Staff Writer 
Instagram analytics are useful to understand when you’re trying to grow your business or account in the social space. Before diving into the definitions, it’s important to know what your goals are so you can use the data in your favor and create positive results. This guide will help you understand what you should look for when performing a social media audit or simply reviewing your account.
If you’re trying to build brand awareness
Brand awareness is a general term for how informed and knowledgeable consumers are about your business. Many businesses’ have a goal to increase their brand awareness, so that their logo, messaging, products, and services are widely recognized.
Impressions: The number of times your posts have been seen.
Reach: The number of unique accounts that have seen your post during a specific time frame.
Interactions: The number of actions taken on your account — this includes profile visits and website clicks.
Profile Visits: The total number of profile views. Essentially, the number of people that are visiting your account (Instagram monitors this on a weekly basis).
Follower growth: The amount of followers you gained or lost over a period of time. This number will give you a decent idea of whether your brand is expanding its reach and catching the attention of new users.
If you’re trying to increase web traffic or generate sales
The link in bio feature is one of the most valuable calls-to-action on your Instagram profile. It easily allows your followers to click through to your website and can lead to sales. If your goal is to increase website traffic, then the following three data points are information that you’ll want to monitor.
Website clicks: The number of times visitors have clicked the link to your website from your profile page.
Number/email clicks: The number of times visitors have clicked the call/email button from your profile page.
Follower hours: A graph that shows the days and times that your followers are most active.
If you’re trying to foster a community
Instagram is a great place to build a community. Whether the niche is: fitness, food, health & wellness, fashion, lifestyle, or anything in-between — Instagram probably has a group of users who share specific interests that would be a great target audience for your brand. But first, it’s important to understand what your current demographic is so you know how to build content that relates and resonates with them.
Top locations: Indicates where your followers are located; listing the top five cities and countries.
Age range: The percentage of your followers falling under specific age ranges.
Gender: The male-to-female ratio of your followers.
Mentions: The number of times your account has been mentioned by other users. Before you jump on Instagram to look at your analytics, remember that the platform will only show this information if your profile is set as a business account.
To view the analytics listed above, you can use Instagram’s free insights accessible from your profile, or third-party tools such as Later or Sprout Social. As long as you’re consistently monitoring your analytics and actively making changes based on the data given, you’ll be able to create an effective social strategy to reach your brand goals.
