2025 Instagram Benchmark Report
Learn how top brands are succeeding on Instagram in 2025.
Download the Benchmarks
Instagram continues to be a cornerstone for brand storytelling and audience connection. With a mix of formats and evolving content preferences, it offers space for both entertainment and community-building. This report shares key benchmarks across numerous KPIs and industries, offering a clear view into how brands are building their presence on the platform.
Key Takeaways: 2025 Instagram Benchmark Report
Carousels lead in both reach and engagement. Carousels deliver the strongest results across formats (2.9%, 363.3K per post), outperforming single images (2.3%, 337.3K) and Reels (2.7%, 289.5K).
Shares have doubled. The average number of shares per post has increased by +86% in six months, showing that shareable content fuels interaction and is one of the main ways people engage on Instagram.
Quality over quantity. Reach and views are rising while engagement remains steady, demonstrating that posting more does not make audiences more engaged. Brands like Elmo and Sour Patch Kids post two to three times a week yet achieve stronger results with higher-quality, engaging content.
TikTok
YouTube
Average Instagram Performance Across All Industries
Brands on Instagram average 2.3 million followers and post about nine times per week. These benchmarks highlight the value of consistency and quality in building an engaged, visually driven audience.
Download the full Instagram benchmark report to access the effectiveness rate, monthly follower growth rate and video views, shares and reach per post, all broken down by brand size.
Average Instagram Performance By Industry
Posting frequency and audience size vary significantly across industries on Instagram, yet strong performance comes down to how well content entertains. Media and Entertainment leads in both volume and Entertainment Score, averaging 34 posts per week and a score of 5.7. Luxury and Publishing follow closely behind, showing that consistent output paired with standout content can drive higher engagement rates.
Download the full Instagram benchmark report to access the above metrics and more.
Top Brands on Instagram by Engagement Rate
These top-performing brands lead our sample, standing out for content that sparks interaction and drives meaningful response. Each was identified based on consistently high performance relative to competitors over the last six months.
Sour Patch Kids sweetens its Instagram presence with punchy, candy-colored visuals and cheeky captions that invite fans to chime in. Timely memes keep its feed fresh, with just the right amount of sour.
Aimé Leon Dore succeeds on Instagram with its focus on style and allure, as well as its teasers of live DJ sets. Its fashion/lifestyle branding results in an exceptional Entertainment Score.
Dash Social pulled a sample of global companies across TikTok (n=970), Instagram (n=2,967), and YouTube (n=630) analyzing their activity between January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025 to determine average performance against a predetermined set of KPIs. These benchmarks include organic, boosted and promoted content but exclude paid ads. They apply to handles with at least 1K followers, covering both customers and non-customers.
