Instagram analytics: A beginner’s guide

If you want to keep growing your Instagram account, Instagram analytics is the perfect tool to do just that. Keeping track of your numbers gives you a good indication of what’s working and what’s not working so that you can adjust your content strategy accordingly.

Numbers and charts can feel quite confusing though. Especially when there are so many. How are you supposed to use it to your advantage, when you don’t even understand it all? Fret not. I’ll explain analytics to you in a way that doesn’t feel like a boring school subject! After this article, you’ll be able to read your analytics and create a content strategy that wows your audience!

If you already know a thing or two about analytics and want to read something more advanced, here’s a post about using your analytics like a pro!

Why Instagram Analytics is important

Instagram analytics is the best way to understand who your audience is when they’re most active, and what type of content they engage with the most. This can give you a clear indication of what to continue posting, what to alter, and what to stop posting. It also shows you when your audience is active and most likely to engage with your content.

If you’re not evaluating your Instagram analytics on a regular basis, then you could be:

  • Speaking to the wrong audience
  • Losing followers and not discovering why
  • Posting too often or not often enough
  • Missing out on valuable connections and partnerships
  • Creating content that no one cares about
  • Posting during non-optimal hours of the day or days of the week.

This is just a short summary of things that you could be improving if you were to dig into the data that is made available to you. This info can help you run your account better which directly impacts your experience in using Instagram for your brand. 

How to access your Instagram Analytics

To start with, I highly recommend that you switch your account to a business or creator profile as analytics are only available here. If you already have a business or creator profile, great! Now you can easily access your analytics by going to the Insights tab on the Instagram app. Simply go to the menu icon in the top right corner of your profile and hit the insights tab. 

Instagram Audience Analytics

Your audience analytics is the perfect way to understand who your audience is and what they love seeing the most on your profile. This gives you a clear indication of what is working and what’s not.  After opening the Insights tab, head down to “Your Audience.” Tap “Total Followers.” On this page, you’ll get a complete 7, 14, or 30-day overview of your followers. 

Your Instagram Audience Analytics also shows you the following:

  • The amount of followers you currently have
  • Your follower growth (overall, follows and unfollows)
  • Where the majority of your followers are based according to city and country
  • The age ranges for both men and women
  • Your audience’s gender
  • The time and days your audience is most active
Instagram Feed Post Analytics

Now that you know more about your audience it’s time to dig into their behavior regarding your content. On the “Insights” tab go to “Content You Shared” and click on the arrow beside your posts.

Here you’ll be able to see your post ranging from now up to 2 years ago. Under the “Any” tab you can select which type of content you’d like to view (Photos, videos, or carousel posts). 

On this page, you will be able to access various metrics such as:

  • Impressions: The number of times your posts have been seen during the time frame.
  • Follows: The number of accounts that followed you.
  • Interactions: The number of actions taken on your account.
  • Reach: The number of unique accounts that have seen any of your posts.
  • Profile Visits: The total number of profile views.
  • Website Clicks: The number of times pieple have clicked the link to your website in your bio.
  • Call/email clicks: The number of times peple have clicked the call/email button.
  • Mentions: The number of times your account’s handle has been mentioned by other users.
  • Saves: The number of accounts that have saved your post.
  • Shares: The number of accounts that have shared your post to their story or in DMs.

If you’d like to see more detailed insights about a specific post, simply click on the post and click “Insights.” This will enable you to see the amount of likes, comments, shares, saves, profile visits, website taps, impressions, and the number of followers you’ve gained from this individual post.

Instagram Stories Analytics

Instagram Stories Analytics works very similar to Instagram, Feed Post analytics. You can access it either through the Insights Tab under content you shared or by simply clicking on an Instagram Story you recently posted. 

On this page, you can sort through your stories by selecting the metrics you want to view such as:

  • Impressions: The number of times your story has been viewed.
  • Reach: The number of unique accounts that viewed your story.
  • Exits: The number of times someone exited your story mid-way through.
  • Replies: The total number of replies to a video or picture on your story.
  • Back: The number of people who went back to your previous story
  • Next story: The number of people who moved from your story to someone else’s story

To see a more detailed version of each story’s analytics, simply click on it.

Instagram Live Analytics

Your Instagram Live analytics are made available to you through the “Insights” tab. Here you can access data such as the number of accounts reached, comments, and shares.

IGTV Analytics

Just like with Instagram feed posts, you can access your IGTV analytics through the “Insights” tab. Just go to “Content You Shared.”

Reels Analytics

To access your Reels analytics, simply go to “Insights” or open a Reel and click the three vertical dots and click “View Insights.” Here you’ll see how many accounts were reached, how many people played it, as well as the number of likes, comments, shares, and saves. 

Instagram Shopping Analytics

This feature is perfect for anyone using their Instagram Account to sell products. To see how well your posts are performing with the shopping tag, go to the Insights tab, and click on “Content You Shared.” Here you’ll be able to see the metrics of your posts with the shopping tag. 

In Conclusion

After this basic analytical breakdown, your Instagram Analytics are bound to make more sense to you now. With this knowledge of how it all works, you can begin to create a content strategy that fits your audience’s online behavior and preferences.

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