Instagram crossed one billion active users in October 2021. Of these, 201 million were solely from India.
Let’s translate these numbers. You, a creator (and the brand you adore and promote), have access to enormous potential followers with just one click.
Yet, why is it that some creators struggle to cross that 5k mark while others are counting views and followers in lakhs?
Good content is the obvious answer. The not so obvious is a lack of insight into the type of audience you should be targeting.
This is where Instagram analytics come into play. It gives you a zoomed-in picture of the types of users following you based on their demographics, age group, and interests, along with several other factors. Using this data, you can devise strategies to reach out to more such people.
Why is understanding Instagram analytics so important for creators?
Making strategies for Instagram without insights is like hitting a target with closed eyes. With Instagram analytics, you get the vision and perspective to make the right call for increasing Instagram followers and engagement.
Helps in understanding your audience
Instagram’s analytics recognise the right audience for your page.
Impact: You will save a lot of time that you would have otherwise spent targeting the wrong audience.
Tracks when the audience is most active
It also finds the right time for posting content, i.e., when your audience is most active.
Impact: get a high number of views on your post.
Analyse what the audience wants
By evaluating analytics results, you can identify what type of content your audience engages with the most.
Impact: understand what your viewers are searching for the most and their sentiment. If you know the demands of your audience, then you can create content that gets the greatest number of likes, views, and reach.
How does a creator access Instagram analytics?
You must have a business or creator account to access the insights options on Instagram. If you recently changed your personal profile to the business/creator account, then the analytics will take some time to appear.
On the app, you can access Instagram analytics by:
- Go to your Instagram business profile.
- Click on the “Insights” button.
Access insights on your desktop by using:
- Instagram’s Creator Studio: It only shows you Instagram insights for the past 7 days.
- Third party analytics apps.
What features do Instagram analytics show you?
Instagram analytics track your day-to-day activities and show the following results:
- Reach and engagement rate.
- Total reach of posts, reels and videos.
- Overall impression rate and profile visits.
- Top performing content in all categories.
- Percentage increase or decrease in followers.
- Demographics (gender, age group, etc.) of people engaging most with your content.
By default, it will show you the analysis based on data from the last seven days. However, you can change the date from the calendar option available at the top of the insights page.
How do you use Instagram Analytics to increase reach and followers?
For creators who want to expand the number of people watching their content, i.e., generate more brand awareness, keep an eye on:
Follower growth
If they are increasing, then you’re on the right track. If not, then look at the “follows” you are getting from individual ads and posts. Point out the one that has the most and then work on creating similar content.
Impressions
More impressions on your posts mean better brand awareness. Again, work on the content that gets more impressions.
Reach
It denotes the number of other Instagram accounts that have seen your post or profile. Higher reach implies your content is working positively.
For creators who want to increase engagement on their posts, these are the metrics to track and work on:
Engagement
Check the comments, likes, and shares on your posts. Figure out what type of content is winning your audience’s heart and make more of it.
Followers online
The metric lets you know when is the right time to publish your post. Posting and publishing on Instagram when audiences are most active increases engagement.
Age and gender graphs
Knowing the gender and age of your audience helps create content that caters to that group. For example, people under the age group of 18–24 enjoy meme-worthy or humorous content, whereas the 25–34 age groups react more to promotional content.
FYI, awareness and engagement are interlinked. More of one in your posts means more of the other. And, of course, the quality of your content plays a crucial role in the growth of engagement.
Since Instagram Stories is one of the most used features, here’s how you can track analytics on it and improve reactions:
Use the Navigation feature. It includes data such as how many times viewers move forward, backward, or exited to the next story. It lets you know what type of Story is watched more than once. Focus on it and avoid posting stories that have the most number of exits and next story metrics.
The gist on Instagram Analytics
As a creator, never sway away from why you created the Instagram page in the first place. Then use data from analytics to achieve the goal. Within no time, your following and engagement will touch new heights.
