Everything You Need To Know About Instagram Analytics (2021)

How long has it been since you really delved into your numbers on your Instagram account?

You might be keeping up with your amounts of followers and likes, and trying to post quality content on a regular basis, but are you being as proactive as possible in making sure your Instagram content is actually seen by its target audience and reaching its full potential?

Are you delving into the data and exploring your own analytics? 

If you’re like most people who post content on Instagram, the answer to that last question is probably a resounding no, but why?

It doesn’t matter if you’re an entrepreneur, an influencer, an artist, or a content creator, really knowing your data can be the key you need to truly unlock the potential your Instagram account holds.

Knowing your data and your Instagram analytics can help you know more in-depth about how Instagram operates, and it can play a huge part in you refining your Instagram marketing strategy. After all, if you’re truly in tune with your data and you know your audience, you can adjust your marketing strategies on the fly as you find new ways to monetize your Instagram account.

You’re surely aching to learn more about all the details behind being in tune with your Instagram analytics, and that is exactly why this article exists. You’ll learn why your analytics on Instagram are so important, some of the different analytics options that are available to Instagram account owners everywhere, and which data you should really focus on to make your Instagram marketing effective.

Why Do Instagram Analytics Matter To You? 

Instagram is the second most popular social media platform in the whole world, with over 25 million Instagram business accounts along with over 200 million regular Instagram users checking in daily. With these kinds of numbers, it is quite obvious that there is plenty of value to be found in knowing the data behind your Instagram account.

The simple truth is if you don’t understand the audience you are promoting content to, or you don’t know who is seeing and interacting with your Instagram profile and advertisements, or how your Instagram follower and like counts translate into value, then you’re simply wasting your time on the platform.

The key to monetizing your Instagram and squeezing all the value possible out of it is to truly know your data and understand your analytics. 

Here are just a few examples of the things that could happen if you are not setting a schedule to check up on your Instagram analytics.

• *Your posts could be targeted to the completely wrong audiences.
• *You could be posting too much, or not enough.
• *You could be attracting irrelevant traffic to your site.
• *You could be ignoring potential mentions that could lead to valuable partnerships later down the line.
• *You could be posting during the wrong times of the day, or during the wrong days of the week for your audience.
• *You could be missing chances for engagement in your post’s comments or in your Instagram Stories.

These are just a few of the things you would be able to understand and do better with if you really delve into your data. The information you find by really understanding your Instagram metrics could be one of the only things you really need to step up your game in your Instagram marketing strategy. This can, in turn, offer you more value for your business, along with truly understanding your audience, and helping you get relevant content in front of the people who are already searching for it.

How Do Instagram Profile Analytics Work? 

All of the analytics data you can access quite easily through the My Profile page, which is where you find all of your Instagram posts. On this page, you can see insights from the last seven days. You may have seen this screen before, but you may not have thought of really jumping into checking out your metrics.

Here are just a few of the things you can check out and review from this screen.

• Instagram Impressions. Your impressions on Instagram are the number of times people have seen your posts in the specified time frame.
• Instagram Interactions. This is the number of interactions and engagements people have had with your account.
• Reach. Your “reach” on Instagram is the total number of accounts that have seen any single one of your posts.
• Profile visits. This is the total number of people that have checked out your Instagram account in the specified time frame.
• Website clicks. This is the number of times people have clicked through to the link you have put on your Instagram profile. Ideally, this link should be your personal or business website or your storefront.
• Contact clicks. This is the number of times that people have clicked on the Contact button on your Instagram profile, which can be found either in the form of a Call or Email button.
• Instagram Mentions. This is the total amount of times your account’s username has been mentioned by other Instagram users in the specified time frame.

Audience Analytics on Instagram

In online marketing, the key to making sales and driving business is understanding your target audience. Your target audience, which is also known as your customer avatar, is the demographic that you feel is ideal for your product or service.

How does your target audience currently match up with the audience checking out your Instagram content?

You can answer that question very easily, using the handy section of your analytics section on Instagram that is dedicated purely to keeping you up to date with your audience. There are a few important factors you should look for and pay attention to when checking out your audience insights.

• The top locations of people seeing your posts. The top locations information will display the top five cities, as well as the top five countries that your followers are located in.
• The age range of your followers. Knowing the age range of your followers is another easy way to cater your content directly to them. Instagram breaks down your audience metrics into easy to understand ranges. These go from 13 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 and up.
• Gender of your followers. This shows you the distribution of your followers, separated between men and women.
• Hours your followers are active. This statistic is very helpful in seeing the average time of day that your followers are using Instagram. Knowing this information can help you plan posts on times that you know your followers are most likely to see them.
• Days your followers are active. Like the “hours” section, this one comes in handy to show you which days of the week your audience is most active on Instagram. Armed with this information, you will know the best days of the week to schedule posts on your Instagram account.

Analytics of Individual Instagram Posts

Aside from helping you understand audience demographics and when they are online the most, you can also find handy information diving into data behind each of your individual Instagram posts. This can be a great way to see which type of posts resonate with your audience, and what content works the best with them.

These are just a few of the types of stats you can find for your individual Instagram posts.

• Interactions. Interactions are actions that were taken directly from your Instagram post. It could be something like checking out a profile, clicking a link, clicking on the contact button on a profile, and more. All of these actions are kept up to date for you in this section.
• Discovery. This allows people looking for new content on Instagram to discover things they will most likely enjoy. Here, folks will see fresh new content from accounts they are not currently following, tailored specifically to them. Business accounts on Instagram are more than eligible for appearance in the Discovery section, enabling people around the world to find your page.
• Follows. This section shows you how many new followers a single post netted you (if you need help growing your account, you can always buy Instagram followers from Bestsocialmediaboost).
• Reach. This is the number of unique people that saw your post on Instagram.
• Impressions. This is the number of times your post was viewed on Instagram. The app also breaks down the information a little more for you, letting you see if these impressions came from hashtags, the home section, from a profile, or from another section on the platform.
• Comments. This is the number of comments on a given post.
• Saves. This is the number of accounts that saved your content to their saved folder.

The Analytics Behind Your Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are another huge way you can connect with your audience on the platform. Overtaking Snapchat with this feature, this is a huge opportunity that every page on Instagram should be taking advantage of. Instagram users love Stories, and they are a great way to interact with your audience.

Like other sections of your profile on Instagram, the platform also lets you check out the metrics behind your Stories on Instagram. Let’s check out how it gets broken down.

• Reach. This is the number of total accounts on Instagram that checked out your Story.
• Impressions. This is the total number of times your Story was watched.
• Story exits. This is the number of times someone quit watching your Story halfway through.
• Replies. This is the total number of replies to content on your Stories, such as a photograph or a video.
• People insight. People insights will list the accounts that have checked out a certain part of your Story.

What Do You Focus On Going Forward? 

You just got a lot of information about how you can dig deeper into your analytics on Instagram. With all of that fresh new information rattling around in your brain, you’re sure to be thinking of ways to apply it to your Instagram account so you can better understand your audience and make your marketing strategy that much more effective.

The team over at BSMB identified a few common goals for people who use Instagram for business, and a few main metrics you could track for each of them.

Building Buzz Around Your Brand

If you are looking to build brand awareness for your venture, Instagram can be a valuable tool, helping you put your content in front of the people who will like it the most. These metrics may help you if this is your goal.

• Growing follower counts: If your follower count is going up, that must mean your posts must be resonating with people. You can even run ads on Instagram with growing your follower count as an objective for the campaign.
• Impressions and reach: The more people that see your content, the better, right? These numbers will help you keep track of the number of accounts that have seen your content, as well as the total number of times that content was viewed all over the platform. Also, keep an eye on the number of likes your posts receive as this is usually a good indicator for measuring the growth of your account (if you need a helping hand, you can always buy Instagram likes from us).

Drive Sales and Generate Leads

A huge goal among most internet marketers, leads and sales are the lifeblood of any business. After all, these are the two things that translate straight into cash!

You can run ads on Instagram, as well as promote posts. Here are some metrics the BSMB team suggests checking out when you are looking into driving sales and generating more leads for your business.

• Website clicks: You will want people to go to your website from your profile on Instagram or from when they see your ads. This option shows you how many people have clicked through to your site on Instagram, and from which source that click originated, whether from your profile or from an ad.

• Follower hours and days: This comes in handy for knowing when your audience is online. A great way to ensure your posts go out at the same time they are most likely to be online.

• Contact form clicks. Whether you utilize a Call or Email button on your profile, this insight will show you how many people clicked on your contact button.

Are You Ready to Become a Data Ninja? 

Armed with all of the information relevant to your audience on Instagram, you are ready to better understand your audience and the metrics behind your Instagram account. With this information and this data, you will be better equipped when making and scheduling posts.

Knowing your audience is a huge part of achieving sales, and Instagram provides plenty of tools built right in to make sure you are up to date with your metrics on the platform.