7 Basic Instagram Metrics You Need to Know

There are so many metrics on Instagram that trying to analyze all of them can easily feel overwhelming. If you want to build your brand awareness on Instagram or reimagine your marketing strategy, though, here are the 7 key metrics you need to know.

*Note* In order to see your Instagram analytics (also called Insights), you need to make sure that your Instagram is a business account.

1. Impressions

This metric tells you the number of people that have seen your post, and it can help you determine how well a particular type of content is doing on Instagram. Access your post impressions by clicking the “View Insights” button on each post. 

Keep in mind that a lot of factors impact the number of impressions that you get. The time of day and day of the week that you post, as well as the type of hashtags that you use, can influence the number of people who view your post. These are important metrics to think about as you analyze your impressions. For example, if you find that you are getting few impressions, you may want to change the hashtags that you use.

2. Engagement

Calculating the engagement rate on your posts can show you what type of content is best depending on which ones have the most engagement. You can also use this to see if influencers that you hire to sponsor your brand are actually helping increase your brand awareness. 

Follow this formula to calculate the engagement rate of each of your posts. You can view the number of likes and comments that you have by clicking the “View Insights” button on each post.

3. Reach

This metric enables you to see if your account is growing or not by seeing how many people your posts are reaching. To calculate your reach:

If you don’t have as much reach as you want, you may need to rethink your marketing strategy. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Am I posting at the right time when my audience is on Instagram?
• Am I maximizing my reach by choosing strategic hashtags?
• Am I making sure that my feed has a consistent aesthetic?
• Am I taking advantage of other Instagram tools to engage my audience, such as story stickers? 

*Note: Business accounts with fewer than 100 followers are unable to access analytics about their audience demographics, and thus it might be difficult to see when your audience is on Instagram. If this is the case for you, Hootsuite recommends posting at these times for these industries:

4. Followers

Having more followers is essential for brand awareness because it allows your posts to reach more people. Regularly check in on your number of followers, as it will change over time. At Presidio we recommend that you check follower growth every week. 

In addition to checking your followers, here are some important questions to ask yourself: 

• Why did my followers grow? 
  • Is it because of the influencers I hired?
  • Paid ads?
  • A new campaign that I decided to run? 
    
    
• Why are my followers not growing?
  • Am I not posting frequently enough?
  • Is my content not appealing to my audience because there is a discrepancy between my target audience and my actual audience?

5. Comments

Make sure to engage with comments. Doing this lets your followers know that you care about them. Also make sure to look at the tone that your followers have in their comments to learn how they are feeling. 

One tip to try and increase the number of comments on your posts is by including a Call to Action (CTA), such as asking a question in your post’s caption.

6. Click-throughs from your bio link

You can add a clickable link in your personal bio that leads to your website or other things that relate to your brand, like a discount or a giveaway campaign.

Analyzing the number of click-throughs let you know if your followers are interested in your business or any other promotion you put. This also allows you to have a better idea of your profile’s traffic, or how many people are visiting your profile.

7. Instagram Stories

Take a look at your Instagram story analytics to see the number of people who see your stories, the number of people who watched to the end or exited in the middle, or skipped them entirely.

Analyzing these allows you to see what type of content is working and what is not. Because story analytics disappear after 24 hours, it’s helpful to save this information on a separate document.

Instagram is becoming one of the most widely used social media apps, so optimizing and engaging with your audience is vital for brand awareness. By utilizing all of the platform's insight tools, you can fine-tune your content to make sure you are reaching the right audience for your organization.

Kayla Park contributed to this post.

Nailea Ayala Sahagún
Creative Manager

Nailea is an accomplished public relations professional with experience in education, digital marketing, and multicultural communications. Prior to joining Presidio, Nailea worked with Fortune 500 companies like The Lincoln Motor Company and McDonald’s on media relations, focusing on top–tier Hispanic media. Nailea was also involved in community outreach efforts for statewide campaigns and local measures. Additionally, Nailea holds over 7 years of experience working with school districts in Southern California. Today, Nailea leads Presidio's creative team and handles content creation, social media management, and video production for our clients.

Kayla Park
Intern

Kayla Park is a junior at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is passionate about bringing communities together with strategic and compelling communications, and she aspires to be a government and corporate liaison. Kayla is pursuing a B.A. in Public Affairs and plans to graduate in 2022.