A month ago Instagram introduced an improved analytics feature for both Reels and Live features. But what will it actually do to help branded content? We did a breakdown of these new features, and how Instagram is hoping they will provide insight for businesses.
First: How to Access Analytics in Instagram
Within a business account, you can easily find these new features in the “Insights” section. It will show analytics for up to 30 days across the different types of content in your account. For a specific Reel, you can click the triple dots on that Reel for insights.
Next: How to Analyze Analytics for Instagram
It’s not enough to know likes or followers if your goal is to grow your audience and increase interactions. Understanding how a platform is reaching your audience, how content is being distributed, and who is accessing it, can all lead to better future strategy with both organic and paid content. Here’s what you can now access across all content types, including Reels and Live:
- Accounts reached
- Reach based on followers and non-followers
- Reach based on content type, also divided by followers and non-followers
- Visuals of top content based on reach for each type
Taking in all of this data will help you piece together information about how your audience is interacting, when they are online, and what type of content they are interested in.
This may differ depending on the type of content you are sharing, which can be helpful to see for organizing future organic content, and making sure not to waste time on things that aren’t interesting to your viewers.
Finally: How to Use Analytics for Future Content
“Strategy is king,” is one of our favorite mottos around here, and analytics for social is no different. Consuming all the data helps create stronger strategy, and ultimately better content moving forward.
For paid media, the analytics information can be used to inform what segments to target or how to reach more viewers that may be interested in your content or services. While not every brand or company is looking for immediate response from their audience, it is helpful to know what makes someone stay and watch, or swipe away. And using this data can increase ROI for the ads you put in place.
Whether organic or paid content, analyzing data is a never-ending process that needs to be addressed on a regular basis. Interests and needs can shift and evolve just as quickly as trends and audiences change (which we all know can be very fast!).
We typically run weekly and monthly reports to make sure content matches audience interests, and tweak ads or posts as needed. This can also differ depending on how much content regularly goes out from a brand, and if there is anything notable happening that may cause larger changes in analytics. Try out a regular schedule for checking analytics, but be flexible with what works best until you settle into a routine. Analyze, adjust and enjoy how your content is resonating with others!