Instagram posts published through the platform’s collaboration feature generate stronger organic engagement than a brand’s standard posts, with collaborations initiated by creators producing the largest gains, according to an analysis released by social media management platform Emplifi.

The analysis covered 520,198 published posts and accepted collaborations across 3,791 Instagram profiles from January 1 to June 30, 2026. More than 73% of brands in the dataset published Instagram collaborative posts during that period, per Emplifi’s data.

Two Collaboration Models, Different Outcomes

Emplifi’s analysis distinguishes between two collaboration formats available on Instagram. In owned collaborations, a brand publishes the post and invites a creator or partner to join as a co-author. In accepted collaborations, a creator or partner publishes the post and invites the brand to collaborate. Both formats allow the post to appear across the audiences of everyone who accepts, but Emplifi’s data shows the two perform differently.

Across the dataset, both collaboration types outperformed standard, non-collaborative brand posts, with accepted collaborations delivering the larger uplift in every vertical Emplifi analyzed. The company did not disclose exact percentage figures for the overall engagement uplift in the material reviewed, but broke the effect out by brand size and vertical.

Uplift Varies by Brand Size

The engagement gains from collaboration were not uniform across profile sizes. Emplifi grouped brands into five categories by follower count: XS (fewer than 10,000), S (10,000 to 49,999), M (50,000 to 99,999), L (100,000 to 999,999) and XL (more than 1 million).

Smaller profiles saw the largest relative gains. Accepted collaboration posts from XS brands earned five times more interactions than those brands’ standard, non-collaborative posts, per Emplifi. Larger brands, meanwhile, published more collaboration content overall and were more likely to lead posts themselves, though Emplifi found accepted collaborations still produced stronger uplift than owned ones even at that scale.

The number of collaborators mattered differently depending on brand size. Emplifi’s analysis found that smaller brands working with a limited number of selected partners tended to see the strongest uplift, while larger brands saw better results from a broader roster of collaborators.

Shares and Reposts Show Larger Effect

Beyond likes and comments, Emplifi’s analysis found collaboration posts generated substantially more shares and reposts than standard posts across every vertical studied. Accepted collaborations again produced the largest effect, reaching more than five times the amplification of non-collaboration posts in the ecommerce and retail verticals, according to the company.

Reels Drive the Strongest Gains

Format also affected performance. Emplifi’s analysis found Reels saw the largest lift from collaboration among post types, particularly when the collaboration was creator-initiated. Owned carousel collaborations produced the smallest lift among the formats studied, though Emplifi noted carousels remain useful for product education and campaign storytelling independent of collaboration performance.

Vertical Adoption Differs by Playbook

Adoption of Instagram collaborations was highest in Fashion, Travel & Hospitality, and Electronics & Software, per Emplifi, though the three verticals favored different approaches. Electronics & Software brands leaned more heavily on accepted collaborations, while Fashion brands published a greater share of owned collaborations. Travel & Hospitality was the only vertical Emplifi highlighted where close to 60% of profiles used a mix of both models.

UGC Volume Correlates With Collaboration Performance

Emplifi also measured a relationship between collaboration performance and a brand’s broader volume of user-generated content, defined as posts and Stories that tag the brand without being formal collaborations. Brands with the highest UGC share of voice published a higher share of collaboration posts and saw stronger engagement across both collaboration and non-collaboration content, with the largest gap appearing on collaboration posts specifically, according to the analysis.

Emplifi stated that its data does not establish that collaboration posts cause higher organic UGC volume, or that higher UGC volume causes stronger collaboration performance, only that the two measures moved together in the dataset.

The report was produced from its own client data and reflects the performance of brands using its platform rather than an independent, platform-wide sample of Instagram activity.

Image source: Emplifi
The full report is available here

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