Use case Competitor Research

Research Your Competitors' Instagram Followers

Move a competitor's follower or following list into a spreadsheet. Review individual profiles, add your own notes, and keep the accounts relevant to your research in one place.

Add to Chrome See the research workflow ↓

01 Why export the list

Go Beyond the Follower Count

A follower count tells you how large a list is. Exporting the list gives you individual accounts to review, so your research can start with profiles rather than a single number.

Review Who Follows a Competitor

Export Followers to collect usernames and profile links. Open profiles that look relevant and record what you find in your own research sheet.

Explore Who They Follow

Export Following to review accounts a competitor follows. Use the list to find brands, creators, and other profiles worth investigating.

Keep Your Research Organized

Add your own columns for category, relevance, notes, and review status. Keep the source account and export date with each list so you can trace where your findings came from.

02 The workflow

From an Instagram Profile
to a Research Sheet

Choose a Competitor

Open FollowGrid in Chrome while signed in to Instagram. Enter the competitor's username or profile URL.

Export the List You Need

Select Followers or Following and choose an export limit. Preview the collected accounts, then download CSV, Excel-compatible .xlsx, or JSON.

Review Profiles and Add Context

Open the file in your preferred spreadsheet. Follow profile links and add your observations alongside the exported data.

Compare With Another List

Repeat the export for another accessible account. Compare the lists to find shared profiles and decide which ones deserve a closer look.

Working with two exports already? Learn how to compare exported lists →

03 Your research sheet

Build a Research Sheet
You Can Revisit

FollowGrid provides usernames, profile URLs, user IDs, verification status, avatar URLs, and row positions. You add the interpretation.

Details and explanations
Included in Your Export	Add During Your Review
Username and profile URL	Why the account is relevant
User ID	Your internal reference or review status
Verification status	Notes from reviewing the profile
Avatar URL and row position	Source account and export date

Research example

Review a Profile from a Coffee Brand’s Follower List

Suppose you are researching a local coffee brand. Export its accessible follower list, open a profile from the file, and record what you find. This fictional entry shows how export data and your own notes fit together.

Exported identifiers: Username: sample_coffee_journal
User ID: 5841209361
Source you record: Sample Coffee Brand · Followers · September 24, 2026
Your profile observation: Recent posts review independent cafés and coffee brewing equipment.
Your next step: Review three recent posts and note the topics relevant to your research.

Keep the exported profile URL beside these notes so you can revisit the evidence. The observations and next step are written by you after reviewing the profile.

04 FAQ

Competitor Research FAQ

Can I export a competitor's Instagram followers?

You can export lists available to your signed-in Instagram account. FollowGrid does not bypass account privacy restrictions, and the collected list may contain fewer accounts than the profile's displayed total.

Should I export Followers or Following?

Choose Followers when you want to review accounts that follow the competitor. Choose Following when you want to review accounts the competitor follows. The two lists answer different research questions.

Can I compare two competitors?

Yes. Export each account separately, then compare the files in a spreadsheet. Shared entries describe overlap between the exported lists; they do not establish a complete audience-overlap rate if either list is incomplete.

Does FollowGrid provide a full competitor analysis?

FollowGrid provides account lists for your research. It does not analyze posts, calculate engagement rates, or automatically explain why people follow a competitor. You review the profiles and draw your own conclusions.

Start With One Competitor

Choose a profile, export a list, and build a research sheet you can return to.

Add to Chrome