The problem with data is that it leaves you overwhelmed. Thanks to Instagram and its multiverse post types, keeping track of your brand pulse has become a challenge.
Meanwhile, the rookies are happy tracking the number of likes and comments. At the same time, a team of experts are losing their sleep monitoring hundreds of metrics at once. So what exactly is the sweet spot?
We’ll start from the beginning with what to track and how to track it. We’ll also give you ample reasons to be serious about monitoring Instagram metrics other than the usual numbers.
Let’s deep dive without wasting any time.
What are Instagram metrics?
Instagram metrics are numbers that show how well your Instagram posts and account are doing. They help you understand how popular or engaging your content is.
These numbers can give you insights into your posts’ performance and help you improve your Instagram presence. They reveal what type of content is working and which are just consuming time but returns less value.
Tapping into Instagram analytics will open doors for achieving the brand fame you have always desired. Further, competitor analysis will help you understand your brand positioning.
Consider this example. Billboard queens, Selena and Rihanna, have their makeup brands. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty has a staggering 12 million followers, while Selena’s Rare Beauty is doing fairly well with 5.6 million followers.
But did you notice the discrepancy in the number of posts as well? It took more than 9K posts for Fenty to reach such a massive audience group.
This is just one instance of how Instagram metrics can be an absolute game-changer for chalking out a marketing strategy for your brand.
Why should you be actively tracking your Instagram metrics?
Tracking Instagram metrics is important for brands because it provides valuable insights into the performance of their Instagram account and content. By monitoring these numbers, brands can:
Measure your performance: Instagram metrics allow brands to gauge the success of their posts and accounts. For example, tracking likes, comments, and followers can help brands understand how well their content resonates with their audience. If a brand’s posts consistently receive high engagement in the form of likes and comments, it indicates that its content is well-received and resonates with its target audience.
Get to know your audience: Instagram metrics provide insights into the demographics and behaviors of a brand’s audience. For example, tracking impressions, reach, and followers can help brands understand who is viewing their content, where they are located, and when they are most active on Instagram. This information can help brands tailor their content. Keyhole lets you schedule unlimited posts and even analyzes the best time to post so your audience engages with your content right away.
Lay a foolproof strategy: Instagram metrics can inform a brand’s content strategy. By analyzing which posts perform well in terms of engagement, reach, and impressions, brands can identify content themes, formats, and styles that resonate with their audience. This can help brands create more relevant and engaging content in the future, leading to increased brand awareness, loyalty, and potential conversions.
Identify emerging trends: Tracking Instagram metrics can help brands identify the latest trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement. For example, brands can analyze their posts with the highest engagement and identify common themes or trends. They can also identify gaps in their content strategy by tracking metrics such as reach and impressions. This can help brands stay ahead of the competition and optimize their Instagram strategy for better results.
Make data-driven decisions: Instagram metrics provide brands with data-driven insights that can inform their decision-making process. By tracking and analyzing these metrics, brands can make informed decisions about their content strategy, posting schedule, audience targeting, and overall Instagram marketing approach. This can lead to more effective and efficient Instagram campaigns, better ROI, and improved brand performance on the platform.
By leveraging these insights, brands can optimize their Instagram presence, engage with their audience more effectively, and achieve their marketing objectives on the platform.
How to check your Instagram metrics
Instagram shows insights about shared posts after you switch to a business/creator profile. So to check your Instagram analytics, you must own a business or creator account.
Once you switch to a business/ creator account, the steps are pretty simple from here. All you need to do is head over to your profile and tap the Insights button.
Alternatively, you can tap on the three-dash icon and select the Get Insights option. This will direct you to a page with the following metrics:
- Recent highlights: Shows an increase in account performance in the past 90 days
- Insights overview: Lists number of accounts reached, engaged, total followers
- Content you’ve shared: See all posts you shared and boosted across feeds, videos, and stories
Please note that you can access them only using Instagram’s mobile app. Meanwhile, we also recommend using an Instagram analytics tool like Keyhole that will show advanced insights.
10 Instagram metrics you should be tracking in 2024
Curious to find out all crucial Instagram metrics from the pool of data? Here you go.
1. Impression
Impressions on Instagram refer to the number of times users have seen your posts or stories. It includes both unique views and repeated views. Simply put, it’s like counting how many times your content showed up on people’s screens, whether they saw it for the first time or multiple times.
Impressions are an important metric to understand how many people have had the opportunity to view your content on Instagram. It can help you gauge the reach and visibility of your posts or stories. Remember that impressions are different from reach, representing the number of unique accounts that have seen your content. Impressions can be higher than reach if the same person views your content multiple times.
Tracking impressions can give you insights into how popular your content is and how well it’s resonating with your audience.
2. Reach
Reach on Instagram refers to the total number of unique accounts or users that have seen your posts or stories. In simple terms, it’s like counting how many different people have viewed your content. Reach represents the unique audience that your content has reached, regardless of how many times they may have seen it.
Reach is an important metric to understand the actual number of individuals who have been exposed to your content on Instagram. It can help you assess your content’s effectiveness in reaching a wider audience and attracting new viewers. Keep in mind that reach is different from impressions, which represent the total number of times your content has been viewed, including repeat views by the same users.
Tracking reach can give you insights into the size of your potential audience and the overall visibility of your content among Instagram users.
3. Engagement rate
The engagement rate on Instagram is a metric that measures the level of interaction or engagement your posts or stories receive from your audience to the total number of followers or viewers. It is usually expressed as a percentage. It’s like calculating how much people interact with your content in proportion to the number of people who have seen it. Engagement can include actions such as likes, comments, shares, and saves.
To calculate the engagement rate, you can divide the total number of engagements (likes, comments, shares, saves) on your post or story by the total number of followers or viewers and then multiply by 100 to get the percentage. For example, if your post received 100 likes, 20 comments, and 10 shares, and you have 1000 followers, your engagement rate would be ((100 + 20 + 10) / 1000) x 100 = 13%.
The engagement rate is important because it helps you understand how actively your audience interacts with your content. A higher engagement rate generally indicates that your content is resonating well with your audience and generating interest, while a lower engagement rate may indicate that your content needs improvement. Tracking engagement rates can help you assess the effectiveness of your content strategy, improve your engagement with your audience, and build a more engaged and loyal following on Instagram.
4. Follower growth
Follower growth on Instagram refers to the change in the number of followers you gain over a specific period of time. In simple terms, it’s like tracking how many new people are following you on Instagram and how your overall follower count is changing. Follower growth is typically measured by comparing your current follower count with your follower count from a previous period, such as a week, a month, or a year.
For example, if you had 500 followers last month and now have 600 followers, your monthly follower growth would be 100 (600 – 500). This means you gained 100 new followers during that period.
Follower growth is an important metric because it indicates the rate at which your Instagram account expands. It can help you assess the effectiveness of your content, engagement, and marketing efforts in attracting new followers and growing your online community.
Positive follower growth indicates that your content is resonating with your audience and you are gaining popularity. In contrast, negative follower growth suggests you must reevaluate your content strategy.
Tracking follower growth can help you understand how your Instagram account attracts and retains followers and can inform your overall Instagram marketing strategy.
5. Audience insights
Audience insights on Instagram refer to the information and data that give you a deeper understanding of your followers and audience on the platform. It includes demographic information such as age, gender, location, interests, and behavior of your followers or users who engage with your content.
Instagram provides audience insights through its embedded analytics tools, which give you valuable information about your audience demographics and behaviors. This information can help you better understand who your content is resonating with, what interests them, and how they engage with your posts or stories.
For example, you can see the age range of your followers, their gender distribution, the top locations where your content is viewed, and the types of content that are most engaging to them.
Understanding audience insights can be beneficial in several ways. It can help you tailor your content strategy to better meet the preferences and interests of your audience, create more relevant and engaging content, and optimize your Instagram marketing efforts.
By knowing who your audience is, you can make informed decisions about the type of content to post, the best times to post, and the strategies to use to grow and engage your audience effectively on Instagram. Audience insights can be a valuable tool in helping you build a strong and engaged community of followers on Instagram.
6. Hashtag performance
Hashtag performance on Instagram refers to how well the hashtags you use in your posts reach and engage your target audience. Hashtags are keywords or phrases preceded by the “#” symbol used to categorize and discover content on Instagram.
They help discover your posts by users searching for or following those hashtags. Hashtag performance measures how effective your chosen hashtags are in increasing the visibility and engagement of your posts.
Instagram provides insights on hashtag performance through its analytics tools, which can show how many times your posts were seen by users who found your content through hashtags and how many engagements (such as likes, comments, and saves) your posts received from hashtag impressions.
Hashtag performance is important because it can help you increase the discoverability and reach of your content to a wider audience. By using relevant and popular hashtags that are commonly used by your target audience, you can increase the chances of your posts appearing in hashtag searches and reaching users who are interested in your content. Hashtags can help you connect with new followers, increase engagement, and grow your Instagram presence.
Tracking hashtag performance can help you identify which hashtags are performing well for your content and which may need to be more effective. This can allow you to refine your hashtag strategy, experiment with different hashtags, and optimize your hashtag usage to improve the visibility and engagement of your posts. Hashtag performance insights can provide valuable feedback on the effectiveness of your hashtag strategy and help you make data-driven decisions to optimize your Instagram marketing efforts.
7. Profile analytics
Profile analytics on Instagram refers to the data and insights provided by Instagram itself that show how well your Instagram profile is performing. It includes information such as the number of followers you have, how many people like, comment, and save your posts, how many people see your posts, and how your followers regard their age, gender, location, and interests.
Think of it like a report card for your Instagram account that shows you how popular your profile is, how engaged your followers are with your content, and who your audience is. Like your report card shows your grades in different subjects, Instagram profile analytics shows you how well your profile is doing in different areas.
By tracking and analyzing these analytics, you can better understand how your Instagram account is performing, what content resonates with your audience, and how to improve your content strategy. It can help you make data-driven decisions, optimize your posts, hashtags, and engagement strategies, and ultimately grow your Instagram presence.
You can get an overview of further optimizing your profile using Keyhole’s Instagram profile analytics. This is beneficial for understanding the performance of your Instagram account, optimizing your content strategy, and making data-driven decisions to improve your Instagram marketing efforts. It provides valuable insights like the best time to post, the best media types, the most engaging post types, optimal post length, and more.
8. Sentiment analysis
Sentiment analysis on Instagram refers to analyzing the emotions or sentiments expressed in posts, comments, and messages on Instagram. It involves determining whether the sentiment behind the content is positive, negative, or neutral.
Keyhole can track sentiment analysis for your Instagram account. It uses advanced algorithms to analyze the language used in Instagram posts, comments, and messages to determine the overall sentiment expressed in the content.
By tracking sentiment analysis with Keyhole, you can gain insights into how people talk about your brand, products, or content on Instagram. This can help you understand how your audience perceives your brand or content and whether it resonates positively or negatively.
You can use this information to make informed decisions about your content strategy, engagement tactics, and overall brand perception on Instagram.
9. Taps forward/back
Tap forwards and tap backs on Instagram are actions users can take when viewing Stories.
Tap forwards refer to the number of times users tap on the right side of the screen to move to the next Story in a sequence. It’s like flipping through the pages of a book to see what comes next.
Tap backs, on the other hand, refer to the number of times users tap on the left side of the screen to move back to the previous Story. It’s like returning to a book’s previous page to re-read something or check for details.
These actions allow users to navigate through Instagram Stories and control the pace at which they view the content. By tapping on the right side, they can move forward to the next Story, and tapping on the left side can move back to the previous Story.
For example, if you’re watching a series of Stories posted by your friend about their vacation, you can tap on the right side of the screen to move to the next Story and see more photos or videos. If you want to go back and see a particular photo again, you can tap on the left side of the screen to move back to the previous Story.
Tap forwards and tap backs are simple interactions that allow users to navigate through Instagram Stories and explore content at their own pace. It’s a way to interact with the Stories and control the viewing experience.
10. Completion rate
Completion rate on Instagram refers to the percentage of viewers who watched your entire Story from start to finish without skipping or exiting before it ended. In other words, it measures how many people viewed your entire Story without dropping off midway.
Keyhole can track the completion rate of your Instagram Stories. It provides data and insights on how many viewers completed watching your entire Story, allowing you to understand how engaging your content is and how many users are staying engaged till the end.
For example, if you post a Story showcasing your new artwork and have 100 viewers, but only 50 of them watch the entire story till the end, your completion rate would be 50%. This means that half of the viewers dropped off or exited before the Story ended.
By tracking the completion rate with Keyhole, you can assess the effectiveness of your Instagram Stories and understand how well your content is resonating with your audience. You can identify which Stories are getting higher completion rates and learn from them to create more engaging and compelling content in the future.
Tracking completion rates can help you optimize your Instagram Stories for better engagement, improve your storytelling skills, and create content that captures your audience’s attention from start to finish.
Conclusion
As a brand in the world of social media, understanding and tracking Instagram metrics is crucial for success. You can optimize your Instagram presence and achieve your marketing goals by gaining insights into your audience, measuring your content performance, and making data-driven decisions.
Take advantage of the opportunity to unlock the power of Instagram metrics!
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10 Instagram Marketing Strategies To Boost Your Brand’s Presence
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is tracking Instagram metrics important for my brand?
Tracking Instagram metrics allows you to measure the success of your posts and account, understand your audience, inform your content strategy, identify trends and opportunities, and make data-driven decisions. It helps you optimize your Instagram presence, engage with your audience effectively, and achieve your marketing objectives on the platform.
2. What are some common Instagram metrics that brands should track?
Some common Instagram metrics brands should track include likes, comments, followers, impressions, reach, stories views, engagement rate, and profile visits. These metrics provide insights into how your content is performing, how your audience engages with your posts, and how your account grows.
3. How can I track Instagram metrics for my brand?
There are several ways to track Instagram metrics. One way is to use Instagram's built-in analytics tools, such as Instagram Insights, which provides data on impressions, reach, engagement, and more. Another option is to use third-party social media analytics tools, such as Keyhole, which offer more in-depth and customizable analytics features. These tools allow you to track and analyze various metrics to gain insights into your Instagram performance.
