Which Instagram format gets the most engagement?

By Tom Bogaert · Reviewed on
Part of: Questions others asked too
2.62% average engagement on carousels — the best-performing format on Instagram archive.com, sectoranalyse nano-influencer performance, 2025

Carousels. At 2.62% average engagement they outperform single images and reels, according to a 2025 sector analysis by archive.com.

The reason is mundane: with a carousel someone swipes, and swiping is an action. The algorithm reads that as interest and the viewer sticks around longer. Two or three images in a row also give you room to show something a single photo can't — before and after, the ride and the shoes afterwards, three moments from the same morning.

Don't turn it into a rule. If you normally make reels and you're good at it, making a carousel because a statistic says so is the fastest way to deliver worse content. Your audience is used to your way of doing it, and that familiarity weighs more than half a percentage point of average.

In a collab you largely pick the format yourself: three posts is the standard, at least one of them lasting. If you're torn between two formats that both suit you, take the carousel.

Sources

  1. archive.com, sectoranalyse nano-influencer performance

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Related questions

Do I have to post every week?

No. There's no weekly schedule and no fixed number of posts per month — Sunday Squad works per collab, not per calendar. You only commit once you're selected for a collab; then you deliver a few posts within an agreed window, and after that it's done.Read what a collab commitment looks like in practice →

How do I refine or expand my content idea after applying?

Through your account: log in, open the collab, go to Application, edit the Content idea field and click Save changes — you can do this until we make the selection. Keep it concrete and on-brand. Already selected? You can still adjust, as long as your content stays within the briefing.See the step-by-step flow to refine your application →

How many posts do I need to make?

Three posts is the standard. You largely pick the format yourself — reel, in-feed post, story set, carousel — as long as it fits the brief and how you normally post.Read why one permanent post is required — and what that means →

Do I have to pay tax on the free products?

We're not accountants. Roughly: a product or experience from an occasional collab isn't treated as salary. If it becomes structural and high in value, run it past your accountant. We always communicate the retail value up front.Read how the tax picture looks in practice →

Do I get to keep the products after the collab?

Yes. The product is yours and stays yours — no return, no expiry. The product is the reward for your content.Read why the product is the reward — not a loan →
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