Methodology, and its limits
- Sample: 13 accounts under active management by our team during 2026.
- Source: each client’s own Instagram Insights and Meta Ads reporting, not third-party estimates.
- Markets: Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, plus brands selling into Germany and the US.
Limits, stated plainly: this is a small sample of our own clients, so it carries selection bias — businesses that hire an agency and stay for months are not a random sample. Treat these as realistic reference points, not market averages. Where a client asked us not to disclose financials, we publish outcome metrics only.
The data: 13 accounts, 2026
| Business | Market | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| PMU studio | Netherlands | 30 new clients a month, one-month waiting list, 30,500 profile views / 30 days |
| City bar | Ukraine | 615,472 views a month, accounts reached +508%, 150+ table bookings a month |
| Streetwear brand | Austria | Views 23K → 331,511 (14×), engagement ×6, $0 ad spend |
| Private doctor | Poland | Views ×9, 22 appointment requests, profile visits +24.9%, link clicks +25% |
| Laser & aesthetics studio | Ukraine | Bookings from social media +25% |
| Cocktail brand | Ukraine | 69 direct orders from a single campaign |
| Optics retailer | Ukraine | +770 followers, 332 enquiries, one organic Reel at 47,617 views |
| Language school | Ukraine | +121 followers, 13 new paying students |
| Dessert brand | Ukraine | +2,779 followers in a month, 102% of the sales plan, organic post at 235,395 views |
| Restaurant | Ukraine | +475 followers, Reels moved from 1–2K to 5K+ views |
| Beauty retailer | Ukraine | ~16,000 new followers |
| Music venue | Ukraine | Enquiries ×3 |
| Nutritionist | Ukraine | 30 qualified enquiries |
Five things the data actually shows
1. Reach growth and business results are different metrics, and they don’t move together. The Austrian streetwear brand grew views 14×. The Warsaw doctor grew views 9× — but the number that mattered to the practice was 22 appointment requests. In our sample, the account with the largest view multiplier was not the account with the strongest revenue outcome. If your agency reports only one of these, you are seeing half the picture.
2. Organic growth without ad budget is still possible in 2026. The biggest multiplier in this sample — 14× views, 6× engagement — came from the one account with zero ad spend. It took a sharper tone of voice and a repeatable content matrix, not money. Ads accelerate; they are not a prerequisite.
3. Followers were the weakest predictor of business outcome. An account that added 121 followers produced 13 paying students. Another added roughly 16,000 followers. Follower count told us almost nothing about which business made money — enquiries and bookings did. This is the single most common metric businesses are sold, and the least useful one.
4. First enquiries appear in month one; a stable flow takes two to three months. Across the accounts where we tracked time-to-result, first requests arrived within the first month of consistent publishing. None produced a stable, predictable flow faster than that. Any agency promising a steady client flow in week one is selling something else.
5. For local service businesses, the profile converts — not the ad. In beauty and healthcare the decisive step was the profile itself: bio, highlights, proof of past work and a one-tap booking path. Ads bought the visit; the profile decided whether a stranger booked. Sending paid traffic to a weak profile is the most expensive mistake in this category.
How to use these numbers
Pick the row closest to your business and use it as a reference point in conversations with any agency — including us. Ask: which of these metrics will you commit to in writing, and when will you report it? The whole purpose of publishing this table is to make that question easy to ask.
For how these numbers were produced, the full write-ups are in our case studies. For what this kind of work costs, see our breakdown of social media marketing prices in Europe and US agency rates in 2026.
