Today, we’re going to be discussing Instagram insights and how to understand what you’re seeing. If you’re not already using your insights to determine what your audience wants from you, you’re missing out! Reviewing your Instagram insights can help you grow faster. Last year, we talked about insights briefly. So today, I really want to talk about what they mean and how they impact how I plan content. 

How to Use Instagram Insights

When you’re ready to look at your Instagram insights, navigate to your profile on Instagram. You can tap on “insights” above your highlights or use the three bars on the top right to find insights, as well. If you aren’t seeing those options, make sure you’re a business or creator account. Once you’ve switched account types, the insights option should pop right up. Instagram insights are one of the most overlooked features on Instagram that can help you grow your account.

Instagram insights are automatically set to show the last 7 days but I like to review the last 30 days. This gives me a better idea of what’s going on with my account and followers. Now if you look at the screen that’s loaded, you’ll see insights from all of the types of content that you’ve shared on your account in the last month – posts, Reels, stories, live videos, etc. If you were running ads, they’d show up here too! At this point, you can start to dive further into analytics for these categories. 

One of the first things I review is my reach. This will break down who’s seeing your posts. The analytics show user ages, locations, cities, and how your content is reaching audiences. One of my favorite things to review is my content reach. I talk all the time about how Instagram Reels is the best way to reach non-followers. When you look at my analytics, you can see that’s true. Instagram breaks down who each type of post is reaching. As you scroll down, you can see the types of posts that reached the most people, too. 

The next thing to review is accounts engaged. This is different from reach because this is who is actually interacting with your content. The breakdowns are similar to the reach section! After reviewing accounts engaged, you’ll look at total followers. This is where you can see your follower growth. When you scroll down on this section, you’ll be able to see the demographics of your actual followers (not just people who saw your content). In this section, you can also look at your followers’ most active times. I’m always asked what time of day to post and while I don’t think there is a magical time of day, you can use this information to determine when YOUR audience is most active. 

Understanding Content You Shared 

After you’ve looked at the top three categories, scroll down to the “Content You Shared” section. This breaks down the types of content that you’ve shared on Instagram and you can look at each one individually. When you click on a content type, like posts, you can adjust the metrics and review different types of content (like single images, carousels, etc.). If you hit “reach”, you can change the metrics here. I generally want to know about interactions because it’s most important to understand what my followers are actually responding to. Finally, I will adjust the time frame to 30 days so it’s the same as what else we’ve been looking at on the account. The way you can adjust metrics and post options is the same no matter what kind of content you’re sharing so play around with that some! 

How to Use Your Insights to Plan Content 

Now that you know how to review and understand your Instagram insights, you need to use them to help your account and content creation. First, make sure that you’re regularly checking in on your analytics so that you can see what’s working well. If you aren’t looking at what’s working well, it will take you much longer to grow your account. Understanding what your audience wants and interacts with is crucial to create the right kind of content for your community. 

Allow your insights to guide what kind of content you make on Instagram in the future. Take the time to review what’s working well. Maybe your lip sync Reels work well but your regular talking ones don’t. That’s important to know when you’re planning the type of content you’re using. Everyone’s audience is different and so it’s important to know what YOU need – not what someone says you should do. 

If you want more help, make sure to check out my FREE Reels Class because Reels are one of the best ways to grow your Instagram account. I also have my FREE Reels Growth Facebook community for help and tips for Instagram Reels!