How to Use Instagram Listening to Grow Your Brand
- Sweta Panigrahi
- Sep 4
- 7 min read
It’s the start of the month, and you're feeling on top of the world. Your Instagram calendar? Sorted. Every post perfectly queued up in Meta Business Suite, ready to go live. You're thinking, “Yes, this month’s going to crush it.”
Fast forward a few weeks… and the reality check hits. Besides your manager and the CEO dropping a pity-like, no one’s engaging. Well, except for that one random spammy account trying to sell you an email list with the world’s most irrelevant comment. Ugh.
Yeah, we've all been there. It’s frustrating to spend all that time planning, only to feel like your content just… flops.
But what if you didn’t have to go in blind? What if you could peek at your competitors and favorite pages on Instagram, see what content actually lands with their audience (and what totally bombs), and use that intel before you even start brainstorming?
That’s exactly what Instagram listening with Measure Studio lets you do. And in this post, we’ll walk you through how it works and how to use it to actually grow your brand.
What is Instagram listening
When we talk about Instagram listening, we’re not accessing private or sensitive information. Everything comes from publicly available data on Instagram accounts you don’t own, competitors, industry peers, creators, or aspirational brands.
Here are the key types of data you can retrieve and analyze:
Content Performance Signals
Engagement counts: likes, comments, shares, and saves (where visible).
Engagement rate estimates (interactions relative to follower size).
Virality signals like rapid engagement spikes.
Performance trends over time like what’s consistently resonating vs. one-off wins.
Content Mix & Format Data
Breakdown of content types: Reels, Carousels, single-image posts, Stories (if available).
Ratio of formats used (e.g., 70% Reels vs. 20% Carousels).
Adoption of new features like Instagram Notes or Collabs.
Posting Patterns
Frequency and volume of posts.
Timing of posts (days, time of day).
Cadence shifts (e.g., ramping up during campaigns or product launches).
Topic & Creative Themes
Recurring topics, hashtags, or content pillars.
Creative styles like educational, entertaining, aspirational, promotional.
Tone of voice and messaging frameworks.
Visual identity signals like color schemes, layouts, or trending meme formats.
Audience Interaction Clues
Comment sentiment: are responses positive, critical, or mixed?
The types of questions or feedback audiences give.
Volume and quality of user interactions (e.g., genuine discussions vs. spammy engagement).
Benchmarking Opportunities
Top-performing vs. underperforming competitor posts.
Median engagement benchmarks by format or theme.
Comparative growth signals (e.g., sudden surges in attention).
With Measure Studio, all of this public data is aggregated and aligned against your own metrics. That means you don't only see what others are doing, but also understand how your performance stacks up in context.
This helps you answer high-level strategic questions like:
Are we publishing enough relative to competitors?
Are our Reels underperforming compared to the industry median?
Which themes consistently outperform in our space, and are we covering them?
What topics or formats aren’t competitors leveraging yet?
By leveraging public data at this depth, Instagram listening shifts from anecdotal observations to structured, competitive intelligence.
It’s not just about knowing “what they posted”, it’s about translating market signals into measurable, KPI-aligned actions for your brand.
Why does Instagram listening matter
Isn’t checking your own stats enough? Well… yes and no.
Your reach, likes, and comments? They matter. But those numbers only tell you how your posts performed.
They don’t tell you what your audience is talking about elsewhere, or what your competitors are doing to steal the spotlight. You're working with a tiny slice of the picture.
Instagram listening blows that picture wide open. It’s not just about your posts, it’s about the whole conversation happening in your niche. And once you tap into that, new routes to leads open up:
New content angles: Spot trending formats, hashtags, or topics before they peak. Suddenly, you're leading the conversation instead of chasing it.
Robust audience insights: You’ll uncover what your followers actually care about beyond your posts. What excites them, what annoys them, what they wish brands would do more of.
Competitive advantage: By seeing which posts are hits and which are duds for competitors, you can avoid wasting time on “meh” ideas and double down on proven winners.
Fresher campaign ideas: Listening lets you discover gaps, topics or conversations nobody’s owning yet, that your brand can jump into and own.
And here’s where it gets really interesting! Instagram listening reshapes your KPIs.
Instead of obsessing over vanity metrics that don’t really move the needle, you start tracking what matters:
Engagement quality (are you sparking real conversations, not just passive likes?)
Content resonance (which types of posts consistently win attention in your space)
Trend responsiveness (how quickly you spot and act on new opportunities)
How to use Instagram listening in Measure Studio
Alright, so now you’re probably wondering: Okay, but how do I actually do this? Here’s the play-by-play.
1. Pick the accounts you want to track
Start with your top competitors, industry leaders, and maybe a few “aspirational” pages you love. Think of it like building your Instagram listening watchlist.
2. Pull in their public data
Measure Studio does the heavy lifting here. It gathers public posts, captions, engagement stats, and more so you don’t have to manually stalk their feeds.
3. Break down the content mix
See which types of posts they're publishing: Reels, Carousels, single images, Stories. Are they going all-in on short-form video? Or doubling down on memes? This helps you spot gaps in your own strategy.
Not just that, you can also spot the winners (and the duds)! Which posts are getting the most traction? Which ones are crickets? By identifying their hits and misses, you save yourself from testing blind, you already know what’s resonating.
5. Benchmark your performance
Here’s where Measure Studio gets really handy. It doesn’t just show you competitors’ data, you can also auto-benchmark your own posts against your median performance.
Benchmarking like this makes it super clear where you need to double down, and where you need to adjust.
6. Compare with post groups
Create Post Groups to group custom buckets of posts yours and competitors’ to compare head-to-head. For example, line up your Reels against your competitors’ Reels, or your product posts against their campaign posts. This side-by-side view helps you see exactly how your content stacks up in real-world context.
Bonus: Expert tips to get the most out of Instagram listening
Want to take your listening game from “good” to “pro”? Here are a few advanced moves:
Tag competitors into categories: Don’t just lump them all together. Group them as direct competitors, aspirational brands, or adjacent industries, you’ll spot different kinds of insights from each.
Track more than engagement: Pay attention to posting frequency, time of day, and even content length. Sometimes the secret isn’t what they post, but when and how often.
Dig into comments, not just likes: Likes are quick and passive, but comments show real sentiment. Scan what people are saying under top-performing posts to uncover pain points or trends.
Use Post Groups creatively: Don’t just compare “Reels vs. Reels.” Try grouping posts by campaign, theme, or even product type to see how content with a common purpose performs across brands.
Watch the “meh” posts: It’s easy to study what goes viral, but the real gold often comes from what flops. Why didn’t it land? That’s just as important as knowing what worked.
Benchmark regularly: Your median shifts over time. A post that looked amazing last quarter might be average today. Auto-benchmarking keeps your standards sharp.
Look for rising trends, not just current ones: If you notice multiple competitors testing a new format or style, that’s your early signal to experiment before it peaks.
Wrapping up
Instagram listening often gets misunderstood. A lot of people think it’s about spying on competitors and stealing their ideas.
Your audience, your goals, and your brand voice are unique, so trying to mimic someone else’s playbook only sets you up to blend in, not stand out.
Listening is different. You're not trying to run the exact same plays; you're studying the patterns, figuring out what worked, and then adapting those lessons to your own strengths.
That’s where Measure Studio really shines. It lets you put together your data with public data from competitors and aspirational brands. That way, you see what’s working in your space, what’s working for you, and where the real opportunities lie.
The beauty of this balance is that it keeps you grounded in your own performance while still giving you the context of the bigger picture.
You can line up your campaigns against competitors’ and actually see where you're winning, where you're behind, and where there’s whitespace waiting for you to own it.
And suddenly, instead of staring at a blank content calendar, you've got a data-backed roadmap that helps you brainstorm better, create with more confidence, and measure against KPIs that actually matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is Instagram listening?
Instagram listening is about tracking public data from competitors, creators, and industry pages to understand what content works, what flops, and where the opportunities are. It’s not about copying. It’s about learning patterns and applying them to your own strategy.
How is Instagram listening different from checking my analytics?
Your analytics only show you how your content is doing. That’s useful, but it’s like looking in the mirror. Instagram listening adds context. You see what’s happening outside your bubble, compare your posts to competitors, and discover fresh ideas you might have missed.
How does Measure Studio make Instagram listening easier?
Measure Studio brings your performance data and public competitor data into one place. It auto-benchmarks your posts against your median, lets you run Post Group comparisons, and shows you content mix breakdowns so you are not just managing content, you’re building a strategy backed by both insight and context.
If you want your Instagram content or portfolio posts to reflect that same depth and connection, collaborating with a dedicated photographer in Boston can help. They’ll bring out authenticity in your imagery, ensuring each photo doesn’t just look good, but also tells a story that speaks to your followers.