Instagram is a key component of any business’s social media strategy, regardless of its industry or size. While using Instagram is vital, knowing how to use it is even more important. By learning how to effectively use the platform and measure your campaign performances, you’ll make a world of difference in achieving your marketing objectives. A key tool in tracking the efficacy of your Instagram campaigns is Instagram analytics (also known as Instagram Insights).
In this comprehensive guide, we cover everything you need to know about IG analytics, including how to view them, how to use them, and the top social media metrics to track.
Understanding the importance of Instagram analytics
Instagram data analytics are packed with valuable details about your audience, including their demographic details (such as age, gender, etc.), behaviors, and preferences on the app. By getting more familiar with your audience and their needs, you’ll be better able to create content that resonates with them – and, therefore, performs better.
On that note, IG analytics are also excellent for assessing the performance of your existing content. One look at Instagram Insights, and you’ll be able to see the level of engagement (i.e., likes, comments, etc.) of your posts, who is seeing and interacting with your content, and when your content is garnering the most engagement. With this information, you can adjust the objectives and strategies of your future Instagram marketing campaigns.
How to see Instagram analytics
When it comes to accessing Instagram data analytics, you have two main methods to choose from: you can view Instagram analytics directly in the app itself or via a third-party social media management tool like Sociality.io.
How to see Instagram analytics on the app
If you’re hoping to view IG analytics in the app, it’s important to note that you must have a Creator Account or a Business Account. While these feature several similarities, a Creator Account is designed for content creators, public figures, and social media influencers. You can learn more about the ins and outs of Creator Accounts here. Business Accounts, however, are designed for companies and organizations. Both of these are distinct from Personal Accounts, which are intended for personal use.
To view your Instagram data analytics – also known as Instagram Insights or Account Insights – you will need to follow these steps:
- Go to your profile.
- Tap Insights; you can also find the Insights tab by clicking the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
- Click on the metrics in the Overview section or select specific posts you’ve shared to see a more detailed breakdown of its performance analytics.
Note: If you have converted your Instagram account from a Personal Account to a Creator or Business Account, you will only see post insights on Instagram on the content you’ve shared since changing your account.
How to see Instagram analytics on Sociality.io
Social media management platforms are an excellent alternative for monitoring your Instagram data analytics. Not only can these platforms host your IG analytics but they can also act as a one-stop shop for your other social media analytics. Many of these tools can showcase your Twitter analytics, Facebook analytics, and TikTok analytics as well. As a result, it’s easier than ever to track your social media metrics, generate social media reports, and optimize your campaigns.
Sociality.io is the perfect example of the uber-convenient social media analytics hub all marketers crave. To view see your Instagram analytics on your Sociality.io account, follow these simple steps:
- Log into your Sociality.io account.
- From your linked social media accounts, click on your Instagram account.
- On the left-hand side, click Analytics.
- You will then see a general overview of your Instagram data analytics, including follower count and follower growth.
- You can also examine more specific social media metrics, such as organic post and Instagram reel insights (e.g. likes, comments, reach), Instagram Stories, and Instagram Live analytics. We will explore the sections of IG analytics and what you can expect to see in greater detail in the following section.
- On Sociality.io, you can even filter your content in a variety of ways, including by the type of content (e.g. photo, video, link, etc.), the level of reach, the number of likes, and many more.
In addition to tracking your social media metrics, Sociality.io also allows users to generate automated and centralized analytics reports on your Instagram account in a variety of formats, including PPT and PDF. When you set up automated social media reports, you get to choose the frequency with which you’d like them to be produced. As a result, marketers can quickly and easily export these reports for timely and seamless delivery to stakeholders.
What Instagram data analytics can you expect to see?
There are three main sections in the overview of Instagram Insights for Instagram posts:
- Accounts Reached
- Accounts Engaged
- Total Followers
Accounts Reached shows you the number of unique accounts that have viewed your content on screen a minimum of once. It also shows the demographic information on the accounts reached, including the top countries, top cities, age ranges, and a gender breakdown. Usually, the default setting shows you the audience demographics from the top accounts reached in the last seven days; however, you can adjust this to the last 30 days, the previous month, or the last 90 days.
You can also see the number and details of accounts reached for reels; accounts that have seen your reel at least once will appear here whether they played your reel or not. It’s important to remember that reach is distinct from impressions (which could include multiple views by the same account).
The second important social media metric here is Accounts Engaged. In this section, you’ll see the number of unique accounts that have actually interacted with your posts. Additionally, you will be able to view the demographic information on these accounts, including the top countries, top cities, age ranges, and a gender breakdown. When assessing the Accounts Engaged metric for posts, stories, and Instagram Live, you’ll be able to categorize the accounts between followers and non-followers.
Finally, the Total Followers tab allows you to see trends across your followers. It’s important to note that you must have at least 100 followers to view this data, which includes:
- Follower growth
- Top locations of your followers
- Most active times among your followers
- Age range
While these are the three main sections in the Insights overview, you’ll also notice the Ad and Plays sections. Under Ad, you’ll see Instagram data analytics for the posts you have boosted. Boosted Instagram posts are the ones you have paid to turn into ads and therefore reach more people.
As the name of the section suggests, Plays shows you the number of play-throughs your video has received. These can be automatic plays or when someone has clicked your video to play it.
The top 5 metrics to track on Instagram analytics
While there’s clearly a significant amount of data available on IG analytics, there are a few key social media metrics you will want to track to ensure success in future marketing campaigns.
Follower growth
Thanks to Instagram analytics, you can see how many users follow and unfollow you day by day. Having access to this follower growth (be it positive or negative) helps you assess the highs and lows in your follower count. You can then correlate these trends to the content you published on those days or during those weeks.
With this information, you’ll be better able to determine what content is resonating with your audience and what content is potentially prompting people to unfollow you. From there, you can integrate these findings into your future social media marketing campaigns.
Reach
As we mentioned previously, reach is an extremely powerful social media metric because it gives you valuable insight into the level of brand awareness you are fostering. By regularly assessing how many accounts your content is reaching – as well as the demographic details of these accounts – you will gain a deeper understanding of who is receiving your messaging and is therefore aware of your organization.
Additionally, if certain content spikes in reach, you can analyze it and use this performance as a basis for future content. For example, if an organic post attains a sky-high level of reach, it could signal that you should repurpose certain elements of that content, such as the hashtags, the call-to-action (CTA), or the type of image used.
Most active times
One of the most important social media metrics to track is the most active times. In this section of IG analytics, you can see when your audience members are most active on the app, both days of the week and times of the day. With this valuable information, you can strategically post content at these times to spike engagement.
Instagram stories
Instagram stories play a crucial role in Instagram marketing as they complement your in-feed posts and elevate your overall social media strategy. On Instagram analytics, you can see the performance of each individual slide of your stories if you have multiple slides. These performance analytics include the number of impressions, how many people are tapping through to the next slides, and how many people are skipping to the next story on their feed. This data informs you of the content that is attracting and maintaining your audience’s attention.
Saves
According to LinkedIn, saves play an integral role in the Instagram algorithm and how the platform views/prioritizes your content. Saves have proven to be one of the most valuable engagement metrics on the platform.
As a result, it’s important to assess what content on your Instagram account is garnering the most saves and why. By assessing these analytics, you can recreate more content that aligns with your high-performing posts and thereby spike engagement.
