It’s no wonder that recent statistics show almost three quarters of all businesses are expected to have a presence on the Instagram social media platform in 2020. After all, 130 million users will tap on a “shopping post” in any given month, while 11% of the U.S. population are actively using Instagram to shop.
Brands have also wisely taken full advantage of Instagram’s “Stories” feature, seeing a whopping 85% completion rate. For these reasons and many more, Instagram continues to be a valuable part of any practice’s e-marketing mix.
The platform has recently made big news in deciding to hide the front-facing number of likes that posts receive. This change to the visibility of a previously fundamental metric initially spooked some influencers — high-profile users that are paid by brands to promote wares and services — and confused some businesses. The bottom line is that IG business account users will still have full access to their metrics, and that information will continue to be as important as ever.
Here are some key stats that are available for business user accounts which can help you analyze how well your posts are performing.
(Note: There are a couple of ways to view stats for your posts. One is to “View insights” when looking at any individual post, or tapping “Seen by” on any particular story. In addition, all of the overall metrics can be found under the account’s “Insights” section under “Settings”.)
PROFILE VISITS
Where to find it: Atop your profile page, as well as under Insights->Content
What it shows: The number of times your profile was viewed in the last seven days. (Under “Insights,” users will also see how those numbers have changed from the previous seven days.)
How it can help: A running baseline of performance. Can show growth (or decline) over time. Unusual spikes or dips should be further investigated.
POSTS THIS WEEK / FEED POSTS
Where to find it: Insights -> Content
What it shows: Snapshot shows number of posts and number of views, ranked by the number of times they were seen. Viewing ‘all posts’ allows for filtering by post type (photos, videos, carousel, shopping), date ranges (7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, one year, two years), and action (likes, profile visits, reach, impressions, profile visits, and more).
How it can help: Snapshot allows for quickly confirming that desired post frequency is being maintained. Immediately see how recent posts have performed. Deep dive through filtering helps determine exactly what posts are performing well for a variety of desired results.
INTERACTIONS
Where to find it: Insights -> Activity
What it shows: Number of actions (total and broken down by day) taken when engaging your account, including profile visits, likes, comments, website clicks, “call” or “email” clicks
How it can help: Shows a 7 day snapshot of activity. Helps determine which days have seen better rates of engagement. Matching up with content posted that day could help determine what types of posts are more engaging, or what days your audience tends to be more active.
DISCOVERY
Where to find it: Insights -> Activity
What it shows: Reach and impressions
What’s the difference?: Reach refers to the total number of unique accounts that have seen your posts. Impressions refers to the total number of times your posts have been seen, including by repeat visitors.
How it can help: While the numbers found under the “Insights” tab can help make sure that, overall, your account is maintaining a level of engagement, there is real insight to be found by looking at the insight of individual posts.
There, you find two important per-post stats. First, the percentage of post viewers that were not previously following your page. A higher number here means you did something that resonated outside of your followers bubble — something you’ll definitely want to try and replicate, as this is how new followers can be obtained.
Second, on individual post insights, impressions are broken down by where the post was seen the most, including home feed, hashtags, or directly from your profile, adding additional insight as to which factors, such as including certain hashtags, are working particularly well.
INSIGHTS FOR STORIES
What it shows: A variety of metrics that are specific to ‘stories’ posts
How it can help: Checking these insights can be extremely helpful in determining which types of Stories are resonating with followers. Stories’ insights include many of the same metrics as posts, but also show show some that are specific to Stories, including ‘back’ (the number of times a user tapped to go to a previous Story), ‘replies,’ ‘follows,’ and frequency of calls to action (calls, emails, text, clicks to link), as well as stats that can help gauge disinterest, including ‘exited’ (leave your story), ‘forwards’ (to next Story in your account) and ‘next’ (leaves to view another account).
These are just some of the important metrics that Instagram provides all business accounts. Monitoring and parsing these data can be extremely helpful in making the most of your IG efforts.
