Film post-format benchmarks from our measured archive

The distribution matters more than a standout post

A buyer comparing campaign results needs the sample size and a typical result alongside the biggest post. The median is the middle value: half of the sample sits at or below it and half at or above it. The 25th and 75th percentiles bracket the middle half. The 90th percentile shows the boundary of the strongest tenth, rather than a promise for a future post.

The table describes accumulated recorded views per post. It does not estimate an organic algorithm advantage, isolate creative quality or predict a new film's results. Posts have different ages and opportunities to accumulate views.

Every figure on this page is a median or a percentile. The reels-vs-photos insights page reports the average (mean) per format over a different, all-time sample, and a mean is pulled up by a few very large posts. That is how a reel's average there can sit well above a photo's while, in this table, the median reel does not beat the median photo or carousel. Quote the measure and the sample together.

Recorded views per measured post

Download the calculation table as CSV. It retains fractional percentile values to six decimal places.

Shares are a separate measure

A share records a distribution action, while a view records exposure. Neither establishes a theatre visit. The recorded median shares are 175 for reels (2,339 posts with a numeric shares record), 79 for photos (1,651 posts with a numeric shares record), 80 for carousels (877 posts with a numeric shares record). These are raw shares per post, without adjustment for follower size, paid distribution or post age.

Publication-year context

Even a single account changes over time. The following pooled year cohorts help show the age and period mix behind the table. They combine the three formats and are descriptive checks, rather than controlled comparisons.

Methodology

1. Start with the 681 generated movie dashboards. They contain client campaigns and our network's own film coverage, including films in other languages. Talent PR and brand dashboards are outside this scope.
2. Read the dashboard post URLs, deduplicate their Instagram shortcodes and exclude rows explicitly marked Estimated. A crossover post on two dashboards contributes one measured record.
3. Join actual numeric views and shares from the committed post-insights records to format and publication metadata in the stored account archive. A missing record stays missing; a measured zero remains zero.
4. Use only reels, photos and carousels first published from 2024-07-01. This common cutoff is our comparison policy to avoid mixing older archive periods with different views availability by format. Undated records and other formats are excluded.
5. Calculate percentiles by linear interpolation between sorted observations (R-7). The sample is 4,867 posts, 75.3% of the 6,465 unique film posts with numeric views in the wider dashboard sample.

Source snapshot commit date: 2026-10-26. This dates a stored-data change, not when the individual metrics were measured. Measurement observation timestamps are not consistently stored. Publication dates describe when a post went live, not when its views were counted. Metrics are cumulative stored snapshots, and the repository's data guard can retain a higher earlier reading when Meta supplies a lower value. This analysis is not a fixed-duration or simultaneous measurement experiment.

How to use the figures when planning a campaign

Ask for a format mix that fits the assets and the film's audience, then agree on the delivery list and reporting basis. Compare a proposal against cases with similar publication windows, rather than choosing a format solely because its pooled median is higher. For weekly decisions, request dated snapshots from the same time after publication; this archive cannot reconstruct those readings.

Use the linked campaign case studies to inspect real delivered posts. Read coverage and measurement limits before quoting these figures. For planning, see Kannada film promotion and film marketing in Bengaluru.