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15 Instagram Metrics You Should Consider Tracking
Instagram isn’t just for selfies and vacation snaps anymore — it’s where people connect with the brands they love. From product teasers to behind-the-scenes moments, Instagram has become a place where followers stay in the loop with their favorite businesses. This shift means brands need more than just pretty pictures. Tracking the right Instagram metrics based on specific goals can give you the insights you need to grow strategically.
Whether it’s boosting engagement, driving traffic or increasing sales, metrics tell you what’s working (and what’s not) in real time. That’s why understanding these numbers isn’t just nice to have — it’s essential.
With 80% of global marketers already harnessing Instagram’s potential for business, it’s clear that the platform is a powerhouse for brand promotion. The vast and engaged audience on Instagram presents an opportunity for brands to grow through strategic content sharing. However, simply posting content isn't enough; brands must analyze their performance through metrics to ensure their efforts resonate with followers and drive engagement.
In this blog, we’ll break down the key Instagram metrics, why they matter and how you can track them effectively to shape your strategy.
What are Instagram metrics?
Instagram metrics are data points that give insights into how your content is performing on the platform. They help you understand how well your content resonates with your audience by tracking key indicators like follower count, post views, likes, comments and shares. By analyzing these metrics, brands can identify what strategies are effective and where they need to improve.
These metrics are directly linked to various Instagram features, such as:
- Engagement: Measured through likes, comments and shares.
- Impressions and reach: Tracks how many users saw your posts and how often they were shown.
- Saves: Shows that your content holds long-term value, with users bookmarking it for later.
- Story insights: Provides detailed data on interactions like taps, exits and replies for short-lived content.
Consider how two giants in the sportswear industry, Nike and Adidas, use Instagram. As of 2024, Nike boasts over 303 million followers, while Adidas has around 29 million. At first glance, it may seem that Nike’s dominance is entirely based on its larger follower base. However, a deeper look into their Instagram activity tells a different story.
Nike’s higher engagement rates come from a variety of content formats — stories, reels and influencer collaborations with smart call-to-action (CTA) strategies — guiding users to seamlessly visit their profile and website without directly pushing for purchases.
Meanwhile, Adidas focuses on fewer posts but with high-impact campaigns, often tied to major events like the World Cup. This helps them drive reach and visibility during peak times. Adidas also uses content designed for high shares, ensuring that each post spreads widely even with fewer updates.
Both brands show how understanding social media metrics beyond basic follower counts can shape distinct strategies. While Nike focuses on daily engagement and seamless website integration, Adidas taps into event-driven reach and visibility. Their unique approaches highlight the importance of metrics — helping brands not just post content but build connections that matter.
Types of Instagram metrics
Understanding the various types of Instagram metrics is essential to shaping your social media strategy effectively. Let’s explore the key categories:
1. Account metrics
Account metrics offer a broad view of your profile’s performance, focusing on overall visibility and engagement. Key metrics include:
- Follower growth: Tracks the number of new followers gained or lost.
- Profile views: Measures how often your profile was visited.
- Website clicks: Indicates the traffic driven to external sites via your bio link.
2. Post metrics
Post metrics help evaluate how individual posts resonate with your audience. Key metrics include:
- Likes, comments and shares: Tracks how engaging your content is.
- Impressions and reach: Shows how many people saw your post and how often it appeared.
3. Video metrics
Video metrics measure the performance of your videos across formats like reels, stories and posts. Key metrics include:
- Views, comments and shares: Gauge engagement with your video content.
- Completion rate: Tracks how many viewers watched the video till the end, indicating content relevance.
4. Hashtag metrics
These metrics help assess the effectiveness of hashtags in expanding your reach. Key metrics include:
- Hashtag reach: Measures how many users discovered your post through hashtags.
- Engagement per hashtag: Helps identify which hashtags drive the most interactions.
5. Audience metrics
Audience metrics provide insights into your followers’ demographics. Key metrics include:
- Age, gender and location: Identifies your target audience segments.
- Active hours: Reveals when your audience is most engaged, allowing optimal posting times.
6. Threads metrics
Threads is an app for engaging in conversations and is closely linked to Instagram, allowing users to switch between the two apps. Key metrics include:
- Replies and response time: Tracks how fast and frequently conversations unfold.
- Cross-platform engagement: Monitors how interactions flow between Instagram and Threads.
Interesting Read: Your Guide to managing Instagram Threads with Sprinklr
7. Ad metrics
Ad metrics evaluate the performance of your Instagram ads. Key metrics include:
- Impressions and clicks: Shows how well ads capture user attention.
- Conversions and cost per result: Helps assess the social media ROI of your advertising efforts.
8. Shopping metrics
Shopping metrics evaluate how Instagram’s shopping features drive sales. Key metrics include:
- Product views and clicks: Tracks user interest in tagged products.
- Purchases: Indicates conversion rates from shoppable posts.
- Abandoned carts: Helps identify where users drop off during the shopping journey, offering insights to refine strategies.
Learn More on How to Use Instagram for Business in 8 Ways [+ Expert Tips]
Why are Instagram metrics important to track?
It’s important to track Instagram metrics to assess the effectiveness of social media campaigns. Using the insights gathered, you can refine your social media content strategy. Here are three key benefits:
1. Measures performance
You can consider Instagram metrics as your brand’s performance dashboard. They highlight what’s effective and what needs adjustment.
For example, let’s assume your fashion brand is launching a new clothing line and you decide to give your followers a preview on Instagram. By tracking likes, comments and shares, you can identify the most popular items and promote them further, increasing the chances of higher sales.
2. Enhances content strategy
Instagram metrics guide your creative process, helping you tailor content that resonates with your audience. If a brand identifies which content formats drive the most social media engagement, it can focus on producing more of those.
For instance, if a tech startup notices that its tutorial videos get the most engagement, its social media team can use this insight to add more “how-to” content. By understanding what content hits the mark, the team can craft posts that keep its audience returning for more.
💡 Pro Tip: Experiment with different types of content and use metrics to refine your strategy for maximum engagement. Mix up your posts with videos, carousel posts, Stories and static images. Pay attention to the formats that generate the most likes, comments and shares. This continuous experimentation and adjustment will help you stay relevant and boost engagement.
Quick Read: 10+ Ideas for Social Media Posts That Move the Needle
3. Enables audience understanding
Metrics for Instagram offer deep insights into your followers’ behavior, helping you align content with their interests. Knowing your audience better ensures your brand stays relevant.
For instance, a travel brand might discover through audience demographics that its followers are primarily young adults interested in adventure travel. This insight allows the brand to tailor its posts to include more adventure-focused content, such as hiking tips or destination guides, aligning its offerings with the interests of its audience.
15 Instagram metrics to track in 2024
Tracking the right metrics is critical to optimizing your Instagram strategy. These metrics can be grouped based on their role in analyzing account performance, post engagement and paid campaign success. Here’s a breakdown of the key metrics:
1. Account metrics
These metrics focus on your brand’s visibility and growth.
- Follower growth rate
Follower growth rate measures how quickly your Instagram account is gaining or losing followers over time. This metric is essential for understanding the effectiveness of your content strategy and marketing campaigns. A steady increase in followers indicates successful content strategies and growing brand popularity.
For example, a brand launching a new product might see a spike in follower growth if the product resonates well with its target audience.
Follower growth rate is also important for maintaining your momentum. If your follower count stagnates or declines, it’s a sign that your content isn’t resonating with your audience. For instance, a skincare brand might track follower growth after running a giveaway to gauge its impact. If it doesn't bring in much traction, it may be necessary to adjust its content strategy by experimenting with different types of posts or increasing engagement efforts.
Instagram Insights gives you an overview of your follower growth rate within the app.👇
Learn more on How to Get More Followers on Instagram: 15 Actionable Tips
- Profile views
Profile views indicate how often users visit your Instagram profile. This metric provides insights into the effectiveness of your posts in driving curiosity about your brand. A high number of profile views suggests that your content is engaging enough to prompt users to explore further.
For instance, if a brand posts a teaser for an upcoming event and notices an increase in profile views, it indicates that users are interested in learning more about what’s to come.
Instagram Insights gives you an overview of your profile visits within the app.👇
- Website clicks
Website clicks measure how many times users click on the link in your Instagram bio, directing them to your website. This metric is vital for assessing how effectively your Instagram content drives traffic to your business.
High website clicks suggest that your posts and CTA strategies are compelling enough to encourage users to explore further. For example, during a sale or promotional event, a brand might monitor website clicks to assess the effectiveness of its Instagram posts in driving sales.
Instagram Insights gives you an overview of Website Taps under Accounts Reached within the app.👇
💡 Good to know: You can now create and manage immersive micro-site using Sprinklr’s Link in Bio. It lets you curate posts from Instagram and add them to your LiB feed. You can also create exclusive "Only Link in Bio" posts that appear solely in the LiB feed, not on native platform feeds.
Beyond content management, it provides detailed performance insights by tracking:
- Store visitors and unique store visitors
- Total link clicks and CTA button clicks
- Product views and post link clicks
- Store visits by user location
- User emails registered
And many more...
This feature offers a deep understanding of how users engage with your Link in Bio, helping you optimize your strategies and drive conversions more effectively.
Want to know how? ⬇️
2. Post engagement metrics
These metrics reflect how well your audience interacts with your Instagram posts.
- Engagement rate per post
These metrics measure how users interact with each post. Rather than tracking only likes or comments, this metric combines all interactions (likes, comments, shares, saves) and divides them by the number of followers. Likes indicate user approval, comments show deeper engagement and shares expand your content’s reach.
High engagement rates signal that your content resonates well with your audience. For instance, a cosmetic brand posting skincare tips can assess which tips generate the highest engagement and replicate similar themes.
- Post save rate
The post save rate measures how often users save your posts for viewing later. This metric is valuable because it indicates that your content is considered useful or worth revisiting — reflecting its lasting value.
High post save rates suggest that your posts provide valuable information that resonates with your audience. For example, if a recipe blog notices a high save rate on its cooking tutorials, it signals that followers consider these posts worth saving for future reference.
Instagram Insights helps analyze your Post Save rate within the app.👇
👍 Good to know: Businesses generally aim for Instagram engagement rates between 1% and 3%, with anything above 5% considered exceptional and a benchmark for top-tier performance.
- Reel shares
Reel shares measure how often users share your Reels with others. This metric is particularly important as it reflects the virality and appeal of short-form video content on Instagram. High shares indicate that viewers find the content entertaining or informative enough to share within their networks.
For instance, if a fitness brand creates an engaging workout Reel that receives numerous shares, it can leverage this insight to produce more similar content that encourages sharing.
Instagram Reel Insights helps analyze your Reel Shares within the app.👇
- Story completion rate
This metric measures the percentage of viewers who watch your Stories from start to finish. It helps you identify how engaging your Stories are. If completion rates are low, you might need to tweak content length or storytelling style.
Use Instagram Insights to see data for your Stories. 👇
You can also swipe up on any one of your saved Instagram Stories to see its data.👇
3. Audience metrics
Understanding your audience ensures your content aligns with their interests and behavior.
- Demographics
Audience demographics provide insights into your followers' age, gender, location and interests. Comprehending these demographics is essential for tailoring your content to meet their specific needs and preferences.
For example, if a streaming service discovers that most of its followers are young adults, it can create more relevant content for that demographic, such as behind-the-scenes peeks and cast interviews. This targeted approach can lead to higher engagement and better brand loyalty.
Social media demographic data also helps refine your Instagram marketing strategies. Knowing your audience allows you to create more personalized and effective campaigns.
Instagram Insights helps analyze your Audience Demographics within the app.👇
- Active times
Active times refer to the hours and days when your audience is most active on Instagram. Knowing when your followers are online can significantly impact your engagement rates. Posting during peak times ensures that your content is seen by the maximum number of followers, increasing the likelihood of likes, comments and shares.
Tracking the best times to post on Instagram also helps optimize your social media posting schedule. If you notice that engagement rates are higher at certain times of the day, such as from 7 PM to 10 PM, you can schedule your posts accordingly.
Instagram Insights shows you when your followers are most active.👇
Did you know?
You can supercharge your Instagram strategy with an advanced Scheduler with in-built GenAI!
Here's how it spices up your content game on Instagram:
🚀 Quick scheduling: Schedule and publish your posts in seconds. Don't wait around!
📅 AI-optimized timing: Let AI pick the perfect times for posting, boosting your engagement sky-high.
💡 GenAI-driven creativity: Generate brilliant content ideas 10x faster — whether it’s images, GIFs or social threads.
Ready to take over? Tap into the power of scheduling and never miss a beat in engaging your audience on Instagram with Sprinklr’s Social Media Scheduler and Publisher!
4. Performance and ad metrics
These metrics focus on the success of paid campaigns and overall brand performance.
- Impressions and reach
Impressions measure how often your ads are displayed before viewers, while reach counts the number of unique viewers. Together, these metrics provide insights into how well your ads are performing in terms of visibility.
High impressions with high reach suggest that a broad and diverse audience is seeing your ad. For example, a brand might track impressions and reach during a major product launch to ensure its ads effectively spread awareness.
If impressions are high but reach is low, it might indicate that the same users are seeing your ad multiple times, which signals the need to broaden your targeting strategy.
Also Read: Social media Reach vs. Impressions: What's the difference?
- Click-through rate (CTR)
Click-through rate (CTR) measures the percentage of people who clicked your ad or link out of the total who viewed it. This metric provides insight into how compelling your ad is and whether it drives users to take action. High CTR indicates that your CTA is compelling and it helps you evaluate how well your ad copy aligns with audience expectations.
For instance, if an e-commerce brand runs an ad campaign with low CTRs despite high impressions, it may need to refine its messaging or visuals to better resonate with its audience.
- Cost per result
Cost per result measures your spending for each desired action, such as a click or conversion. Lower costs per result indicate that your ads are performing well within your budget, delivering the desired outcomes at a reasonable price.
Imagine a brand running multiple ad campaigns. It can compare the cost per result across different campaigns to identify the most cost-effective strategies.
Monitoring cost per result also helps you manage your advertising budget more effectively. If the costs are high, it may indicate that your targeting or bidding strategies need adjustment. By optimizing your campaigns to reduce costs, you can achieve better results without overspending.
- Cost per click (CPC)
CPC measures the average cost incurred for each click on your ad. Understanding this metric helps evaluate the financial efficiency of your ad campaign and compare costs across different campaigns. If an ad campaign has a high CPC but low conversion rates, it may indicate inefficiencies in targeting or creative execution that need addressing.
- Return on ad spend (ROAS)
ROAS measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on Instagram advertising. This metric is crucial for determining the profitability of your ads. A healthy ROAS indicates that your ads are effectively converting viewers into customers.
For example, if a software company invests $1,000 in ads and generates $5,000 in revenue from those ads, their ROAS would be 5:1, suggesting a successful campaign. Conversely, a low ROAS may prompt the brand to reevaluate its targeting or creative strategies.
- Post-sale conversion rate
This metric tracks the percentage of users who make a purchase after interacting with your Instagram content. Monitoring it helps you assess the ROI of your campaigns and optimize your shoppable posts for better results.
How do you track Instagram metrics in real time?
Typically, there are two ways you can track your best Instagram metrics: Instagram Insights and Sprinklr Social. Each offers unique capabilities based on your goals and needs.
Instagram Insights
Instagram Insights is Instagram’s built-in native analytics tool, offering a straightforward way to monitor real-time metrics within the app. It provides real-time data on various metrics related to your account and content, allowing you to make informed decisions about your social media strategy.
Furthermore, Instagram Insights also provides data that can help you understand how the Instagram algorithm responds to your content. Metrics like engagement, follower activity and post saves are all factored into how the algorithm determines your post’s visibility in feeds and on the Explore page. Monitoring these in real time allows you to adjust your strategy and increase content reach.
🔑 Key features:
- Account metrics: This includes tracking follower growth, profile views and website clicks. It assesses how well your content drives engagement and traffic to your brand.
- Post metrics: Instagram Insights provides detailed data on how users interact with your posts, including likes, comments, shares and post-save rates. This helps you identify the type of content that resonates best with your audience.
- Audience metrics: Insights into your audience’s demographics, active times and growth allow you to tailor your content strategy to match your followers’ preferences and habits.
“Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses or content creators looking for easy, on-the-go performance tracking without advanced integrations.”
Sprinklr Social
Sprinklr Social is an enterprise-level social media management platform designed for deeper analysis, cross-platform monitoring, and strategic decision-making. It goes beyond Instagram’s native capabilities, providing advanced features for brands looking to maximize the Instagram strategy. It is particularly useful for businesses managing multiple campaigns or requiring deeper data analysis across various Instagram activities.
🔑 Key features:
- Comprehensive metric tracking: Sprinklr goes beyond basic metrics like follower counts and post engagement, offering granular insights into Instagram Stories, Reels and ad performance. You get access to a variety of metrics like Instagram Business 28 days total impressions, followers online by hour, post reels total watch time, post reel replays, post story taps forward, completion rate etc.
- Hashtag analysis: Sprinklr includes a dedicated Hashtag Manager that tracks the effectiveness of hashtags over time. This helps to determine which ones drive the most engagement and visibility on Instagram posts.
Read more on How to Create a Unique Hashtag Strategy [+Pro Tips] - Custom dashboards for Instagram: Unlike Instagram Insights, Sprinklr allows users to create tailored social media dashboards that visualize the metrics most relevant to specific campaigns or business goals. This flexibility allows brands to focus on key social media performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most to them.
- Real-time alerts: Set up alerts to monitor Instagram engagement or follower changes in real time, helping you respond quickly to trends or spikes.
- AI-driven recommendations: Sprinklr analyzes Instagram data to provide predictive insights and personalized recommendations to schedule content using Smart Scheduler and optimize posting times, social media content types and targeting strategies.
- Cross-platform analysis: One of Sprinklr's standout features is its ability to integrate data from multiple social media channels. This allows brands to compare their Instagram performance with other platforms, providing a holistic view of their social media presence.
“Best for: Large organizations and agencies that need advanced tracking, deeper analysis and real-time insights to optimize Instagram performance.”
🤔 Which one should you choose?
Choose Instagram Insights if you need a basic, easy-to-use tool for tracking key metrics directly within the Instagram app. It’s perfect for quick insights and everyday use.
Choose Sprinklr Social if you’re seeking detailed Instagram analytics, including hashtag performance, real-time alerts and predictive insights for fine-tuning campaigns.
Final thoughts
The metrics and strategies discussed in this article are essential for any brand looking to optimize its Instagram presence in 2024. By understanding and tracking these key metrics, you can gain invaluable insights into what drives your audience. These insights help you tailor your content to meet your audience’s preferences and enhance your overall social media strategy.
Moreover, using a tool like Sprinklr Social helps in going beyond monitoring basic metrics. These tools provide a deeper understanding of your performance and help you make data-driven decisions to boost your brand’s visibility and engagement on Instagram.
To get the best out of Instagram metrics, take a demo of Sprinklr Social and experience the difference firsthand! 😉
Frequently Asked Questions
Businesses should review and analyze their Instagram metrics at least once a week. This helps them understand trends and adjust their strategies on time.
The most important Instagram metrics for measuring ROI are engagement rate, conversion rate and cost per click. These metrics directly show the return on your investment.
Business accounts can access detailed metrics like reach, impressions and engagement rates, which are unavailable on personal accounts. They also get insights on follower demographics and activity.
Yes, it can be. Focus on the most relevant metrics to avoid information overload and ensure clarity in your analysis.
Metrics vary by content type. Posts often focus on likes and comments, Stories on views and replies and Reels on shares and reach. Each type provides different insights into engagement and performance.
Common mistakes include ignoring negative feedback, focusing only on vanity metrics and not considering the context of the data. It’s crucial to look at the overall picture and trends over time.
