To measure your Instagram content pillars, give each post a topic label, then compare topics using posts with the same format and goal. Keep the number of posts beside the results: a topic you publish twice as often has more chances to collect saves or comments.
A content pillar is a recurring subject in your publishing plan. For a plant shop, watering advice and repotting guides might be separate pillars. A carousel is a format; either topic could be a carousel or a Reel. Separate labels help you check whether the subject or the format accounts for a difference in results.
Define topic labels before looking at performance
Start with the subjects you actually publish. If every post fits under "education," the label will not tell you much about what to make next. Split it where the audience's question changes: watering frequency and choosing a pot lead to different briefs.
Give each post one primary topic and write a short rule for overlaps. A post explaining how to water a plant after repotting might go under repotting because that is the problem it promises to solve. Apply that rule even when the post performs badly.
You can keep secondary labels for later research. If you count one post in several pillars, their totals will overlap. Use the primary labels throughout a review period, and record any later changes before comparing periods.
Build a small post-level worksheet
Use one row per post and keep its URL so you can open it while reviewing the numbers. Record the publishing date, primary topic, format and intended action. Add the measurement date, reach and the relevant interaction count, plus a note for paid promotion or a collaboration when it affects the comparison.
SmartMetrics supports CSV report exports. Use the available exported data as a starting point, check which post-level fields it contains, and fill any gaps from the post's analytics. Add your editorial topic labels in the worksheet yourself.
Choose the intended action before sorting the results. Saves may suit a guide that readers will need later. For a launch announcement, you might judge traffic and check visits in your website analytics. Use Instagram UTM tracking to connect tagged links to website sessions. A save count alone cannot tell you whether someone bought anything.
If a required metric is unavailable, leave it missing. Treating it as zero would make the topic look weaker. Calculate a rate only for posts with the required count and a nonzero denominator, and show how many posts qualified.
Compare similar posts at a similar age
First narrow the worksheet to one format and one purpose. Compare care-guide carousels with other care-guide carousels. Mixing in giveaway Reels or sale announcements makes it harder to tell which differences come from the topic.
Give each post the same time to accumulate results. For example, you might record each post seven days after publication. Seven days is a chosen review window, not an Instagram benchmark. If you only have current totals, note each post's age and avoid drawing a strong conclusion from a two-day-old post versus a month-old one.
Review paid posts separately from organic-only posts, and keep collaborations and unusual campaigns visible in the notes. If all your watering posts are Reels and all your repotting posts are carousels, you cannot separate topic from format in those results. Publish some comparable examples before deciding that one subject is stronger.
Read volume and response rate together
Suppose a plant shop compares two care topics, both published as organic carousels and measured seven days after publication. These are illustrative numbers, with saves and reach data available for every post.
| Measure | Watering advice | Repotting guides |
|---|---|---|
| Posts | 4 | 2 |
| Total saves | 80 | 60 |
| Sum of individual post reach | 4,000 | 6,000 |
| Saves per post | 20 | 30 |
| Aggregate save rate (%) | 2 | 1 |
Calculate the aggregate save rate as sum of saves / sum of post reach × 100. Watering gives 80 / 4,000 × 100 = 2; repotting gives 60 / 6,000 × 100 = 1. Posts with higher reach have more weight in this rate. Averaging the individual posts' save rates can give a different result.
The summed reach is not a count of unique people across the topic: someone reached by two posts can appear in both post totals. Keep that label explicit. For a single post's calculation and its limits, see the Instagram save rate guide.
Watering collected more total saves from twice as many posts. Repotting earned more saves per post, while watering had more saves relative to post reach. Which result matters most depends on whether you want more saves from each publishing slot or a higher save rate among the accounts reached.
Open the individual posts before changing the calendar. One unusually strong post could account for most of a group's saves. Check how far apart the results are and whether the topic ranking changes when you examine that post separately. Keep the original totals visible so the exception does not quietly disappear from the report.
Turn the result into the next content brief
If saves per publishing slot are the priority, this example gives you a reason to try more repotting guides in the same carousel format. You only have two to judge so far, compared with four watering posts. Continue measuring both topics at the same age and check whether the next repotting posts still earn more saves per post.
Write down the decision and the observation you want to test. For example: "Publish two more repotting carousels next month. Measure saves per post after seven days and keep save rate beside that count." This is a proposed test based on the illustrative data, not a recommended publishing quota.
Keep a useful topic in the plan when it serves a different job, such as answering a recurring customer question, even if it earns fewer saves. Record that reason in your monthly Instagram report so the next review can assess it against the same purpose.