Unveiling the Power of Instagram Insights: Game Changer for Your Social Media Strategy

by Conte.ai 26 min read upd on Mar 9, 2023

Instagram Insights is a powerful analytics tool that provides users with valuable information about their Instagram account and followers. With over 1 billion monthly active users and 400 million daily Instagram Story uploads, this social media platform has become a popular space for brands and marketers to engage with their audience. 

In fact, 80% of Instagram users follow at least one branded account, and 60% use the platform to discover new products. This popularity has not gone unnoticed by advertisers, who are set to spend over $10 billion on Instagram ads in 2019.

Given the importance of Instagram as a marketing tool, it's crucial to have access to insights and data that can help you to measure your performance and optimise your content. Instagram Insights provides just that, offering users valuable information on their follower demographics, content reach and engagement, and overall account performance. 

By leveraging these insights, you can better understand your audience, tailor your content to their preferences, and achieve your social media goals. Whether you're a business owner, a social media influencer, or an individual user, Instagram Insights is an invaluable tool for enhancing your Instagram strategy and making the most of this popular social media platform.

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What is Instagram Insights?

Instagram Insights is the native analytics tool provided by Instagram, available to business profiles or accounts with high engagement.

If you're looking for a way to get basic insights into your Instagram account, posts, and followers, it is an excellent tool to consider. Instagram Insights can provide valuable data to help you improve your Instagram strategy.

From tracking profile visits to identifying the optimal time to post based on follower activity, Instagram Insights offers a variety of data to help you make informed decisions about your social media presence. While this tool is relatively easy to access for business profiles, the downside is that the date ranges for many metrics are limited. For most data points, you can only compare your performance during the current to the previous week.

If you're looking for more comprehensive data and a longer date range, you may want to consider using an Instagram analytics app or platform. These tools can provide more detailed insights into your account, posts, and followers over an extended period, allowing you to make more informed decisions about your Instagram strategy. 

Overall, while Instagram Insights can provide valuable data, it's essential to consider the limitations of this tool and explore other options to get the most out of your social media efforts.

Why use Instagram Insights?

Instagram Insights provides valuable information about your audience, their behaviors, preferences, and demographics, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to improve your Instagram strategy.

Gone are the days of simply counting the number of likes or comments on your posts. With Insights, you can dive deeper into your audience's behavior, including how many times they viewed your content, how long they spent on your post, and what actions they took after seeing your post. This data can help you understand what works and what doesn't, and adjust your content accordingly.

You can not only track your post performance, but you can also monitor your overall account activity, including follower growth and demographics. Insights allows you to see who your audience is, where they're located, their age range, and their gender. This information can help you tailor your content to your audience's preferences and interests.

Another valuable feature of Instagram Insights is the ability to track your Instagram Stories' performance. You can see how many people viewed your story, who they are, and how they interacted with it. This information can help you understand what types of stories resonate with your audience, and adjust your content accordingly.

In conclusion, Instagram Insights is a powerful tool for business owners looking to improve their Instagram presence. With access to valuable audience data, you can create a more effective Instagram strategy, measure your success, and adjust your approach accordingly. If you haven't already, it's time to switch to a business profile and start using Instagram Insights to take your Instagram marketing to the next level.

How to Check Insights on Instagram

If you haven't yet, switch your Instagram account type to a business account to gain access to Insights.

  1. Open your Instagram mobile app and navigate to your profile.
  2. Click the hamburger icon in the top-right corner and select "Settings."

  3. Choose "Account"

  4. Click "Switch account type”

  5. Choose “Switch to Business Account”

  6. Select the category that best describes you and click "Done."

Here's how to find Instagram Insights from your profile:

  1. Go to your Instagram profile and click on either the "Professional Dashboard" at the top of your profile or the three lines in the upper right corner, followed by "Insights." Both options will take you to the same Overview screen. Let's begin by tapping "Professional Dashboard."

  2. On the Professional Dashboard screen, you'll see a graph labeled "Account Insights" at the top. This graph shows your account's reach, and it's the first thing you'll notice.
  3. To view more Insights, tap "See All" to expand your view.

By following these steps, you'll be able to access Instagram Insights from your profile and gain valuable insights into your account's performance.

Instagram Insights Explained

Insights Overview

Instagram Insights Overview is like the "home page" of the tool. It gives you a  general view of how you're performing overall on the platform.

On this page, you'll find various pieces of information such as:

Here are explanations of various sections in Instagram Insights:

Date Range: The date range represents the time frame of data displayed on the screen. You can adjust the time period by clicking “Last 7 days” on the top left corner of the screen.

Information: If you need help understanding a certain metric or term, you can click on the “i” button located on the top right corner of the screen to get definitions.

Accounts Reached: Accounts Reached refers to the number of unique users who have viewed your content, including posts, stories, reels, videos, live videos, and promoted ads, at least once.

Accounts Engaged: Accounts Engaged refers to the number of users who have both viewed your content and interacted with it in some way, such as through likes, saves, comments, shares, and replies.

Total Followers: Total Followers is the number of users who follow your Instagram account.

Content You Shared: This section displays the overall number of posts, stories, reels, videos, live videos, and promotions that you've shared on your Instagram account.

In this section, we will delve deeper into "Accounts Reached," "Accounts Engaged," and "Total Followers."

Accounts Reached

To learn more about the users who have viewed your content and interacted with your profile in some way, head over to the "Accounts Reached" page.

Let's take a closer look at the information you'll find on this page:

Reached Audience: This section shows you the number of unique users who have come across your content. Your reached audience is broken down by follower status, gender, age, countries, and cities. You can also see how many people you've reached through ads and promotions.

Content Reach: The "Content Reach" section lets you see which types of posts have reached the most people. You'll see a graph with the number of people who have viewed your posts, stories, reels, IGTV videos, and Live videos. Underneath, you'll find your top-performing posts based on reach.

Impressions: "Impressions" refers to the total number of times all of your posts have been viewed, including repeat views by the same users.

Profile Activity: "Profile Activity" breaks down the actions users take after visiting your profile. You can see how many website taps, business address taps, call button taps, email button taps, and text button taps. To see these metrics, you must set up those buttons.

Accounts Engaged

"Accounts Engaged" refers to the number of users who have interacted with your content beyond just watching or scrolling past it.

Let's take a closer look at the sections on this page:

Engaged Audience: This section shows you the number of unique users who have liked, commented, saved, shared, or replied to your content. Your engaged audience is broken down by follower status, gender, age, countries, and cities.

Content Interactions: This section shows you the total number of times people have liked, commented, saved, shared, or replied to your content. It then breaks down this number on a per-post basis. You'll also see your top-performing posts per category.

Total Followers

On the "Total Followers" page of Instagram Insights, you can see the total number of users who follow you. You can also see follows, unfollows, top locations, age ranges, and genders.

Beneath the breakdown of your total followers, you'll find the "Most Active Times" section. This shows you the hours and days when your followers are most active on Instagram. This information can help you determine the best times to post for maximum engagement.

What are the best metrics to track on Instagram?

Instagram Insights is a powerful analytics tool that can help you improve your posts, profile, and overall strategy on the platform. However, with so much data available, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. The metrics you track will depend on what you want to achieve through your Instagram presence. For example, ecommerce businesses may prioritise website clicks and conversions, while social media managers at universities may focus on engagement rate to foster community.

There are many metrics available on Instagram, but not all are created equal. Here are the top five metrics we recommend tracking to learn what's working for you and improve your social media strategy:

  1. Engagement rate: Engagement is king on Instagram, and it's a great way to measure the success of your content. Instagram's algorithm rewards posts that get good engagement, so prioritising engagement can improve your visibility and reach.
  2. Reach: Reach is a metric that tells you how many unique users have seen your posts. Unlike impressions, which are counted every time your content is seen, reach is only counted once per user. Looking at reach instead of impressions is recommended, as impressions are more of a vanity metric.
  3. Website clicks: This metric measures how many people clicked from your Instagram profile to your website or landing page. If driving traffic or conversions is a priority for your business, monitoring website clicks is crucial.
  4. Audience demographics: Knowing your audience is crucial to a successful Instagram strategy. Instagram Insights offers analytics about your followers' gender, age, and top cities and countries. Understanding your audience demographics can help you tailor your content to your target audience.
  5. Follower growth: Your follower count may be a simple metric, but it's also important. Tracking your follower growth over time can help you see the impact of your content and strategy on your audience.

By tracking these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into what's working for you on Instagram and improve your social media strategy accordingly.

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How to Use What You Learn from Instagram Insights 

Once you've learned how to access and interpret the data provided by Instagram Insights, it's time to use that knowledge to your advantage.

Here are some actionable strategies you can implement immediately:

  1. Monitor content with good reach but low engagement: Even if your content is reaching a large number of accounts, low engagement can hurt your reach. Identify the types of posts that are resulting in low reach and eliminate or adjust your strategy accordingly.
  2. Leverage non-follower views: If your impressions and reach exceed your follower count, your content is being viewed by non-followers. This is a good sign. If a certain type of post is attracting non-followers, consider creating similar posts in the future.
  3. Prioritize engagement rate over engagement: While it's important for both followers and non-followers to see your content, it's more important for them to engage with it through likes, comments, and shares. Focus on increasing your engagement rate by encouraging more interaction.
  4. Consider the type of engagement: Likes are good, but comments and shares are even better. It takes more effort for users to comment or share your content, which indicates higher relevance and stronger engagement.

Should you consider an Instagram analytics tool?

When it comes to tracking Instagram metrics, you may be wondering if Instagram Insights alone can provide you with the analytics you need or if you should consider an Instagram analytics tool. Let's explore the pros and cons of each option.

Instagram Native Analytics:

Pros:

  • Free of cost
  • Quick and easy to access
  • Provides a good overview of basic metrics
  • Attractive layout and design

Cons:

  • Limited date ranges
  • Only available on mobile
  • Many metrics are not available
  • To see trends over time, data must be recorded manually

Instagram Analytics Tools:

Pros:

  • Unlimited selection of date ranges
  • Customizable data reports
  • More available metrics
  • Easily understandable graphs and charts
  • Available on desktop

Cons:

  • Either cost money or rely on a freemium model
  • Requires you to connect your Instagram account
  • Metrics can only be viewed by opening an external app or platform.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Instagram Insights is a powerful tool for businesses and individuals looking to optimize their Instagram presence. By providing detailed analytics on post performance, audience demographics, and account growth, Insights can help users make data-driven decisions to improve their content and engagement. 

Whether you rely solely on Instagram's native analytics or invest in a third-party tool, understanding and utilising these metrics is crucial for success on the platform. By monitoring key metrics, experimenting with different types of content, and engaging with your audience, you can create a strong and effective Instagram strategy that helps you reach your goals and grow your brand. 

So start exploring Insights today and see how it can help take your Instagram game to the next level.

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