Instagram Insights plays an important role for Instagram users seeking reach and growth. Whether you use Instagram to build your online presence as an influencer or to promote your business, Instagram Insights provides beneficial data for tweaking your strategy.
In this guide, we explain Instagram Insights, including what it is, how to find it in the Instagram apps, and what metrics it includes. Use the following links to jump to the section you would like to learn more about or read all the way through for a complete Instagram Insights overview:
- What is Instagram Insights?
- Instagram Insights Metrics
- How to View Instagram Insights
- Should I Use Instagram Insights?
- Frequently Asked Questions about Instagram Insights
What is Instagram Insights?
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Instagram Insights is Instagram’s analytics tool that lets Instagram users better understand their audience and reach. Instagram Insights shows users both an overview of their Instagram account and more specific information for each post, Reel, or story. Using this information, users can shape their Instagram strategy by posting more content that performs well or targeting specific audiences.
Instagram Insights Metrics
Instagram Insights provides several metrics, some applying to your overall account and others applying to individual posts:
- Total followers: The total number of followers you’ve gained or lost in the period you set, like the last week or month.
- Follower data: Tap on the number of followers to learn more about your followers’ locations, genders, age ranges, and active times.
- Accounts reached: The number of accounts your content has reached within the specified time period. Tap the metric to see a drill down for stories, Reels, and posts.
- Accounts engaged: The number of accounts that interacted with yours in the specified time period. Tapping this metric provides a further breakdown of top posts, post likes, top Reels, and Reels likes.
- Content you shared: This area shows the pieces of content you shared, including posts, stories, and Reels. Tap on a piece of content to see its specific metrics, like reach and engagement.
- Impressions: The number of impressions a piece of content has, meaning how many times it was shown to other Instagram users.
- Story interactions: How many shares or replies your story has.
- Story navigation: What people do when they come across your story, such as forward through your next story or exit the story.
- Profile activity: The profile actions visitors to your story take when they view your story, such as visiting your profile or following your account.
- Ad: When viewing a specific post that’s been promoted with Boost, this section shows ad-specific information, like the number of messages or profile visits the promotion resulted in.
How to View Instagram Insights
To view Instagram Insights, make sure you have a business or creator profile on Instagram. To switch to a professional account, go to your profile and navigate to Settings and privacy. Then, tap Account type and tools, followed by Switch to professional account.
Once your account is set to a business or creator account, you can visit your profile, tap the ☰ symbol, and then tap on Insights, as shown in the screenshot below.
Once you’ve arrived in the Insights area, you can tap on individual pieces of content to see more information or browse your profile’s overall stats.
If you want to check the data for a specific post, you can visit your profile, find and tap on the post, and tap the View insights link below the post to go directly to its Insights page.
Should I Use Instagram Insights?
Almost anyone interested in growing their Instagram account for personal or business purposes can benefit from understanding how to use Instagram Insights. This simple tool drills down the most important stats about an Instagram profile and its content, helping creators target their audiences better.
Instagram Insights is just one piece of the puzzle, though, as a lot more goes into a solid Instagram strategy. Follow along with our Instagram marketing guides to learn more about creating giveaways, sharing posts, pinning comments, starting Instagram collabs, and more. Also, grab the Instagram Follow Button for your website to link your website visitors to your page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Instagram Insights
Can anyone use Instagram Insights?
Instagram Insights is only available to creator or business accounts on Instagram. If you currently have a personal account, you can switch to a business or creator account in the Settings and privacy section of Instagram. Tap Account type and tools, followed by Switch to professional account.
Does Instagram Insights show you who viewed your profile?
Although Instagram Insights displays information about the number of people who visited your profile in a specified timeframe, it does not tell you the accounts that viewed it. Instead, you can learn more about the gender, age range, and location of visitors and followers, which can help you determine what type of people generally interact with your account the most.
What can Instagram Insights help me with?
Instagram Insights offers helpful information for growing an Instagram account by producing content your audience is drawn to. With Instagram Insights, you can learn the average demographics of people who visit your profile, what people do when they view your story, how popular a piece of content is, and other metrics that help you to tweak your content strategy.
