Instagram has implemented several updates recently, improving their insights is one of them. Insights are the data and analytics features Instagram offers in order for you to know how well (or if!) your content and engagement strategy is really working. Here are a few Instagram insights best practices to review before you go change up your operation.
In order to see all that Instagram Insights has to offer, you first need to make sure you have a business or professional account set up.
To switch your personal Instagram profile to a business account, follow these simple steps, expertly laid out in a detailed video by the folks at Instagram! It covers how to switch from a personal account to a professional account and how to set up your profile for Instagram Insights best practices.
With your new business account, you can access insights and data that allow you to see who is engaging with you and your content. In the Professional Dashboard, you can track your performance and get access to Instagram’s own education arsenal.
How Do Insights Help My Business?
Reveal Follower Demographics and Behavior
xInstagram Insights allow you to see exactly who is following you, a peek at who your follower avatar is. It provides hard demographics such as gender, top locations, age and even what time your followers are online.
This type of data is an incredibly powerful tool for your instagram ad targeting. You can look for patterns in the days and times your followers are online! This is when you should post content to maximize your reach and engagement.
This data also informs how you should best engage directly with your audience? It may be comments, direct messages or a follow back, depending on your goals and what your audience responds to.
You can also take the burden out of the day to day posting schedule by pre-planning it out in the Facebook Business Creator Suite.
Explore Instagram Stories Analytics
Stories behave differently from the other elements of Instagram. They’re better! It’s a more passive way for the viewer to consume content but also more interactive.
Having access to detailed story analytics will show you:
- How many taps forward
- How many back taps
- Exits from your stories
- Replies to your stories, which result in a direct message (or DM)
- Swipe ups to a link you’ve provided (only available after you reach 10,000 followers)
This intel will help you see what kind of content works best for your viewers, what they will respond to.
Check out HootSuite’s 32 Instagram Story Hacks you need for Instagram Insights best practices!
Review Post Data
Instagram Insights will show you data related to individual posts or for all of your content over the previous year. They’ve provided a few filters to help you break down your analytics in the following formats:
- Engagement
This encompasses comments, impressions, likes, saved posts, and the overall reach of your content. - Type of Content
Everything including videos, photos, carousel posts and reels. - Time Period
Options included are the previous 7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years.
Depending on your goals, (reach, engagement, profile views, website or link clicks, etc.) these sorting options allow you to take a bird’s eye view of your profile’s overall performance.
Was your ad campaign successful? Have you reached your page view goal? Is your content achieving the desired reach? With Instagram Insights best practices, you have the best chance at seeing the overall success of your content.
Evaluate The Performance of Your Ads
Within the Instagram Insights section, you can create a promotion. This is how you would launch an ad campaign. If you’ve studied and utilized the audience demographics above, you will be able to target your ideal audience in each campaign.
Have a specific goal in mind before launching your promotion or campaign. What is your goal?
- Increase impressions?
- Seeking to narrow your target demographic by testing ads?
- Increase the number of visits to your profile?
- Beef up your engagements?
- Get more followers?
- Create more saveable content?
- Increase your reel remix rate?
What you want to achieve will determine how you structure your promotion. The Instagram Insights will show you if you’ve reached that goal or if you have room to grow. Utilizing these Instagram Insights best practices will get you one step closer!
Discovery: One of The Most Powerful Instagram Insights Best Practices
The Discovery feature hiding within Instagram Insights shows you how your content was discovered.
Did they search for you? Were you shown in their feed? Did they follow a hashtag or a location tag?
These are all gems in the mind of who your follower is and how they interact with your content. Use this data to inform how you structure your future content. Inject those same or related hashtags. Continue to produce content associated with that or other top location tags.
This is how you speak to your followers and create content they want to share, save, and return to.
Here are a few other Instagram Insight best practices to set you up for success.
Be intentional about your content. Work out 3-5 content pillars that are the meat and potatoes of what you will talk about. Test this content with ad campaigns or promotions. Once you know what works, stick to it!
Be genuine in your engagement. Stay away from phony or slimy tactics. Talk about what they want to hear. People want to follow other real people, not just anonymous pages.
Be consistent. Show up every day, in one way or another. It’s recommended to post at least one story every day, preferably more. Posts could be every day or at least 3 times per week. Use the free Facebook Business Suite to schedule content so this happens automatically without having to “come up with” content every day.
Instagram: Insights Into Your Success
Instagram Insights help you see if you’re reaching your business goals. It can show you how best to turn followers into loyal fans and eventually paying customers. Instagram makes it easy to set up, follow these instructions and get started today!