Instagram has become a very powerful tool in marketing brands.
If anything, the platform has revolutionized the way promotions are done online.
Just like any other social media platform, there is a science behind maximizing its full potential.
But, you need the metrics.
The data will help you make very important decisions for your brand.
When it comes to reporting updates during meetings, Instagram analytics will give your team a clear picture of how you are generally doing.
Without analytics, you will easily be left in the dark.
But wait, which metric should you focus on?
In this guide, we have summarized eight metrics you should be tracking to help you achieve significant growth.
1. Engagement
This metric will tell you how well your content is doing in terms of connecting with your audience.
You will also see if it was effective in prompting them to take action.
Interestingly, there is a formula you can use to compute your engagement rate.
Total engagement / Total Followers
You will also find that Instagram, like most social media platforms, provides analytics not just for each post but also for your account.
Use the data to plan out your next move.
2. Comments received
The most basic response you would want to generate from your audience is to like your post.
The more important response, which is quite challenging at times, is getting them to comment on the post.
Study the kind of people who usually post comments on your content.
Those who frequently do this are those who relate or connect with your content.
Take care of these users and prioritize keeping them engaged.
The likelihood that more people will notice your content is considerably high when they keep on writing their comments.
Who knows?
Maybe they’ll also start tagging their friends in their comments.
What you get is the potential to get new followers.
3. Follower growth
If you really think hard about it, increasing your following simply means you are doing splendidly!
You can give yourself a pat on the shoulder for effectively attracting people to your account.
While it is natural for random spikes to happen, most especially if you did a paid ad or a massive promotion, your target ought to be steady and gradual growth over a specific period of time.
Here’s what.
Seeing this kind of development on your account indicates that people like what they see and they look forward to seeing more of what you have to offer.
Moreover, a growing follower rate also represents the potential reach of your future posts.
As can be expected, this will have an impact on your future engagements.
Remember to continue to conceptualize superb content to guarantee the steady growth of your followers.
4. Impressions
This metric will simply show you the total number of times Instagram users saw your post.
If you are running ads, for instance, this data will tell you how well you are promoting your content or brand.
Study what the impressions tell you so that the next time you intend to promote something, you will be able to make sound improvements to generate better results.
Content that constantly inspires and surprises your audience is something worth considering in order to keep impressions high.
Google Analytics Metrics That Growth Hackers Should Be Tracking
5. Reach
If you want to know the exact number of specific Instagram users who saw your post, this is the metric that will reveal that data.
The algorithm of Instagram will naturally help you with your organic reach, which is closely related to the number of followers you have and how attractive your content is.
Remember, however, that Instagram can push your content to other users outside of your followers if it is highly engaging.
Understanding what kind of content usually draws the Instagram crowd will help you greatly in creating attractive and unique content.
6. Referral traffic
Ultimately, you would also want your Instagram followers to be redirected to your website.
Your potential to increase sales, generate more leads, or simply get a return on your investment is promising when your Instagram followers also visit your website.
The challenge, however, is that the clickable link to your website can only be displayed on your bio.
Another option is to insert URLs in your captions or come up with very attractive content that will compel them to visit your website for more information.
You can track referral traffic by using UTM parameters, which have the ability to capture data from any user who copies or pastes your link in their browser or sends it to a friend.
It will also be able to track if an influencer referred a user.
7. Conversions
At the end of the day, conversions are all that matters.
When you prompt people to act, do they respond the way you want them to? If not, there is a missing element you need to discover to make them respond the way you want them to.
Conversions come in different forms: your targets buy your product, book an appointment, send their email address, or sign up, to mention a few.
Naturally, a high conversion rate means you have very effective content.
Effective content can potentially translate to high returns.
8. Instagram Stories
Some users prefer to take a quick look at your Instagram Stories to see what’s the latest for the day.
Ideally, your content ought to keep them interested enough to want to know more.
They will either go to your main account and follow you, browse over your posts, or check out your website.
To determine whether your Instagram Stories did a good job in attracting your audience, you may want to check out the Impressions, Story Exits, Story Replies, and Story Taps Back and Forward.
These metrics will give you a better grasp of the behavior of your audience related to the kind of content you present to them.
Keep your stories fun, distinct, and simple.
Takeaways
You can’t growth hack if you don’t track.
And, if you want to grow on Instagram, you have to start with your metrics.
That’s the only way you can move forward.
That’s the only way you can grow.
How are your Instagram metrics doing?
