherwise have to pay for (as with Iconosquare).

So, if you’re interested to see some unique features such as competitor insights & projected followers growth over time I recommend you check them out. 

New Pallyy users get 14 Day FREE trial (Check it out)

Iconosquare – Paid (14-day FREE Trial)

Inconosquare is a comprehensive analytics tool that is tailored for social media agencies and brands with multiple accounts.

Overall, it’s one of the best social media analytics tools for pros with solid knowledge on how to interpret data.

Besides their PAID monthly insights plans, Iconosquare offers a free downloadable Instagram audit for business profiles.

This audit will help you check your profile for completeness

Example:

• did you include a link in your bio?
• do you use captions to all posts?
• are your posting consistently?

However, you can’t fully rely on the audit as it doesn’t take into consideration your social media goals or industry. 

Tip: Another thing I found with Iconosquare free audit is that they will score your profile low if you don’t have hashtags in your bio – which it’s totally irrelevant for many business accounts as hashtags in bio don’t act like keywords and are a waste of space. 

NotJustAnalytics – FREE & Paid plans starting from 7Euro/mo

Want to spy on your competitors?

Then, this is the right tool to do it.

With NotJustAnalytics you can key in a competitor’s Instagram handle and they’ll generate for you a brief snapshot of your competitors’ strategy & key stats.

It’s great to use on mobile and you can take a screenshot and compare it with your profile stats.

I like this tool because it gives you more information than Phlanx, but it’s not as comprehensive as Sharemyinsights.

SocialBakers – Paid

Socialbakers is by far the most complex and complete Instagram analytics tools I have ever come across.

That’s why I consider this a tool for social media experts and not necessarily beginner-friendly.

If you’re new to Instagram analytics, you may get overwhelmed and confused with the amount of data shown.

Socialbakers allows business accounts to track their account performance in real-time against selected competitors (or industry benchmark).

Not to mention that you’ll get access to a load of analytical information regarding your audience, competitors and industry.

The only disadvantage is that you need to wait for 3-4 days to get a status report and it’s a tool that generates best results in the long term (30 days +). So if you need data urgently, you might want to skip this one. 

So, now that you know the 7 best social media analytics tools are you ready to start using them to grow your marketing efforts?

Do you have a favourite analytics tool or wish me to review an app?

I’d love to hear your suggestions!