Instagram Follower Comparison: Assess Your Competition on IG

Comparing followers is something most Instagram users do. There’s a notion that the more followers you have, the more successful you are on the social media platform. So, most people will compare their follower count with that of others to gauge who is doing better online. 

But to really assess who is a more effective creator, it’s best to do a more insightful Instagram follower comparison. Today, we’ll teach you the many ways you can do just that.

What Is Instagram Follower Comparison and Why Is It Important?

Follower comparison refers to analyzing one brand’s audience and looking at it in contrast to another brand’s fanbase. You might look at factors such as growth trends, audience demographics, follower counts, and more. It’s a way to see whether one creator is doing better than the other by assessing their audience.

Comparing followers doesn’t just mean checking who has a larger following. After all, influence and success on Instagram don’t just depend on having millions of followers. You could have a smaller following than mega-influencers but have a highly engaged audience, making you a more effective creator. So, when comparing followers, it’s important to assess engagement, too.

Follower comparisons are very useful for brands hunting down the perfect influencers to collaborate with as brand ambassadors.

If you have a bunch of potential creators on your shortlist, compare their fans. See who has the most authentic fans that engage with them or which one has a steadier follower growth trend. These comparisons can help you narrow down your list easier and find what you’re looking for in a brand influencer.

Compare Followers and Following on Instagram: What’s the Difference?

Before anything else, let’s get our definitions straight and compare followers and following on Instagram. Followers refer to the people who follow and “subscribe” to your content so your posts appear on their feed. Meanwhile, your following list refers to users you follow—aka accounts whose content you enjoy.

Pitting one brand against the other and comparing their followers is heaps of fun, sure. But you should also stop and compare someone’s followers with, well, their following list.

Calculating what is called the follower-to-following ratio helps you assess whether an account has a huge influence on the platform. The more followers you have in contrast to your following list, the more popular and influential you are.

Someone with a high follower-to-following ratio is considered very engaging. This means that their content is so engaging that they attract plenty of followers without needing to follow them first.

Meanwhile, someone who is following more people than are following them might not be so successful. These users might need to tweak their audience engagement strategies to lure in more fans organically.

So, what exactly is a good follower-to-following ratio? According to Circleboom, anyone with followers half the size of their following list is “almost spammy.” Meanwhile, anyone with two to 10 times as many followers as they are following could be considered a micro-influencer. Users with over 10 times as many followers as people they follow might as well be celebrities.

5 Ways To Compare Instagram Followers Between Two Accounts

When you compare Instagram followers between two accounts, it’s never just about the follower count. It also has to do with the quality of these followers and whether the fans are an engaged audience. That intel gives you deeper and more meaningful insights about which of the two creators is doing better on Instagram.

So, what exactly should you be comparing when you look at the followers of two brands? Here are some things to evaluate when doing a competitive analysis through a follower comparison.

1. Check for Mutual Followers

Checking on mutual followers with another account is a great way to assess if you have a shared audience. This shows how similar your audience is to bigger brands, which you can treat as an industry benchmark.

Instagram doesn’t show you a list of profiles that follow both you and another page. However, you may be able to assess mutual connections by looking at the “Followed by” section of a profile. When you visit a page on Instagram, you’ll see a list of mutual connections you have under their bio.

If you want to compare the mutual followers of two other accounts, use an audience overlap tool like InfluData. This tool shows you the percentage of mutual followers two profiles have. The higher the overlap, the bigger their shared audience. So, if you’re looking for brand ambassadors to reach a broad audience, look for creators with a small overlap.

2. Do an Instagram Live Followers Count Comparison for Real-Time Updates

Want to see a live broadcast of two brands’ fanbase size side by side? Do an Instagram live followers count comparison with a real-time follower count tool. With this kind of tool, you can watch two creators gain and lose followers live.

The Live Counts website is one such tool. Just type in the usernames of the accounts you want to compare and hit “submit.” Then, you’ll see their live fan count, one next to the other. The page refreshes at regular intervals, allowing you to see the growth in real time.

It’s a terrific way to assess who gains followers faster. It’s also awesome for seeing certain creators overtake others in terms of fanbase size.

3. Use a Third-Party Follower Tracker Tool To Make a Competitive Analysis

Dive deeper into follower analytics by looking up the two accounts on a third-party Instagram follower tracker. This shows you all sorts of important data about a brand’s followers, from engagement metrics to their most active followers. You might also be able to see someone’s unfollower growth trend, which speaks volumes about their content’s weaknesses.

Take all this data from both accounts and compare them side by side. This can give you an idea of which page is performing better and connecting more with its audience.

4. See How Many Fake Followers Each Account Has

Don’t just assess their high-quality followers; check for fake, inauthentic fans, too. Use a third-party fake follower detector like Modash. This site shows the percentage of an account’s fans that are likely fake. Just type the username of the account you want to assess, hit “Check profile,” and see the results!

The higher the percentage of fake followers an account has, the less trustworthy it is. It could mean that the creator is buying fake fans to artificially grow their account instead of doing it organically.

It’s also a testament to how engaging these accounts’ content is. High-quality content will resonate with authentic fans. Having lots of fake followers implies that their content doesn’t really hit the mark with their target audience.

5. Compute for Engagement Rates Based on Their Follower Count

This one isn’t exactly a way to compare followers, but it is a way to see how engaged an account’s audience is. Engagement rates of Instagram posts are calculated based on someone’s follower count, not the absolute number of likes or comments. So, it’s still an awesome assessment of content performance based on someone’s fanbase size.

To get a post’s engagement rate, add all its likes, comments, and shares. Then, divide it by the account’s total followers and multiply by a hundred. When a post has a high engagement rate, it successfully piques the interest of a large chunk of followers. If the rate is low, even if the total number of likes sounds large, it isn’t that impactful or engaging.

Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t Dwell on Other Users’ Followers; Gain More of Your Own Instead!

Comparing followers may sound shallow, but it’s an excellent strategy for understanding your performance vis-à-vis other creators. With the right tools, you can learn who has a more engaged audience and who grows faster on IG. Next time you want to see how you’re faring against your competitors, conduct an analytical Instagram follower comparison.

However, don’t be so caught up with other people’s followers. Instead, channel most of your energy into getting more of your own fans. Enlisting the help of Path Social can make that easier.

We use AI-driven targeting algorithms to hunt down your niche audience and promote your content to them. That way, your posts reach the people they were made for. This boosts engagement and skyrockets your follower count—just like we did for Modern Fit and thousands of other brands. See more growth and followers with Path Social!