Instagram has become quite popular in the last few years. This powerhouse social media site helps small businesses with branding. It also allows followers to see what’s going on “behind the scenes.” But, what really does work on Instagram? Well, each page is different and there are many factors involved. To figure out your particular situation, the Insights section works nicely. It gives you quick information about shared posts and followers demographics details. In this post, we will break down the Insights section to help you understand what areas you should be reviewing on a weekly basis. By reviewing this data weekly, it will give you the big picture of what your followers prefer to see.
But, before we begin, going through the Instagram Insights, let’s make sure you have a business account. Go to your profile section, at the top right select the dial. Then scroll to the Account section. Does it say “Switch to Business Account”? Then, you probably do not have a business account, no worries, click here for instructions on how to convert the account. It’s fast and easy to do. Don’t worry; I’ll wait right here.
Instagram Insights Explained
OK, now that you finished setting up your business account, you now have access to your Instagram Insights. Woohoo! Here are the most useful areas of Instagram Insights. Sorry to say, you can’t use your computer for these insights. So, get your phone and follow along. First, open up the Instagram app. Click on the Profile icon at the bottom right. Then at the top left, there is an image that looks like a bar graph. Click on that pic.
The first page you will see is the impressions. This refers to the how many times your images were shown in front of other viewers this week. It gives a comparison to last week so you can see if you received more impressions or less. As you scroll through you will also see the number of people you reached this week, how many people check out your “profile” and how many “website clicks” happened.
This information will help you see your audience likes and will help you decide what future images you will share. Some images may not work with your audience. That’s OK. It’s all about learning audience. Think of it like you are getting to know a friend for the first time. What are their likes, goals, aspirations, etc…? Who or what do they prefer to see and search for? All these questions can be answered by using the Insights section of any social media page. We just need to spend the time and review the details.
How to find Image Insights?
While this information is handy, you may want to also check out the individual images insights. To do this, go to the image you want to evaluate and click on “View Insights” at the bottom left-hand corner. A pop-up image included the post date and time, the impressions of that image, the Reach (the number of unique accounts that saw your post) and the Engagement (the number of likes and comments on the post). See the two images below to help you.
And, this is what it looks like when you press “View Insights.”
This information is helpful to give you a better understanding of what your audience thinks about your individual image. Speaking of images, be sure to add hashtags and keywords in the description area. When you press the hashtag (#) button and start typing, you will see the most popular keywords that are used. Selecting from this list works well, but also feel free to create your own. Add as many #keywords phrases as you want that best describes the image. You can use keywords that are broad but don’t forget to go specific too. This will give you more opportunity to get in front of other viewers who may search for those specific keywords.
How to find the most popular posts?
Moving on to the next section in Insights, you can also see the Top Posts for the last 7 days. Just, press “See More”. This section shows images in order of popularity.
While using #keywords are great and helps you get found, you should also know who the people are that are viewing your posts. To do this, go to the bar chart image again and scroll down the page past the impressions section. There is a section called “Followers”. Press “See More” and walla, you can see your followers, the gender of your followers, the age range of them, top locations (Cities and Countries), and the average time the followers are on for a particular day.
Keep in mind Google Analytics provides information only for your website and what referrals come to your site. It does not include data on images you post on social media sites. To get this information, it is best to visit this area on Instagram regularly. I hope this gives you some guidance on what areas you can examine on your business Instagram Insights.
Looking for tips on what to share on Instagram? I added a view popular articles on the topic below. Feel free to check them out.
7 Tips for Using Instagram for Business
26 Tips for Using Instagram for Business
Let’s continue the conversation, do you have a business account on Instagram? How you do like it? Does it help you get your business name out there? Do you have any tips you want to share? Please leave your comments below. I would love to hear from you.
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So far I’m only using Instagram for my personal photos, but I’m thinking of setting up a separate business account. I’ll be sure to refer to this post when I do!
Very timely! I just got a notification on IG to switch to a business account. Thanks for the details on how to use all this additional data.
Thank you for the post. I find it strange that most of my photos have higher number of engagements than impressions. Like even double. Is that normal?
Wow, I never heard that happening before. I wonder if there is a glitch in the app. You may want to contact Instagram and ask them. Here’s the link. Please come back and tell us why that happened.