The Best Free Instagram Analytics Tools for 2024

Instagram has become a key part of most businesses' marketing plans. As one of the most popular social media platforms, it’s important to learn how to properly prepare and manage your Instagram marketing campaigns.

We’re at the point where not knowing how to leverage the social media platform to your advantage can be detrimental to your chances of success. Today, Instagram has been downloaded approximately 3.8 billion times. 

As such, it’s time to take Instagram seriously, and that involves accessing and tracking the key metrics. 

In addition to the app’s built-in Instagram Insights tool, there are plenty of digital marketing tools that can assist you when trying to maximise your presence on social media. You won’t always be able to get Instagram influencer analytics free, and in some cases, the paid option can offer far more. 

Whether you use an in-house social media team, partner with a marketing agency, rely on user-generated content, or collaborate with nano-micro influencers, the importance of tracking the key metrics should never be underestimated. 

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The top 5 Instagram analytics tools

Brand 24 

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‍Best for: Businesses and brands of all sizes across all sectors. 

Brand24 was founded in Poland as one of the earliest to embrace starting a dialogue with consumers on social media. Since then, they’ve partnered with massively popular brands throughout the world including Intel, Panasonic, Uber, AirFrance, and more. They are described as a media monitoring tool with powerful analytics features. 

The impressive software that Brand24 use has an ever-expanding list of features that stretch far beyond just monitoring. Not only do you get to see who’s talking about your brand, you also get key insights that can help you greatly improve your brand image and marketing campaign strategy. 

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Features

So how does it all work and what are the most powerful features? Brand24’s goal is to help you turn relevant data into actionable insights that you can implement into your business and marketing strategy.‍

📣 Mentions Feed: The mentions feed is a tool that tracks what people are saying about your brand in real-time; allowing you to monitor all discussions relevant to your business. 

📈 Discussion Volume Chart: A powerful tool to help you identify any sudden changes in discussion volume surrounding your business. With this, you can spot and stop any problematic issues, and capitalise on positive publicity.  

📊 Marketing Analytics: Detailed reports covering a range of important statistics (engagement, reach, mentions, sentiment, impressions, etc) that allow you to make data-driven decisions for better results.

🌐 Influence Score: The influence score gives you an authority index calculated for each discussion participant. With this, you can identify influencers within your industry that you would like to partner with. 

💯 Sentiment Analysis: A highly effective AI tool that judges the sentiment of each mention, helping you to understand customer attitudes and address any negative or problematic areas. 

🛎️ Alerts: Alerts can be customised to suit your needs. For example, you can set an alert whenever a popular blog or platform says something negative about your brand. 

🚀 Data Exporting & Filtering: Export your data into PDF or .xls files, and narrow down your results to focus on exactly what’s important to you. 

↔️ Comparison Tool: An easy method of comparing your campaigns side by side to identify what’s working and what isn’t. You can even use it to compare yourself to your competitors by creating a project that listens to mentions of whoever your opposition is. 

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Pricing

With four tiers of pricing available, Brand24 is set up to help businesses of all sizes. They even have the option to discuss individual plans with the sales team based on your existing needs and desired growth. The 14-day free trial also gives businesses a chance to test out the software without the need to provide any credit card information. 

• Individual ($99 per month, or $79 per month if billed annually) - The individual package allows one user to track up to three keywords, and monitor up to 2K of said mentions per month. The data comes from Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, blogs, and other news sources. Automatic updates happen every 12 hours to keep things current. All basic analytics and reporting features are included as well as an AI tool known as Sentiment Analysis. ‍
• Team ($179 per month, $149 per month if billed annually) - The team package gives unlimited users access to seven keywords to track, and 5K mentions per month. The data is updated every hour. The data is sourced from all of the above, as well as LinkedIn, Medium, Quora, YouTube, and TikTok. Basic AI features are also included as well as some extra analytics. ‍
• Pro ($249 per month, $199 per month if billed annually) - The pro plan has no limits on users, 12 keywords to track, and 25K mentions per month updated in real-time. Additional data sources include Reviews, Twitch, and newsletters. The package also comes with additional AI features and advanced analytics and reporting capabilities.‍
• Enterprise ($499 per month, $399 per month if billed annually) - The most lucrative of the packages, the enterprise tier has no limits on users, 25 keywords, and 100K mentions per month update in real-time. Additional data is sourced from podcasts, and the package includes AI features for topic analysis and reporting for up to three projects per month

The Process

Getting started is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is create a project and begin tracking a brand. Remember, you can track more than one brand and even specific campaigns. You then specify keywords to include and exclude, and you’re pretty much ready to go. All that’s left to do is for you to track the data. 

Filter the data by source, timespan, sentiment, influencer score, and a range of other criteria to make sure you’re getting the best out of the reports. 

Are you looking to find out who’s speaking negatively about your brand? Filter by sentiment. Are you only interested in what’s been said on Instagram? Filter by source. 

You’re also given information on the reach of mentions and the engagement stats on likes, comments and shares. Reviewing which posts are the most popular can help you find the best micro-influencers to work with. 

As an extra, you can even integrate Brand24 into your company’s Slack channel, giving all those who need access an easy way to collaboratively respond without any unforeseen conflicts. 

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The Verdict

Brand24 is an exceptionally powerful tool that makes sense for any business hoping to improve its marketing strategy. The range of packages, flexible parameters, and highly effective monitoring system make this one of the best around. 

With detailed reports that go beyond just engagement and reach, Brand24 gives businesses the chance to turn data into actionable insights. The only downside is the lack of collaborative tools. 

Later.com 

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Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses across all sectors 

Later.com is a social media management and influencer marketing tool with a user-friendly interface that makes the process simple but highly effective. Founded in 2014, it was first created at a hackathon before growing into one of the leading marketing platforms for Instagram with some of the biggest brands in the world as clients (YouTube, NBC News, Rolling Stone, and the Financial Times).

The platform helps businesses visually plan content across a range of channels including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Later.com also provides tools to carefully analyse performance across each of these to help brands master their social media marketing strategies. 

With later.com, you can curate and post carousels, schedule your stories, and get comprehensive personalised insights. The insights offered can help you determine the best time to post as well as which trending hashtags will boost your visibility. 

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Features 

📝 Publishing & Scheduling:  With later, you can schedule your content to automatically post in advance across the relevant platforms. You can shoot, edit and preview posts before uploading to create your ideal feed. Later.com also have a mobile app that allows you to plan and post while on the go. 

🔗 Link in Bio Tool for Instagram & TikTok: On Instagram and TikTok, the only place to link to your website is in your profile bio. The link in bio tool lets you create a fully customisable bio link webpage; making it easier to drive traffic to your website, YouTube page, blog, or wherever you want consumers to go. 

🎨 Content Creation Tools: Later provide you with all the content creation tools you need to plan posts, organise and edit media, and identify on-brand user-generated content for your target audience. 

👾 AI Caption Writer: The caption writing tool is an AI-powered system that generates relevant, SEO-driven captions that match your brand’s style and tone. 

📊 Data & Analytics: The Instagram analytics tool provides users with pivotal data such as detailed audience and engagement data to help identify which posts are doing well and which posts you need to improve on.

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Pricing

There are three pricing tiers available for those interested in using Later.com. Depending on what your needs are, you can choose the structure best for you and your brand. In general, the service caters for small to medium-sized businesses. You can also try the 14-day free trial to see if the tool works for you. 

• Individual ($25 per month, $16.67 per month if billed annually) - The cheapest of the available plans gives you access to 30 posts per social profile with limited access to analytics (three months of data). You also get access to a customisable Link in Bio tool, 5 credits for AI features, and a range of collaboration tools for creators. ‍
• Growth ($45 per month, $30 per month if billed annually) - The growth package makes the most sense for small teams. The team is given access to 150 posts per social profile and full analytics (one year of data). You’re also given collaboration and brand management tools as well as 30 credits for AI features. ‍
• Advanced ($80 per month, $53.33 per month if billed annually) - Described as best for growing teams, access is provided for unlimited social posts and full analytics (up to one year of data). The package includes the Link in Bio tool, 50 credits for AI features, and collaboration and brand management tools. Additionally, the advanced tier gives users access to live chat support to assist with any issues.  

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The Process

Getting started with Later.com is relatively easy. First things first, you need to sign up and choose the social media platforms you’d like to connect. Next, you’ll be prompted to connect and authorise the relevant social media accounts. 

You’ll then be given access to the Later.com dashboard, where you can get started with content calendar planning and data analysis. The calendar tab lets you drag and drop media files from your library and into the calendar, choosing the date and time you want it posted. 

The analytics tab provides information regarding key metrics such as likes, comments, impressions, and engagements to determine how well your marketing campaign is doing. All you have to do is check reports and make data-driven decisions based on what you’re seeing.

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The Verdict

Later.com gives small businesses, influencers, marketing agencies, event planners, and more the tools to maximise social media presence through effective calendar management and comprehensive data analysis. 

The most impressive features include the visual content calendar and auto-publishing system, the user-friendly interface, the analytics and data tools, the bulk scheduling, caption writing, and collaboration tools. 

Downsides include the limitations on native video scheduling and compatibility with certain social media platforms. The platform also does not come with any social listening or engagement tools such as mention or comment tracking. 

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SocialBook 

Best for: Brands and influencers of all sizes across all sectors 

SocialBook is one of the leading influencer marketing tools for both brands and influencers. The SaaS-based platform aims to help users improve social media outreach and grow as a business. It is one of many products created by Boostinsider, founded in 2014. 

With high-profile clients including DoorDash, Match.com, Fiverr, and Popsugar, they have emerged as one of the most powerful social media data and analytics tools for businesses looking to improve on data-driven marketing. 

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Features

‍🔍Influencer Database Search: The influencer search feature helps you navigate through over 16M social media influencers and find ones that you may want to partner with. If you already know which influencer you want to review, you can search by name. The filtered search lets you find influencers that fit your criteria, while the competition is a great way to find out who your competitors are partnering with. Finally, the SocialBook checker is a Chrome extension that lets you add influencers to a list when you find them. 

📋 Influencer List: The list feature is an effective way to manage the influencers you’re partnered with or interested in working with. You’ll get access to the statistics for each influencer and you can add notes regarding collaboration details. 

📊 Influencer Profile Reports: As you only want to partner with brands that commercially fit with yours, reviewing profile reports is essential. Reports cover the category of influencers, channel highlights, audience overlap, audience demographics, suggested price ranges for working together, and a range of other performance stats. See below for an example of an influencer report covering the massively famous PewDiePie. 

🔑 Performance Prediction: The performance prediction tool is an effective method of estimating how much the campaign will cost, what results you’re expecting, and how well the influencers perform on average. 

📅Campaign Management & KPI Tracking: Once you’re working with influencers and social posts have gone live, SocialBook performs automatic tracking to gather information on each post such as views, likes, comments, and long-term performance. 

📝 Competitor Monitoring: As far as your competition goes, SocialBook provides you with key statistics in terms of the number of influencers they hire, the real-time results of their campaigns, budgets, engagement, reach, and more.

📧 Email Outreach: An incredibly useful tool for reaching out to potential partners. You can set up templates and mass email hundreds of influencers in one go to save significant time. 

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Pricing

• Basic (Free) - The basic plan comes with very limited access. You won’t even be able to log in to the dashboard. Instead, it is a Chrome extension that gives users the ability to access basic data from any YouTube channel.‍
• Platinum ($499 per month) - The platinum package gives you access to all features, but with limitations on some. You get one user login, 500 monthly in-depth influencer profiles, 800 advanced searches per day, 20 influencer lists, and 3 comparison lists. You can only search by competitors once a month, and your bulk emails are limited to 300 per month. You also do not have access to data from Twitch. ‍
• Enterprise (Customisable pricing structure) - The enterprise tier is for those who want to all features but want to customise the limits. The cost is more than the platinum package per month and is decided based on where you have adjusted limitations.

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The Process 

Once you’re signed up and logged in to SocialBook, you may be slightly put off by the interface, which isn’t exactly user-friendly. But once you get used to the general look and usability, you should have no problem navigating to where you need to be. 

Upon starting up, you’re brought to the search screen where you can add keywords and filter the search to your needs. For a new search, you need to click on the SocialBook logo in the top right corner. You’ll also need to click “more” on the navigation bar to access all of the available features. 

The most impressive part of what SocialBook do is the incredibly detailed influencer reports that pretty much cover all bases. The tool even gives you all the relevant data you need from YouTube, which generally does not grant third-party access to user data at this level. 

Once you’ve mastered the navigation, SocialBook becomes a highly effective platform for finding and managing influencers, directing marketing campaigns, and analysing what is an absolute goldmine of influencer data and analytics. 

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The Verdict

SocialBook is undeniably an excellent tool when it comes to data and analytics covering influencers. But they’re also still growing, and right now the user interface and navigation system leave a lot to be desired. 

As a whole, though, the platform is one of the best when it comes to finding and managing influencers. The data provided covers pretty much everything you can think of, even going so far as to break down the potential costs for you. 

Already a powerful tool for brands and influencers, SocialBook is still developing. A more friendly UI will likely happen at some point, and once it does, the platform will gain even more traction. 

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Sprout Social 

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Best for: Businesses and brands of all sizes across all sectors

SproutSocial was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Chicago, USA. It is a social media management and intelligence platform aimed at assisting businesses of all sizes. The platform gives users the ability to manage multiple social media accounts from one centralised dashboard. 

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Features

📥 Smart Inbox:  The Smart Inbox feature gives users the tools to view and reply to all incoming messages coming from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and TikTok. For businesses looking to improve productivity, this is a massive time saver. 

🗂️ Content Planning & Publishing: The user-friendly content calendar makes it easy for brands to effectively plan, schedule and publish social media content. You’ll also have access to view posts from multiple platforms in one spot, and more importantly, you can post directly from your SproutSocial calendar. 

📋 Reviews Management: Much like the Smart Inbox tool, the reviews management feature lets you access reviews coming from several different places in one spot. The tool lets you see how people are feeling about you and makes it easy to respond timeously to comments across the internet. 

📊 Social Media Analytics: SproutSocial analytics tool provides detailed statistics to help you learn what your customers want, identify market trends, and prove the ROI of your social impact. This includes network reports, competitor reports, performance reports, tag reports, team and task reports, and profile reports. 

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Pricing 

The pricing structure for SproutSocial is divided into three tiers. The free trial is a full 30 days long, which is more than double most of the free trials offered by similar platforms. 

• Standard ($299 per month per user and $199 for every additional user) - With the standard tier, you’re limited to five social profiles and only some of the available features. The key features included in this package are the all-in-one inbox, scheduling and publishing, reviews management, and social CRM.
• Professional ($399 per month per user and $299 for every additional user) - The advanced tier gives you unlimited social profiles and all of the above features. Additionally, you have access to custom workflows, post-scheduling optimisation, message tagging, trend analysis, and paid social reporting.  ‍
• Advanced ($499 per month per user and $399 for every additional user) - With the advanced tier, you’re also allowed unlimited social profiles and have all of the above features. Additionally, you get the smart inbox, surveys, link tracking and chatbots.

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The Process 

To create a SproutSocial account is an easy enough process. All you do is sign up on the website, provide the relevant details, and link your social media accounts. 

The platform comes with instructions that tell you everything you need to know about connecting your accounts. The interface is incredibly user-friendly and the learning curve is not very steep. 

Once you’re in and working, you can start planning and publishing content, managing reviews, tracking analytics, and making data-focused decisions going forward. 

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The Verdict 

SocialSprout is a user-friendly platform with a comprehensive list of features from content and review management to robust analytic and reporting tools. All in all, the platform can make life significantly easier for businesses.  

The downside? It is incredibly expensive when compared to other social media marketing and influencer analytics tools.

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Iconosquare 

Best for: Brands and agencies of all sizes across all sectors

Iconosquare is a social media analytics and reporting tool with comprehensive features that help businesses thrive in the marketing space. Founded in 2011, the French-based business has since become one of the leading brands in the digital marketing industry. 

From detailed social listening and monitoring tools to powerful analytical and publishing tools, Iconosquare is set up to make your life easier by helping you execute the perfect marketing strategy. 

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Features 

🖥️ Dashboard: The Iconosquare dashboard is an innovative user interface presented in a user-friendly way. An easy navigation system makes it simple to find what you’re looking for and you can even customise it to suit your needs. The dashboard also lets you include data from multiple sources and filter by the data you find most relevant. 

📊 Analytics: The data and analytics section is split into multiple sets for the different key statistics. Engagement, reach, performance, content, audience growth, publishing habits, impressions and more are included. The overview section is essentially a summary of how your profiles have performed within a given time frame. 

📚 Publishing: The publishing tool is a prime example of Iconosquare offering far more than just detailed analytics. You can add posts, captions, links, dates, times, statuses, and even internal notes. You can also schedule and manage posts in your calendar. 

📝 Monitoring: The monitoring and social listening tool makes it easy for users to find and reply to mentions on Facebook and Instagram. The feature provides insight into where you stand in terms of social media performance, helping you check KPIs and see what’s working and what’s not. 

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Pricing 

Much like the others on this list, Iconosquare has three tiers when it comes to pricing. There is also a 14-day trial for those looking to test the waters before committing to jumping in. 

• Single ($59 per month) - The single tier offers access for one user and provides 12 months of data retention. Despite being the cheapest of the tiers, you still have access to all of the main features that Iconosquare has to offer. You may have up to 10 profiles in the single tier. ‍
• Teams ($99 per month) - The teams tier offers access for ten users and provides 24 months of data retention. All features are included. You may have up to 50 profiles in the teams tier. ‍
• Custom (On request) - The price of the custom tier depends on how you set it up. With this tier, you can set it up to have unlimited users and unlimited months of data retention. 

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The Process

The signup process for Iconosquare is easy, and the user interface makes it simple to navigate. All you have to do is register, connect your Instagram and Facebook profile, and explore the different features it has to offer. 

Exploring the features is made easy through the user interface, and being able to create a dashboard that works best for you makes it even easier. You can add widgets, review data from multiple sources, and get a general overview of performance instantly. 

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The Verdict

The social media analytics tool stands out as the best feature of the platform, offering deep insight into performance stats that can help businesses perfect their marketing strategy. With an innovative and easy-to-use dashboard, as well as a range of other features, Iconosquare stands out as one of the best social media marketing tools available. 

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What are the key metrics you should consider when tracking Instagram performance? 

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So what are the most important metrics to consider when using a free Instagram analytics tool? We’ve reviewed some of the most pivotal statistics to help you get the most out of your account. 

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Follower count 

Likely the most obvious of the applicable metrics, the follower count provides a great general overview of the popularity of an account. By reviewing the follower count, you get a great idea regarding the influence and credibility of the profile. 

While the follower count gives a brand or creator credibility and helps understand who you’re dealing with, it does not necessarily provide you with enough information to understand the existing success of the marketing strategy and social media campaign. 

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Follower growth rate

Reviewing the follower growth rate is a tried and tested method of checking if an account is growing and finding new audiences. The growth rate is determined by taking the amount of new followers gained over a month and dividing it by the total number of followers. 

You then convert the number to a percentage and you’ll know how well the existing campaign is doing. A growth rate of around 10% is considered excellent, while a growth rate of around 1-2% is considered poor.  

There are many ways to ensure your growth rate stays steady, from partnering with the right agency to using a powerful UGC tool. The only way to know if it’s working is to track the metrics.

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Instagram engagement per follower 

Not all followers are going to see every post. In fact, only around 10% of followers will see organic content. 100K+ followers mean nothing if nobody sees your new posts, highlighting the importance of tracking the engagement per follower. 

The algorithm that Instagram uses is constantly updated. As such, tracking engagement is incredibly important, or you might not even realise the marketing strategy is no longer working. 

By tracking the engagement per post and per story, you get a clear idea of how interested the audience is in the content being posted. This, of course, informs your entire social media marketing strategy. 

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Instagram story engagement 

Instagram stories disappear in 24 hours. This differentiates them from regular Instagram posts. To determine the engagement on stories, you merely have to review the number of views, likes, shares, replies, and exits each story gets. 

Information regarding exits lets you know at which slide your followers stopped reviewing your stories. This helps you determine where they’re losing interest and what you can do to fix it. 

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Reach 

The reach essentially refers to how many people are seeing the content. Unlike with impressions, only one person per post can contribute towards reach, making it a key metric for measuring brand awareness. 

The total reach will give you the hard numbers, while the reach rate is the percentage of followers that see the post.

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Website traffic 

For most brands and businesses, the main goal of using social media platforms such as Instagram is to direct traffic to a website and ultimately towards the products or services. 

With Instagram, the only reliable way to direct people towards a website is through the link in the bio. This means you need a strong marketing strategy that does more than just keep followers entertained but drives them towards your services or products. 

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Audience demographics 

The key to a successful Instagram marketing strategy is understanding the demographics of your audience. You need to know who you’re talking to to determine what you should be focusing on content-wise. 

The important demographic metrics to consider include: 

• Age 
• Gender 
• Location
• Language

The demographics of your audience should help inform your strategy. If you’re not sure who your audience is, you’re unlikely to get them to engage. 

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Final thoughts  

No marketing campaign finds success without consistently tracking and analysing the key metrics. In 2024, using a powerful Instagram analytics tool can help you define and execute the perfect social media strategy.

With the right tools, you can turn relevant metrics into actionable insights that can drive real results. There’s no point in reviewing the key stats unless you use the data to inform your marketing strategy. 

From your follower growth rate to the demographics of your audience, each key metric should be reviewed and studied for the best results going forward. 

At ttagz, we provide a UGC tool that helps turn your audience into some of your most important content creators. Reach out today and learn more about how we can improve your social media content strategy. 

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