July 30, 2019
As marketers, we know that Instagram advertisements can be an effective and essential tool for promoting a business, and understanding how ads are performing is crucial to better targeting an audience. Though criticized for not being as robust as Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights – Instagram’s native analytics tool – offers some impressive analytics opportunities that can help you better understand how to make your business thrive.
1. Analyze Follower Demographics & Behavior Data
In the “followers” section of Insights, Instagram will provide you with a summary of follower demographics including gender, age group, location, and online times (hours and days).
This information is particularly helpful for three reasons: it can help you better understand who your audience is, it can help you create an efficient posting schedule, and it can help inform your Instagram ad targeting.
Just know that in order to access demographic data you must have at least 100 followers.
Photo from Business 2 Community
2. Analyze Individual Post Data
Viewing individual post data not only lets you view engagement metrics – such as likes, comments, and saves – but it also lets you view action data. In the actions section, Instagram can track the following actions for you: profile visits, follows, and website clicks after individuals view your post.
This is helpful in understanding the type of content that prompts the actions you want your audience to perform, allowing you to create more stellar content that drives results.
3. Analyze Your Instagram Stories Data
With over 500 million people using Instagram stories every day, this is not data that you want to snooze on. The app only provides users with 2 weeks of stories analytics, but if monitored regularly these metrics can prove quite useful.
Just like with regular Instagram posts, you’ll find data for reach and impressions, but there are some metrics specific to Stories available to you. Instagram will also give you the number of exits, sticker taps, link clicks (in-story), and replies for each of your stories. Use this data to understand the types of stories that your followers connect with and to create more great content!
Photo from Business 2 Community
4. Analyze IGTV Data
With the rise of video content consumption, IGTV is another way for businesses to catch the eye of current and potential customers alike.
You can see how many times your video has been viewed, liked, and commented on, just like you can with stories and posts. Where things get interesting is in your ability to view audience retention and average percentage viewed stats. This data is perfect for allowing you to understand the perfect length your videos should be to capture your audience’s attention.
5. Analyze Paid Promotions Data
Instagram allows you to easily see a summary of your impression vs. engagement stats on your paid promotions, as well as clicks to your profile. Similar to other Instagram metrics, you will also be able to breakdown your audience by gender, age range, and location.
Checking in on these metrics will give you a quick glance at how your promotions are doing, giving you ideas on how to optimize them. If you aren’t advertising on Instagram yet, understand the benefits that Instagram advertising can have on your business.
Instagram Insights can be incredibly helpful for a business looking to improve their performance on the app. Social media marketing doesn’t have to be as daunting as it seems, and with these tips your business can be well on its way to seeing success.
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Want more social media marketing knowledge? Check out our guide to Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Junior Analyst
Jasmine Ramos is a lifelong Chicago resident and a recent Ball State grad. She loves frozen strawberries, deep dish pizza, and butter pecan ice cream. Jasmine's Chicago summer activity of choice is biking from Lincoln Park Zoo to Navy Pier.