Want to know where in the world your Instagram followers are located?
With over 2 billion monthly active users globally, Instagram grants you access to a massively diverse audience. But not all of those users are created equal when it comes to engaging with your brand.
The cities, countries, and regions where you have the highest concentration of followers represent your most valuable markets. These are the areas where your content resonates the strongest and your community is the most active and engaged.
So how can you determine where your followers are based?
Uncovering precise location data allows you to tailor your Instagram strategy in powerful ways. You can craft content that speaks directly to your key locations, optimize posting times around your top time zones, and geo-target promotions to your best regions.
As a social media pro with over 5 years of Instagram marketing experience, I‘ll share my proven tactics to unlock deep geographic insights about your followers.
Let‘s dive in!
Contents
Check Instagram Insights
The Instagram app itself provides the ability to see your follower locations within Instagram Insights.
Here are step-by-step instructions to access this geographic data:
- Open your Instagram profile and tap the "hamburger" icon in the top right corner.
- Choose "Insights" from the menu.
- Scroll down and select the "Audience" tab at the bottom.
- Tap on "Locations" at the top of the screen.
You‘ll now see your top follower locations broken down into Countries and Cities. The percentages show each location‘s portion of your total audience.
Don‘t just glance at the percentages though! Be sure to tap into each country and city to view the exact follower counts. Raw numbers are more useful than percentages when planning location-based content and promotions.
Pro Tip: Export your Locations data to easily analyze and share it outside the Instagram app. Simply tap the export icon in the top right of any Insights screen. Super helpful!
Here are the key elements I look for within the Locations data:
- Country Followers: See which countries have the most reach for you right now. Keep an eye on countries that may be up and coming.
- City Followers: More specific intel! Look for any major cities with a particularly strong following.
- Follower Maps: Instagram generates maps of your locations. Check for dense geographic clusters of followers.
- Search Tool: Manually look up countries, cities, or regions you think could be strategic audiences.
Monitoring Locations regularly reveals rising and declining areas over time. This geographic intel becomes crucial for maximizing your Instagram growth and engagement…but more on that later!
First, let‘s look at combining locations with demographic data.
Analyze Audience Demographics
Locations only reveal part of the picture. To gain a deeper understanding of your audience, you need to layer locations together with demographic intel like age, gender, interests, etc.
Fortunately, Instagram Insights also provides handy demographics under the Audience tab:
- Age Range: Breaks down your followers by age brackets.
- Gender: Shows the male/female follower split.
- Interests: Topics and hashtags your audience engages with.
Here are the key steps to view these demographics:
- In Instagram Insights, tap into the Audience tab.
- Select “Demographics” at the top of the screen.
- Tap “See All” to expand each demographic category.
With locations and demographics combined, you can unlock powerful insights like:
- Ages and genders of followers in each country/city
- Interests and hashtags unique to certain regions
- What types of content works best for different locations
This geographic understanding will directly strengthen your Instagram marketing tactics moving forward.
But Instagram Insights alone only scratches the surface of what‘s possible. Let‘s look at even more robust location tools…
Leverage Advanced Third-Party Analytics
While the built-in Instagram Insights provide a helpful baseline, third-party analytics platforms offer significantly deeper location data and functionalities.
I regularly use these location analytics tools with the brands I consult:
Iconosquare
Iconosquare is a premier Instagram and social media analytics tool. Their location analytics are exceptional, with real-time follower maps down to the city level.
You can track changes and trends in your follower locations over months or years. And they offer audience demographics segmented by location too.
Social Insider
I‘m a big fan of Social Insider for their advanced location analytics. You can create custom geographic audience segments within their platform.
This allows you to compare key metrics across locations, like engagement rates, best posting times, top hashtags, etc. Incredibly useful intel!
SocialTracker
If visual data analysis is your thing, SocialTracker has you covered. Their maps dynamically display your performance metrics overlaid across countries and regions.
You can see at a glance where your Instagram presence and engagement needs improvement geographically.
Phlanx
Phlanx takes location analysis to the next level by harnessing artificial intelligence (AI). Their tool detects your audience across 240+ countries and territories.
You can then filter your posts, hashtags, engagements, and more by each location. It‘s perfect for monitoring which content resonates in each area.
HashtagStack
While not a full analytics platform, HashtagStack is ideal for honing your hashtag strategy for key locations.
You can identify the highest-performing hashtags by country and city to maximize your local reach. This level of hashtag optimization is a serious engagement game-changer!
Optimize Instagram Content By Location
Gaining a detailed view of your Instagram followers‘ locations is just the beginning. The real value comes from applying these geographic insights to inform your ongoing Instagram strategy.
Here are my top tips for optimizing your content based on your audience‘s locations:
Tailor Your Posts
Create posts and Stories with locality in mind. Share content that‘s timely and relevant to the culture, events, holidays, and interests tied to your top follower regions.
Example: An Instagram fitness influencer notices she has a huge following in Brazil. She creates custom workout posts featuring popular Brazilian music and captions written in Portuguese.
Localize Your Hashtags
Use location-specific hashtags like city names alongside your regular hashtags. This helps your content surface to more potential local followers.
Example: A travel blogger uses hashtags like #London and #Paris to gain more local visibility when posting in those cities.
Geotag Strategically
Only geotag locations where you have a solid existing follower base. This rallies your current local followers to engage. Avoid geotagging places with minimal followers.
Example: A fashion brand geo-tags posts with the store locations where they have the most customer traffic.
Spotlight Your Superfans
Repost user-generated content from your top followers in key locales. Tag them in your Stories as well. This strengthens follower relationships locally.
Example: An athlete regularly reposts fan content from his highest-engagement cities across the U.S.
Source Local Influencers
Partner with nano or micro-influencers based in your priority locations. They can authentically promote your brand to their local networks.
Example: A travel company partners with travel influencers in their most lucrative European markets to drive bookings.
Gather Local Feedback
Ask followers for suggestions to improve your content. Directly engaging them by location leads to more responses and actionable insights.
Example: A restaurant chain polls followers across U.S. cities asking what new menu items they’d like to see.
Appeal to Cultural Interests
Cater your content to the cultural interests and trends within key follower demographics by location. Align your posts with their passions.
Example: A K-Pop brand tailors Instagram content for the Philippines to feature their most popular artists in that region.
Optimize Instagram Engagement By Location
Locations should also inform when and how you engage your followers on Instagram. Here are my top strategies to maximize engagement based on your audience‘s geography:
Post At Local Peak Times
Use Instagram Insights to determine when your followers are most active in specific cities, countries, and time zones. Then schedule Instagram posts and Stories during those peak windows.
Example: A business schedules Instagram content during the evening rush hour in Mexico City when commuters are most active on the platform.
Respond To Local Comments
Actively respond to your Instagram comments, especially from key locales. Directly engaging these superfans helps drive more local comments over time.
Example: An influencer makes sure to always reply to Instagram comments from her top city, Los Angeles, where she has her core audience.
Send Location-Based DMs
Send Direct Messages to connect one-on-one with your most engaged followers by location. This cultivates closer local relationships.
Example: A food blogger DMs his top commenters in New York City to get suggestions for his upcoming restaurant guide to the city.
Host Local Events
Plan in-person events in cities and countries where you have high follower concentrations and engagement. Events can vary from meetups to conferences, pop-ups and more.
Example: A fashion brand hosts pop-up shops in LA and Miami where they have the highest local Instagram engagement and purchase intent.
Promote User-Generated Content
Repost great user-generated content (UGC) from your locations with the largest and most engaged follower bases. The creators will eagerly share with their local networks.
Example: A hotel brand reposts guest photos from its most popular properties in Hawaii, Miami, and Cancun to boost awareness locally.
Geo-Target Your Instagram Ads
Your follower location data should also play a major role in Instagram advertising via paid ads. Geo-targeted ads perform significantly better by speaking directly to your key locations.
I advise brands to:
Target Paid Ads Locally
Run Instagram ad campaigns focused on your top cities, regions, and countries, where you already have a follower foothold.
Example: A coffee shop geo-targets Instagram ads to users within a 5 mile radius of its 3 Chicago store locations.
Promote Locally Relevant Products
Highlight Instagram ad products and offers tailored to audiences in each location based on local interests and demand.
Example: A clothing retailer promotes its winter coats to Instagram users in colder northern U.S. states using geo-targeting.
Test Ad Creative by Locale
Create ad variations with locally appealing creative – imagery, text, etc. – and test performance by region to determine optimal local ad content.
Example: An auto brand designs Spanish language Instagram ads with salsa music for its Mexico audience segment.
Measure Local Ad ROI
Track the return on ad spend (ROAS) from geo-targeted campaigns per location. Determine where your ad budget generates the strongest results and scale up accordingly.
Example: A DTC startup ramps up Instagram advertising in the UK after seeing 3X higher ROAS from its UK campaign vs. other European countries.
Remarket Website Visitors Locally
Remarket to website visitors from key locales using geo-targeted Instagram ads. This converts your hottest leads based on real-time site behavior.
Example: An e-commerce retailer remarkets to Florida website visitors across Instagram, resulting in 47% higher conversion rates.
Partner With Regional Influencers
Influencer marketing represents a major opportunity to expand your reach and engagement locally. I advise brands to:
Identify Top Regional Influencers
Research influencers with a strong local audience in your priority locations using third-party analytics tools. Filter by geography and relevant audience demographics.
Example: A beauty brand identifies beauty influencers in the U.S. with over 50% of followers located in New York to support their upcoming NYC product launch.
Negotiate Local Influencer Rates
Be prepared to pay top dollar for influencers who deliver your ideal location-based audience. Their specialized local access carries a premium.
Example: A hotel chain pays LA fashion influencers 20% above their average rate per post in order to align with their upcoming Hollywood location opening.
Measure Local Campaign Impact
Track the location-level reach, engagement, and conversion metrics from your regional influencer campaigns. This verifies their value in each market.
Example: A clothing brand tracks sales by region before and after influencer marketing campaigns in the U.S. and Europe. Regional sales grew between 8-15%.
Localize Influencer Content
Require influencers to incorporate geographic calls-to-action and location tags when promoting your brand to their local followers.
Example: A restaurant brand asks NYC influencers to include “Visit our new Midtown location!” in their Instagram posts geotagged in Manhattan.
Boost UGC Reach Locally
Amplify top regional influencers’ UGC posts through paid geo-targeted ads on Instagram. This expands their content‘s visibility locally.
Example: A skincare company runs Instagram ads to share an influencer‘s post in the exact California zip codes of her followers.
Conclusion
I hope these tips provide an actionable blueprint for optimizing your Instagram strategy based on follower locations. While Instagram Insights delivers the baseline data, advanced analytics tools like Iconosquare and Social Insider really let you dive deep into geographic performance analysis.
The key is turning those location insights into targeted improvements across your content, engagement, advertising, influencer partnerships, events, and more.
By keeping follower locations and interests at the center of your Instagram efforts, you can accelerate growth, interaction, and conversions in the areas that matter most for your brand.
Let me know if you have any other questions on implementing location-based Instagram marketing! I‘m always happy to chat more.
