2023 Instagram Stories

Benchmark Report
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO INSTAGRAM STORIES METRICS
 Questions to Answer with 

The Instagram Stories Benchmark Report
Instagram Stories continue to grow in relevance to your social media marketing efforts, 

but it can be tough to know how your brand stacks up against competitors.

• What kind of Stories engagement are my

competitors seeing?

• How frequently should I be posting Stories?

• What kind of Stories engagement (taps, replies,

and exits) should I expect?

• How might my Stories engagement change if I

published more often or grew my followers?

• How do my Stories stats stack up to my Post stats?

 DATA SET INCLUDES

965
HANDLES

IN 2022 BETWEEN THE MONTHS OF

JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV

COMPRISING

147K 72K 281K

POSTS STORIES FRAMES
 The Metrics: Definitions
Engagement: Measurable Post Reach Rate: The reach of a Stories Reach Rate: Your Story Viewers
interaction on Instagram Stories and post expressed as a percentage of on any given day divided by your follower
posts, including likes, comments, your followers.
count, expressed as a percentage.

replies, and shares.

Reach: The total number of unique Story: The set of frames posted to your
Exit Rate: The percentage of your people that saw a frame in your Story Story within a single 24-hour day.

impressions that exit your Stories 
 or your post.

by swiping right, swiping down, 
 Story Viewers: The number of people

or closing Stories.
Reply Rate: The percentage of your who saw your Story on a given day.

Story Viewers that replied to your

Frame: A single photo or video Story on any given day.
Tap-Back Rate: The percentage of your
posted to your Instagram Story.
impressions that have a tap backward to
Replies per 1K Impressions: The see the previous photo or video again.

Impressions: The total number of number of replies per 1,000 story

views of a frame in your Story.
impressions.
Tap-Forward Rate: The percentage 

of your impressions that have a tap
Post Engagement per Impression: Retention Rate: The percentage of forward to see the next photo 

The numbers of likes, comments, and your Story Viewers on any given day or video.
saves per impression on a post. that see all your frames.
Where can I see my data in Instagram?
Looking in the Instagram app? Here’s where to find your stats.
Using Rival IQ to supercharge your Stories
Track and measure your Instagram Stories performance right inside Rival IQ
using our Instagram Insights Reports.

GET YOUR FREE TRIAL

Key Findings
 Key Findings and Takeaways

Story frequency is pretty flat this Retention Rates are flat

year
Higher tap-back rates helped boost
For the first time in our reporting history, retention, but flat reply rates and increased
brands posted about as many Stories as in exit rates balanced those successes to
2021. Flat isn’t bad, but it’s not growth keep this critical metric flat for brands
either. across the board.

Reach Rate continues to fall

Posts reach more than Stories

Your Stories (and posts!) are reaching a
smaller percentage of your followers
compared to last year. Stories are
competing with Instagram posts and
YouTube and TikTok for eyeballs.
Instagram posts continue to see a
much higher reach rate than Stories.
Hook viewers with posts and deepen
their engagement with Stories.
Days with a Story
 What is Days with a Story?
The number of days per month a handle published to their Story.

S M T W T F S
There are two main ways to
measure Story activity levels:

!
" ! !
" ! !
" ! !
"

1. How often do brands publish to

Stories?
! !
" ! !
" !!" !

2. How many frames are typically

published in a day?

!
" ! !
" ! !
" ! !
"

Days with a Story answers the first of

! !
" ! !
" !
these questions.
DAYS WITH A STORY
 Days with a Story
The number of days per month brands published Stories.

20
Story frequency is pretty 2021 2022 # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
17.4
flat, with the average brand 16.9
Story posting per month
posting an Instagram Story
15 hasn’t changed much over
11 times per month.

STORIES PER MONTH

the last few years: everyone is
11.1 11.1 posting about as often as last
• The top 25% most active year. This consistency means
10
brands publish Stories about the majority of brands still
17 times a month—roughly 6.1
6.6 post Stories just over twice
every other day.
5
per week.

• The least active 25% of

brands publish just over 1
0
Story per week. Top 25% Median Bottom 25%
Frames per Day
 What is Frames per Day?
The number of individual photos or video frames posted to Stories within a 24-hour period.

1 2 3
In this example, 

Tiffany & Co. posted
three frames per day.
 Frames per Day
The number of individual photos or video frames posted to Stories within a 24-hour period.

40%
Shorter Stories are more # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
common than long ones.
2021 2022
More brands are using
30%
• About 40% of Story activity Stories in their marketing, but

% OF STORIES
comprises days with only one they’re not posting
significantly higher frame
frame.
20%
counts. Finding your own
Median is 2 frames per story in 2022.
• 1-3 frames account for about brand's average number of
65% of brand activity.
10% frames per day and factors
that increase your retention
• About 15% of Stories have 7 rate can help fine-tune your
or more frames. 0% frame frequency strategy.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+

NUMBER OF FRAMES PER DAY

Retention Rate
 What is Retention Rate?
The percentage of Story Viewers on any given day that see all posted Story frames.
This is what 68% retention looks like.

20
4
3
5

EXITS EXITS EXITS EXITS

$ 100 $ 80 $ 76 $ 73 $ 68
VIEWERS VIEWERS VIEWERS VIEWERS VIEWERS
 Retention Rate
The percentage of Story viewers on any given day that see all Story frames.

100%
The more frames you publish, # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
the lower your retention rate.
2021 2022
In our experience, retention is
90%
• Average retention rate was one of the best measures of
pretty flat this year.
Instagram Story success.

RETENTION RATE
80% Focus on a first frame that
• As always, the biggest dip is hooks viewers, and then don’t
from 1 to 2 frames a day as be afraid to say everything
70% you need to say: retention
users swipe past the Story.
Median retention for the
4th frame of the day is drops but doesn’t flatline with
• After that big initial drop-off, the about 81% of viewers. more frames.
60%
retention decline slows down
and stays above 75% through 6
50%
frames per day. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+

FRAME NUMBER WITHIN STORY

Reach Rate
 What is Story Reach Rate?
Story Viewers on any given day divided by follower count, expressed as a percentage.

This is what a 

10% reach rate looks like.

$$$$$

$ $$$$$
330K VIEWERS
÷ 3.3M FOLLOWERS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
 Story Reach Rate
Story Viewers on any given day divided by follower count, expressed as a percentage.

Brands saw reach rates 8% # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT

2021 2022
decline in 2022 no matter
their follower count.
As we saw earlier in this
6% report, brands are posting
5.4% more and more Stories, so
• Mid-size brands between
4.8% the competition for views has
50K-200K followers endured

REACH RATE
never been higher. Strong
the biggest reach declines this 4%
first frames are a marketer’s
3.3%
year.
best tool for encouraging
2.5% 2.4% retention and notice from the
• Smaller brands with under 10K 2% Instagram algorithm.
1.6%
followers lost the least this year 1.2%
0.9%
but still saw declines.
0%
<10K 10K-50K 50K-200K >200K

FOLLOWERS
Post Reach Rate
 What is Post Reach Rate?
The reach of a post expressed as a percentage of followers.

This is what a 

25% post reach rate
looks like.

$ $$$$
250 VIEWERS
÷ 1000 FOLLOWERS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
 Post Reach Rate
The reach of a post expressed as a percentage of followers.

24%
Brands saw their post reach 2021 2022 # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
rates decline across the 20%
Post reach rate has declined
board in 2022.

18% 17%
every year we’ve studied it as
16%
Instagram adds more ways
Handles with more than 200K

POST REACH RATE

•
14% for users to consume content
followers saw the sharpest (like Lives and Reels) and
Post Reach Rate declines in 12%
10% therefore further divides
2022.
8% 9% attention.

• As usual, the larger your 6% 5%

follower count, the smaller
your reach rate.

0%
<10K 10K-50K 50K-200K >200K

FOLLOWERS
 Post Reach Rate by Media Type
The reach of a post expressed as a percentage of followers.

24%
Brands saw their post reach 2021 2022 # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
rates decline for every media
Instagram is working hard to
type in 2022.
18%
18% incentivize more video
16%
content to compete with
Images were hit especially hard

POST REACH RATE

• 15%
14% YouTube and TikTok, so this is
with a 40% decline in reach rate.
13%
a good area to invest in in
12%
10% 2023 to engage both
• Video posts saw the smallest 9%
9% followers and the algorithm.
declines in reach this year but
still suffered.
6%

• Even Reels saw a decreased

reach rate by about 25% this 0%
year. Carousel Image Video Reels

POST TYPE
 Reach Rate: Stories vs. Posts
The reach of a post expressed as a percentage of followers.

24%
Posts Stories # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT

Stories continue to have a

18% No matter how many followers you have, 
 lower reach rate than posts
16.3% more of them are seeing your posts
for brands, but does that
than your Stories.
REACH RATE

mean your brand should stop

12% creating Stories? The short
10.4%
answer is no: Story
8.2% impressions can be a great
tool for engaging with
6% 4.8% 5%
followers and developing
2.5% relationships over time.
1.6%
0.9%
0%
<10K 10K-50K 50K-200K >200K
FOLLOWERS
Post Engagement 

per Impression
What is Post Engagement per Impression?
The numbers of likes, comments, and saves per impression on a post.

This is what a 

6% post engagement/
impression looks like.

+ + + $ $$$$
60 ENGAGEMENTS
÷ 1000 IMPRESSIONS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
 Post Engagement per Impression
The numbers of likes, comments, and saves per impression on a post.

8%
Post engagements per 2021 2022 # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
impression declined
6.5% These drops in post
regardless of follower counts
6% engagement rate per
this year.
5.6%

ENG. PER IMPRESSION

5.2% impression are part of a
5.0% 5.0%
4.4% larger trend of decreased
• Mid-sized handles with 4.2%
engagement on Instagram as
4% 3.8%
between 50K-200K followers the platform battles for
retained post engagement per attention in the era of
impression best this year.
YouTube and TikTok.
2%
• The smallest and largest brands
fared worse, with handles in
both groups seeing about a 0%
<10K 10K-50K 50K-200K >200K
25% drop.
FOLLOWERS
 Post Engagement per Impression by Media Type
The numbers of likes, comments, and saves per impression on a post.

8%
Post engagement per impression 2021 2022 # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
decreased across every media
Static post types like images
type in 2022.

6% and carousels are still

5.5% 5.5%

ENG. PER IMPRESSION

outpacing videos and Reels
• Video posts saw post engagement
4.7% 4.7% despite Instagram’s big
per impression drop by more than 4.3%
investments in video this
4% 3.9%
20%.
3.4%
3.7%
year.

• Reels fared better than other post

types, losing just 5% engagement 2%

per impression from 2021.

0%
Image Carousel Video Reels

POST TYPE
Tap-Forward Rate
 What is Tap-Forward Rate?
The percentage of Story viewers that have a tap forward.

This is what a

80% tap-forward rate looks like.

TAP TAP
$
40 TAPS ÷ $$$
50 VIEWERS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
25 TAPS ON

30 VIEWERS + 10 TAPS ON 

15 VIEWERS + 5 TAPS ON 

5 VIEWERS
 Tap-Forward Rate
The percentage of Story viewers that have a tap forward.

The more frames in your Story, # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT

100%
the more likely followers will tap
forward.
Tapping forward isn’t
necessarily a bad thing, but it
75%
• The median tap-forward rate at 5 The tap-forward rate does indicate that the viewer

TAP FORWARD RATE

frames per day is nearly 90%.
for brands at 5 has either seen enough of the
frames is 89%. content or wasn’t interested
• Tap-forward rates stayed flat this 50% in the first place. Keep your
year, suggesting attention spans frames engaging and
haven’t decreased too much.
experiment with video to
25% maintain your viewers
• If your Story contains more than 4 throughout the entire Story.
2021 2022
frames, more than 90% of your
viewers are tapping forward to 0%
advance to the next frame. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+

FRAME NUMBER WITHIN STORY

Tap-Back Rate
 What is Tap-Back Rate?
The percentage of Story impressions with a tap backward.

This is what a

10% tap-back rate looks like.

TAP TAP
$
5 TAPS ÷ $$$
50 IMPRESSIONS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
0 TAPS ON

30 IMPRESSIONS + 3 TAPS ON 

15 IMPRESSIONS + 2 TAPS ON 

5 IMPRESSIONS
 Tap-Back Rate
The percentage of Story impressions with a tap backward.

8%
Tap-back rates have increased # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
7.0%
across the board in 2022.
6.5% 2021 2022
Taps back mean a viewer was
6% eager to reengage with your
• The median tap-back rate is
content, which is always a

TAP BACK RATE

4.8%, but the top 25% of 4.8%
4.4% good thing. Taps back have
brands see tap-back rates 4% increased slightly as brands
closer to 7%.
3.2% grow savvier about posting
2.9%
engaging frames that merit a
• Taps back are a great 2% second look.
indication of content that your
followers want to consume
more of. 0%
Top 25% Median Bottom 25%
 Reply Rate 

per 1K Impressions
 What is Replies per 1K Impressions?
The number of replies per 1,000 Story impressions.

This is what

5 replies per 

1K impressions looks like.

$
5 REPLIES ÷ $$$
1K IMPRESSIONS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
$ 3 REPLIES
+ $ 2 REPLIES
+ $ 0 REPLIES
 Replies per 1K Impressions
The number of replies per 1,000 Story impressions.

1.5
Replies per 1K Impressions # RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
1.35
increased for most brands in 1.31
The best way to score an
2022.
2021 2022
elusive reply is to ask for one
• Median reply rates were pretty 1 by asking a question.

DAY REPLY RATE

Unfortunately, Instagram’s
flat this year–people have about
API continues to limit data
as much to say to brands as they
from in-frame engagement
did last year
stickers like polls and quizzes,
0.50 0.48
0.5 so it's tough to measure the
• These reply rates are tiny
impacts of these interactive
because users mostly don’t reply elements on your
—particularly in the bottom 0.09 0.11 engagement and reply rates.
25%, which has a teeny average
0
reply rate close to 0%. Top 25% Median Bottom 25%
Exit Rate
 What is Exit Rate?
The percentage of impressions that exit your Story.
CLOSE
STORY
SWIPE

This is what a

SKIP 10% exit rate looks like.
STORY

÷
CLOSE
STORIES SWIPE $ $$$
- OR - - OR -
5 EXITS 50 VIEWERS

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$
2 EXITS
+ 2 EXITS
+ 1 EXITS
 Exit Rate
The percentage of impressions that exit your Story.

Exit rates were fairly flat this 13%

# RIVAL IQ INSIGHT
year.

2021 2022
Exit rates increased a little
• Brands saw exit rates increase 9.75% across all frame per day
just slightly this year, which The exit rate starts to flatten out counts this year, which

STORY EXIT RATE

means viewers were about as around 4 frames per day.
indicates viewers were slightly
likely to bail on a Story as they 6.5% less engaged with Story
were last year.
content this year. These exit
rate numbers are pretty
• Exit rates start at about 12% for 3.25% small, so don’t get
Stories with a single frame.
discouraged.

• The rate begins to really tail off 0%

at 5 frames per day and flattens 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+
out in the 4% range. FRAME NUMBER WITHIN STORY
About Rival IQ
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Supercharge your Stay ahead of the Do more with your

social landscape
competition
data

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engagement, influencers,
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—for you and your
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