Building a loyal following on key social media platforms like Instagram is essential for brands looking to stay relevant in 2024. Instagram’s sheer popularity and diversity make it a terrific place to connect with any target audience. It also offers marketers and creators a wealth of different content options.
But coming up with incredible content people can’t wait to consume is only part of successful Instagram marketing. Tracking the right Instagram metrics and using what you learn to make your Insta-presence more powerful is equally important.
How to Access and Analyze Your Instagram Metrics
Naturally, everyone tracks their likes, comments, shares, and follows on Instagram and other social media platforms. However, crucial social media metrics as a collective go much deeper than that. Instagram, for example, allows businesses to track a variety of options to clarify what is and isn’t working for their brands.
You can access your business account metrics by:
- Opening your app and navigating to your profile
- Clicking on the three dots in the top right corner of your screen
- Selecting “insights” from the menu that will pop up
Instagram Insights displays various performance metrics, such as the number of people who have followed or engaged with your content within a certain period. You’ll also find in-depth breakdowns of commonly monitored metrics like comments, shares, and saves.
For a more thorough analysis, try tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Phlanx, which can help you make better content decisions moving forward.
Understanding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Instagram Success
“In addition to the sheer size and diversity of users, 90 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business. This organic interaction with companies stands in stark comparison to other social platforms.”
– Neil Patel, digital marketing guru
It’s crucial to track the right KPIs in digital marketing, and it’s just as important to do so on Instagram. However, many users completely miss the boat by over-focusing on follower count and likes. Ensure you’re on the right track by tracking genuinely important KPIs like the following:
Follower growth rate
It’s not just your number of followers that counts on Instagram. The rate at which your account gains or loses followers overall helps you determine how well your recent marketing campaigns have been working.
Engagement by reach
This metric shows how many people saw your content and decided to engage with it, including both followers and non-followers. Although goals may vary from brand to brand, aiming for engagement rates above 5 percent is a good idea.
Engagement by follower
This metric gives you a good idea of how much your followers care about your content when they see it in their feeds. Find this number by dividing your total number of engagements by your number of followers.
Overall reach
Reach reflects the number of individual people who’ve seen your post. Paying attention to this metric gives you a solid idea of how many individuals you reach with your content.
Website traffic
Although it’s not an Instagram-specific KPI to track, it’s worth paying attention to correlations between Instagram engagement and upticks in web traffic. The ultimate goal of any social media marketing campaign is to get users to explore the next steps and take further action.
Identifying and Avoiding Vanity Metrics on Instagram
Vanity metrics sound important on paper but may not directly translate to lasting brand growth. The following are some key examples to be aware of on Instagram.
Impressions
The social media impressions metric reflects the total number of times your posts appeared in users’ feeds, whether or not they engaged with the content. It’s largely considered a vanity metric, as it doesn’t speak to how many individual users saw your content. For example, one person seeing a post five times will result in five separate impressions.
Follower count
A high follower count can be a serious ego booster. However, follower counts don’t necessarily translate to sales or give you real insight into how well your content drives results.
Likes and comments
Likes and comments can help maximize the reach of a particular piece of content and boost an account’s overall popularity. But they don’t say whether those people will likely close a sale or become loyal customers.
While there’s nothing wrong with getting excited that your Instagram content or account is popular, it’s crucial to understand the difference between vanity metrics like the above and actionable metrics. Actionable metrics are growth rate and reach – genuine KPIs that help you assess what is and isn’t driving results.
Leveraging Instagram Metrics to Boost Engagement and Growth
Keeping track of the best Instagram metrics for your branding and business goals gives you a reliable compass to maximize your presence on the platform. You’ll have the information you need to increase Instagram engagement. But you’ll also know what you need to boost conversions and build stronger brand-audience relationships.
- Pay attention to what types of posts resonate best with your audience. Do users prefer your photo posts or your reels and stories? Are people more responsive when you’re informative, humorous, or something else entirely?
- Tailor your ongoing strategy to better meet the needs of your audience based on your metrics.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment even once you’ve figured out what works. Jump on board with new features and chime in on trending topics. Embrace what works, and forget about what doesn’t.
- Make sure anything new you do with your Instagram presence is data-backed and aligned with what your Instagram metrics tell you.
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