Metrics give the researcher a quantitative assessment that can help track performance. They provide valuable insight to the account manager and give feedback on the uploaded content. Do you need a guide to the most important Instagram metrics? Let's take a look at them together.
The importance of Instagram metrics
As it is with every strategy, marketing strategy needs some form of viable measurment that will allow it to be assessed. Social media have become key tools for marketers and their campaigns. The metrics that a business account can gather are usually outlined in a previously designed KPI (key performance indicators). That means they are a part of company's goals for the performance of the posts or advertisements uploaded to the platfrom. So what about Instagram metrics of a smaller business account?
As a creator, you have to always think of the reasons for why you post. Even if you are a one-person enterprise, you should still set goals and measure the performance of your posts. It's obvious that one should always have a direction for the account. If you want to see more interactions and engagement you cannot simply post on a regular account. You need professional account's Instagram metrics to tell you which of your post and hashtag ideas work, and which do not.
Instagram Insights
What can you track with Instagram insights ? Overall, you can discover trends among your followers and quantitatively measure your content’s performance. That is, how the audience reacts to what you share. There are insights for specific posts, Stories, IGTV videos, but also for Reels, and Live videos. Everything that you have created for Instagram has a track measuring how people engaged with it.
Remember Insights are free, but they are available only for professional accounts, whether they be business or creator accounts.
When you access Insights, you see a summary page first. If you wish to see more details, you just need to tap the category or the specific metric. If you need more information, you can tap the (i) icon in the upper-right corner. This will let you read definitions for each metric presented on the screen.A pop-down menu at the top allows you to select the time frames for the insights.
Essential Instagram metrics #1: Reach
What is reach? It shows how many accounts your material reached. Simply tap on this metric to see the total number of accounts you’ve reached. How is this metric different from impressions? Well, there's a fine line between the two aspects. Importantly, they both relate to views.
Let's explain the difference: reach as an Instagram metric tells the account manager how many people have seen the content, but only counting the unique views. Remember that one person can view your post many times from their account, e.g. replay a video or come back to an image periodically. Even with 1000 views from the same account, the reach will remain unchanged. They simply are counted as 1 in the reach metric.
Why is this metric no. 1? It enables the person controlling the account to see the real potential of their content, and if their strategy works. For example, if you decided to try new hashtags, you have reliable data at your fingertips. Using it, you can ascertain whether the hashtags have worked to your advantage or not.
If you are building a brand, reach is the best way to track each post/material's contribution to brand awareness.
Essential Instagram metrics #2: Sales
Relatively recently Instagram has introduced the app's built-in shopping features. However, there still exists one easy way to drive people to your website: UTM parameters for any and every link you use. But what exactly do they enable? For instance, tracking conversions using an analytics program (such as Postfity's analytics). In this way, you will be able to check not only how much traffic each post with a link generated, but also which led to sales. That can naturally help you improve your social media marketing funnel skills.
Metric #2.1 — Link clicks
There is one more important Instagram feature: an actual, functional, clickable link in bio. Since there is no other option to include a viable link in the post text, the link in your bio is virtually the most valuable organic tool. A ready-to-use minisite generator MyList.bio is included in all Postfity plans. You can track metrics for the whole MyList.bio or each uploaded active tile with an URL selected. Read more about the feature and its functionalities, and create a neat site with all your links and socials in no time.
Essential Instagram metrics #3: Follower growth
This metric will tell you whether you're moving in the right direction with your content, hashtags, and promotion.
Every creator and every business wants to expand their SM circles and audiences and grow their Instagram. When evaluating the Instagram follower count, you should always know to what you owe the sudden influx or drop.
Make sure to check in on the count and be prepared to review what has contributed to the growth. For instance, if you have organized a giveaway recently wherein one of the conditions was following your account. Then be sure to keep the new followers interested, so they do not unfollow you after the results have been announced! Ideally, growth should be gradual and sustainable.
If you are unsure how to proceed to gain more followers and engagement, you can always seek professional guidance.
Essential Instagram metrics #4: Comments
Likes on any platform are just a click or two away. Obviously, they show engagement and that your post is appreciated. However, to interact with a post in a meaningful way, one must feel incited to leave a comment. It shows that your post inspired someone or is important enough to start a discussion.
Remember that it is your call to leave something to discuss in the caption or a longer text. If there is nothing to comment upon, the viewer will not feel like there is anything they want to say. The easiest way to draw comments is to simply ask a meaningful question. Another solution may be to write an insightful microblog for the post that touches upon an important topic.
You must track the number of comments on each post and see if there is a pattern. Or check if a trend emerges that only one particular type of post garners that kind of attention. Then try to recreate that in a similar post, but do not simply repost all the time. That would be very easy to notice and the followers wouldn't like that.
Essential Instagram metrics #5: Saves
Have you ever saved something you really liked on Instagram? You know you don't need special apps for that, right? You can do it with Instagram saves, which is also a useful metric for tracking. The feature allows you to save a post in a cache and view it whenever you like. Simply tap the "bookmark" icon below the photo and then you can view it by clicking on "Saved" in your panel.
What does this metric tell you? Well, your post is so informative, interesting, or important that somebody wants to be able to access it at all times. That means this type of post should be recreated in the future. Come back to the format and simply apply a different topic.
Track your metrics with Postfity
Postfity has all you need when it comes to tracking Instagram metrics. There is an "Analytics" section in your pannel where you can see all the stats on your Instagram account. You can choose a given metric in any selected time period and see it in the form of a graph. What is more, you can compare a couple of metrics in one chart.
You can access analytics for each and every one of your MyList.bio accounts (mentioned earlier) as well. This will let you track link clicks, traffic, sales and more.
And best of all - MyList.bio is totally free in all Postfity plans:) Start planning for Instagram (both videos and graphics- directly) and measure your posts' performance with Postfity now - Free for 30 days!
