August 2026
Almost half of collabs underperform the brand's own posts
231 brands ran collaboration posts. Median lift against their own ordinary posts: 6 percent. 128 brands, 55 percent, see a positive lift. 103 brands, 45 percent, see a negative one. The median brand spends 7 percent of its posts on collabs.
In the list of structural weak spots across 251 brands, "collabs underperform" is the most frequent headline.
What it means
A collaboration is not a reach guarantee. At almost every second brand it pulls engagement down.
How it was measured
Collab impact from the Instagram feed, snapshot 11 August 2026, 231 brands. Lift in likes against the brand's non-collab posts, not reach. Weak-spot headlines from the July 2026 synthesis.
Do you measure the collab lift, or the collab effort?
