The Elements of a Successful

Instagram Marketing Strategy

Video: Determining if Instagram is Right for Your Business

In the digital age, the significance of growing your business through social media can’t be
overstated. Among the abundance of social media platforms, Instagram stands out as a
critical tool for marketing strategies, boasting over 2 billion monthly active users. Over
20% of all active internet users use Instagram daily. Its visually driven nature, combined
with extensive reach, offers unique opportunities for businesses to engage with their
target audience.

Here’s Frank Emanuele, senior social manager at Wistia, on why Instagram is important
for businesses:

Frank Emanuele: Instagram is so important for businesses because it's such a large user
base. There's billions and billions of people on there every month. It's a very visual
medium. It's a very high engagement medium, and the marketing capabilities that it has
built in just make it an essential and a perfect fit for any digital strategy.

While it’s true that Instagram will benefit most businesses, that doesn’t mean it’s for
everyone. Let’s dig a bit deeper to determine if Instagram makes sense for your business.

To start, check to see if your competitors are using Instagram. If they’re posting regularly,
then you should be, too.

Next, determine who your ideal buyer is and check to see if they’re on Instagram. If you
already have buyer personas and other marketing strategies in place, you can draw from
those to help. Some factors to consider when narrowing down your target Instagram
audience are age, location, gender, income, interests, motivations, and pain points.

If you’re still unsure, you can monitor popular event and interest hashtags that are related
to your business. Find out who’s using and engaging with the hashtags and check out
their profiles. You can also take a look at your competitor’s followers.

Then, consider whether your product or service is visually compelling. If so, Instagram is
definitely a channel where you can excel. You might expect that the fashion, jewelry, and
beauty industries receive the most engagement. While that may have once been true,
TikTok has shifted users’ attention. According to Socialinsider, education, non-profits,
airlines, software, and hotels have the most engagement on Instagram these days.

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HubSpot is a great case in point. As a B2B service, HubSpot doesn’t have a tangible
product you can touch and easily photograph, but there’s a good reason they have over
half a million followers on Instagram. HubSpot showcases its company culture, shares
industry news and stats its followers love, and teaches quick tips about social media and
other industry topics. While their feed may not be filled with professional photographs, it’s
filled with compelling graphics that support these content pillars.

Finally, consider how your business goals will align with your goals for Instagram. If your
goal is to increase sales, but you’re a B2B company, you might have a harder time than a
B2C company that can take advantage of direct-purchase advertising.

Frank Emmanuele: Your Instagram strategy should always ladder up to your business
goals. If you're not laddering up to your business goals, you're not going to have a lot of
success. If your goal is social selling, for example, your content should focus on
showcasing those products, including strong CTAs for how to get in touch with your team,
how to get a demo, things like that. If your goal is to build brand awareness, then you
may post more lifestyle content, educational content, aspirational content. And then, you
know, it all comes down to if you know the why. If you know the why, that's going to
determine what you should post, how to measure performance, and how to know if it's
working. You can use the Instagram analytics tools to tell you if this is supporting the
business goals that I have, because you've designed your program with that in mind from
the beginning.

To better understand if Instagram is a fit for you, let’s review the best ways to use it to
market your business.

● Brand awareness: Increase the visibility and recognition of your brand.

● Customer delight: Engage with customers in a way that exceeds their expectations
and makes them happy.
● Customer loyalty and retention: Foster relationships with customers and encourage
loyalty to your brand.
● Attracting new prospects: Reach a wider audience and attract potential customers.
● Directing sales for B2C companies: Drive direct sales for business-to-consumer
companies.
● Advertising: Use paid promotions to reach a targeted audience and promote your
products or services.

Once you have a sense of whether the channel is right for you, you’ll want to decide what
key performance indicators (KPIs) to track. Is it increased engagement? Followers? Be
sure to map these KPIs ahead of time since they’ll help you make key decisions regarding
content, campaign, and advertising strategies.

Let’s hear from Dhariana Lozano, brand strategy consultant at Block & Ave, on how to
determine which metrics to pay attention to:

Dhariana Lozano:When it comes to Instagram insights and what you should be paying
attention to, you have to go back to your goals — that's why goals are so important in an

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Instagram strategy. So, depending on what you wanted to do, that would determine what
metrics you look at. But in general, I think good metrics to look at are the click-through
rate, especially if people are actually clicking the link in your bio (if you're asking them to
do that). And then engagement — not just likes, but actually people leaving you
comments. Pay attention to what content your audience is saving, and that'll give you an
idea of what they're really interested in and what things they want to come back and look
at — because that's why we save posts, right? You save a recipe because you want to
come back and look at it. Pay attention to what people are doing beyond liking. Liking is a
very passive thing; you can scroll and like, and not even read what you're doing. But when
you're saving a post, or you're taking the time to comment, that means that you're much
more interested in the content, and it resonates with you enough to take the time to take
an extra action.

Since Instagram can be one of the highest-performing social platforms in your marketing
arsenal, it’s important to use it authentically.

That means you shouldn’t buy followers. Fake followers are less engaged and unlikely to
buy your product. Quality over quantity should always be your motto in the social media
world — and that’s true of Instagram, too. It also means that you should provide more
than just pretty pictures. Your followers want value, information, or entertainment, so try
to provide a good mix of content that meets all three of those desires.

Make sure to be consistent, too. Don’t be a once-in-a-while poster of pictures, and don’t
just randomly share images and videos without a plan behind them. Your followers will
appreciate consistent and cohesive content across your feed and stories.

When you’re using Instagram authentically, you blend more seamlessly into the broader
Instagram content without coming across like you’re merely pushing marketing messages
and advertising at your audience. Participate in the feed as an individual, like how your
friends would, rather than participating as a brand that’s intruding in the space.

Embracing Instagram as a marketing tool requires thoughtful consideration and strategic

planning to ensure authenticity and engagement with your audience. By leveraging its
visual nature and strategic tools, businesses can build brand awareness, foster customer
loyalty, attract new prospects, and drive sales. Remember to focus on quality over
quantity, provide value to your followers, and maintain a consistent content strategy to
maximize your impact on this dynamic platform.

Video: Optimizing Your Instagram Business Profile

There are two key pieces to your Instagram strategy: your content, which is what you
post, and your profile, which will be viewed by those interested in your brand. It’s
important to optimize your business profile to make sure you’re maximizing some of the
opportunities it can bring to your strategy, such as improved searchability, external links,
and heightened brand awareness. You’ll want to keep your profile updated based on
changing business goals, campaigns that you’re highlighting, and more.

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It’s likely you may already have an Instagram account. If that’s the case, check yourself
against the following tips to make sure you’re optimizing your profile for success. If not,
these tips will help you as you set it up.

First, make sure that your account is connected to a business email so your profile isn’t
linked to your personal Facebook account. Note that your business doesn’t need to have a
Facebook account to use Instagram. Still, you’ll want to consider having both to take
advantage of all the options available to you, especially when it comes to advertising.

Then, if you haven’t already, switch to an Instagram business profile by following these
steps in the resources section.

A business profile gives you access to Instagram Business Insights, their analytics
program that lets you track how your content is performing and who it’s reaching. It also
lets you share more important contact fields in your bio, boost posts with advertising,
create shoppable posts and branded content tags, and schedule posts and Reels. You’ll
also have the option to display or hide your business category and contact information on
your profile.

Now it’s time to create your business profile. When creating a business profile on
Instagram, there are several important factors to consider:

First, choose a unique and memorable username that represents your brand or business.
If possible, use the same username across all your social media channels, not just
Instagram. Make sure it's easy to spell and pronounce and that it's available as a web
URL. If your business name is taken, try to keep the first part of your business name in
your username. Avoid using numbers if you can, as you might be seen as a spam account.
For example, if a hypothetical business named 'Luxe Creations' finds that the username
'luxecreations' is already taken, they could consider a variation such as
'Luxe_Creations_Official' or 'Luxe.Creations.Studio' to maintain brand consistency while
ensuring uniqueness.

Note that you can easily change your username when you need to in the settings, but if
you’re a verified Meta account, you’ll need to re-verify your information when you do so —
more on this later.

Next, choose a profile picture. Your profile picture will be one of the first things people see
when searching for and visiting your profile, so keep your image consistent with your
branding and visual markers. Consider using your logo or another familiar image, but
keep in mind that your profile image is circular. Instagram will automatically crop your
photo to fit inside the circle, so leave room around the corners of your image. There’s a
link in the resources section that details the various image sizes on Instagram. Don't
deviate too far from the minimum listed, or users will see a blurry or stretched photo when
visiting your profile page.

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Then, optimize your Instagram bio. Bios have a 150-character maximum, so you’ll need to
be direct and concise. Tell your audience who you are and what you do using a hint of
personality. Include crucial keywords in your bio to boost SEO. You can also use hashtags
and @mention others (like @hubspot) to increase your search presence. Additionally, by
incorporating your industry-specific keywords into your subtitle, you'll have a higher
chance of being discovered through Instagram's explore tab search feature.

You’ll also want to consider using emojis and line breaks to make your bio stand out. The
bio is your prime spot for a clickable link; keep it up-to-date with your current promotions,
prompt visitors with a call-to-action, and consider using a link shortener like Bit.ly for
better tracking.

Here’s Dhariana Lozano, brand strategy consultant at Block & Ave, with more tips for
optimizing your business profile:

Dhariana Lozano: Some things that you should keep in mind while you're fleshing out your
Instagram business profile is making sure that your links are correct in your bio. I see it so
often when you click on a link and it's broken, or maybe the person isn't selling that thing
anymore. Another thing to keep in mind is to maybe stay away from using too much
technical jargon. Try to look at your profile from an outsider's perspective. Put yourself in
the shoes of someone who's never seen your profile before. Can they get the gist of who
you are, because we only have a couple of seconds to capture attention, and then also tell
people who we are and why they should follow us.

When it comes to links, Instagram now offers several avenues for promoting clickthroughs
to landing pages. Business accounts can now feature up to five clickable links directly in
their bios. You can also include links in Instagram Stories or Reels, or use a link
aggregator, like LinkTree, to enable even more links. Check out the resources section for
the link to LinkTree.

Note that it’s important to make sure your links lead to a mobile-optimized site. Since the
vast majority of users are viewing Instagram on mobile, you want to make sure any site
you redirect them to provides an optimal user experience, especially if you’re looking for
an immediate purchase on a clickthrough.

Next, let’s discuss your Instagram business category. This should be the same as the
category you picked for your Facebook business page. However, you can add more
granularity by clicking Edit Profile and scrolling to the Business Information
category. You can choose from categories like digital creator, health/beauty,
product/service, restaurant, and many more.

If you’re a brick-and-mortar company, make sure to add your address into your settings
to enable map directions for users. If you’re a service that uses a reservation system like
Yelp or OpenTable, or sells tickets through services such as Eventbrite, you’ll also want to
add the right action button, such as Reserve, Support, or Shop. There are a variety of
services to connect to, so check them out to see if they’re right for you.

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If you’re a small company with little time to develop different content for Instagram and
Facebook, you can manage your crossposting settings in the section Who can see your
content? In addition to settings for crossposting, you can also manage your account
privacy, close friends, blocked users, and some Story settings.

Last but not least, be sure to update your account settings. From your Instagram profile,
click the upper-right menu bar, then click Settings and privacy. Here, you’ll be able to do
things like change your password, check out posts you’ve liked, enable notifications,
moderate your content, access your ad tools, and more. If you scroll down, you’ll find the
section on How others can interact with you?

In this section, you can manage:

● Who can see and reply to your posts and Stories.
● Who can tag and @mention your account.
● Who can leave you comments.
● Who can share and remix your content.
● Your restrictions and limited interactions.

Take some time to go through these settings to help manage your content and the way
your audience interacts with your account.

Let’s hear from Frank Emanuele, senior marketing manager at Wistia on more ways to set
your profile up for success.

Frank Emanuele: When you're building your business's Instagram profile, think of how
someone stumbling across it would react. So, when you look at a friend's Instagram
profile, what do you see? You see the people, the places, and the activities that matter
most to them. You see the things that make up their personality and tell the story of who
they are.

Similarly, you want to make sure that your business's Instagram page is authentic and is
telling your brand story — showing off your brand's personality, so that it can be an
extension of your brand. It should be cohesive, and it should blend and go together with
all the rest of your branding and marketing efforts, and then present this consistent image
to your audience.

You don't want to just be listing facts and figures in it, ‘here's why our product or service is
the best.’ You want to share the purpose, mission, reason that you're there, and the things
that make your business unique. That's what's going to help build trust and affinity with
your target customers at first glance, and as they dive deeper and build a relationship
with you, those facts and figures will start to speak for themselves.

Finally, do you manage multiple accounts? No problem. Instagram allows users to add up
to five accounts, so you can quickly switch between them without logging in and out. You
can also have multiple people logged into the account at one time. To add an account, go
to Settings and privacy, then Accounts Center. Scroll to the bottom and click Accounts to
add another.

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Once you create or switch to a business profile, you may want to consider Meta's
Verification for Business subscription. This paid service allows eligible businesses to
establish a verified presence on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook.

Meta now offers four verification packages at different price points, each with a set of
benefits:

● A verified badge to confirm your account's authenticity

● Account protection, including impersonation monitoring
● Dedicated account support
● Exclusive features like links in Reels and customized messaging chats (depending
on the package)

Higher-tier packages also provide additional perks such as enhanced profile options,
search optimization, featured account placement, and semi-annual account reviews by
Meta experts.

Businesses can subscribe to verify one or both of their Instagram and Facebook profiles,
with discounted rates available for verifying both profiles simultaneously. The specific cost
and benefits will depend on the chosen package tier.

Check out the resources section to learn more about eligibility requirements, pricing, and
how to subscribe your profile to Meta Verified.

There you have it! You now have everything you need to optimize your Instagram profile
to help your business grow better.

Video: Understanding Instagram Algorithms

When it comes to any social media platform, one of the most common questions a
marketer might ask is “How do I work with the algorithm so that the most people see my
content?” When it comes to Instagram, there’s multiple algorithms to consider. Meta —
their parent company — tells us that, “We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and
processes, each with its own purpose. We want to make the most of people’s time, and we
believe that using technology to personalize everyone’s experience is the best way to do
that.”

Let’s start by reviewing some helpful tips about how to use Instagram before going over
its various algorithms.

The Instagram algorithm prioritizes high-quality content that sparks genuine

engagement. While visual appeal, like well-composed images and crisp videos, is
important, the ability to provide value to your viewer will determine success.

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Think of ways to educate, entertain, inspire, or simply make someone's day brighter. The
algorithm favors posts that encourage interaction, whether it be through thoughtful
captions, polls, or questions,.

Relationships and interactions ‌also matter, so it’s important to focus on building

community. Instagram is a social network. The algorithm recognizes and rewards active
participation. That’s why you should comment on other creators' posts, respond
thoughtfully to DMs, and participate in conversations within your niche. Building authentic
relationships not only benefits you algorithmically, but it also leads to a richer Instagram
experience.

Originality is crucial in content creation. While engaging with trends can be beneficial, it's
important to develop a unique voice and present fresh, original content that reflects your
brand's personality. This not only helps in building a genuine connection with your
audience but also complies with Instagram's 2024 guidelines.

Instagram now prioritizes original content in its recommendations, including Explore,

Reels, and in-feed suggestions. Reposted content that isn't significantly altered is less
likely to appear in these areas and will be relabeled to credit the original creator.
Furthermore, accounts that frequently repost others' content without significant
modification will be excluded from content recommendations.

Next, it’s also important to pay attention to the details. Researching relevant hashtags
strategically, including location tags, and using Instagram Insights to understand when
your audience is most active all contribute to making sure your content gets in front of the
right people at the right time.

Lastly, be sure to fill your feed with dynamic content. Don't limit yourself to one format.
Mix up static images, carousels, eye-catching Reels, and informative Stories to cater to
different preferences. A diverse feed keeps your audience engaged and eager to see what
you'll share next.

Now, let’s talk about the various algorithms across Instagram, starting with Instagram
Reels.

Instagram has heavily invested in its Reels feature to compete with the short-form video
dominance of TikTok. In fact, if you aren’t using Reels, you’re losing the Instagram game,
as it’s the feature given the highest priority within the platform. Understanding the unique

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way Instagram's algorithm prioritizes Reels is crucial for success with this format. Here
are some tips:

Instagram has updated its Reels discovery algorithm to provide a fair chance of exposure
for all creators, regardless of their follower count. Now, every Reel that adheres to
Instagram’s guidelines — original, watermark-free, and compliant with community
standards — is shown to a targeted audience that might not follow the creator. Based on
audience engagement, successful Reels gain traction and progressively reach wider
audiences. This new approach, already in place, democratizes content visibility, allowing
quality Reels to shine and potentially go viral.

When it comes to Reels, focus on short, vertical videos. Reels are designed for quick,
attention-grabbing content. Embrace the 9:16 vertical aspect ratio. This format aligns with
how people naturally hold their phones and optimizes for full-screen viewing. Keep videos
around 30 seconds or less. While they can be as long as 10 minutes, Instagram says that
posting Reels that are longer than 90 seconds can hurt distribution.

Quality counts. Low-resolution, blurry, or poorly lit videos won't cut it. Prioritize
high-quality visuals, clear audio, and creative editing. Invest time in making sure your
Reels are polished, as a sloppy presentation can signal low value to the algorithm.

Avoid TikTok watermarks. The Instagram algorithm actively downranks Reels containing
visible TikTok watermarks. This emphasizes the platform's desire for original,
platform-specific content. If you must repurpose content, edit out watermarks, or create
your Reel from scratch within Instagram.

Engagement is king. As with other formats, the algorithm rewards Reels that get people
talking, sharing, and coming back for more. Likes, comments, saves, views, and how often
your Reel is shared all signal to Instagram that your content is worth surfacing to a wider
audience. Structure your Reels with captivating hooks, calls-to-action, and elements that
encourage interaction.

Here’s Frank Emanuele, senior marketing manager at Wistia, with more about the
algorithm

Frank Emanuele: The Instagram algorithm aims to provide users with the most engaging,
the most relevant, and the most personalized content based on their own relationships,
their interests, and their activities on the platform. So what you want to do as a brand is
optimize for those factors. Look to maximize your organic reach on the platform as well as
using paid strategies.

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You want to look at engagement. The algorithm is going to prioritize the posts that
receive high engagement and accounts that regularly have a history of high engagement.
The way to do that is to be posting often, to take note of what gets engagement, and then
to put your energy behind the things that get that engagement. You're not going to do it
overnight. You need to work at it and build engagement over time.

Another thing that the Instagram algorithm is going to promote is recency. It has a bias
towards things that are newer. The way you can make sure you always have something
recent is by posting frequently, and the more frequently you post, the more engagement
you're going to start to build up over time. The content quality underlies all of this. If you
don't have quality content, you're not going to get good engagement, and the rest of it
won't follow. Since Instagram's algorithm is tracking user activity and what people have
engaged with, it's going to personalize that content to them, it's going to start to show
content to similar audiences to your audience. The better your content is, the better you
make it, the more engagement you start to get, the more it pops up in other people's
feeds, and the more that starts to grow, and you become sort of this self-perpetuating
machine that rolls and rolls and grows with time. But you gotta keep working at it and
keep putting your creative effort into it.

To get more engagement, consider using sound. While most people tend to watch videos
with the sound off, Instagram’s algorithm records when users engage with the sound
levels of videos, which means this interaction can help boost your Reels.

Instagram Stories is another feature with its own algorithm.

Unlike the Feed and Reels sections, the Instagram Stories algorithm isn't as heavily
focused on widespread virality. Instead, it prioritizes surfacing content from accounts you
already have established connections with. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Relationships are key. The algorithm favors Stories from accounts you regularly interact
with. This includes viewing their profiles, reacting to their Stories, and exchanging DMs.
This emphasis on established relationships encourages genuine engagement over a focus
on fleeting views.

Completion matters. Watching a user's Stories in their entirety signals strong interest to
the algorithm. This prioritizes accounts whose content consistently keeps you captivated
over those you might quickly skip through.

Notifications are more important than likes. If you've turned on post notifications for a
specific account, their Stories will be placed at the front of your Stories feed, regardless of

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the traditional like-based system. This makes sure you never miss content from your
favorite creators.

Explore-page interaction shapes your Stories. Your activity on the Explore page influences
the types of Stories suggested to you and vice versa. Interacting with content around
certain topics within Explore will lead to related Stories appearing in your feed more
frequently.

The next algorithm is the Feed algorithm, which offers a balance between showing you
what you've expressly indicated interest in (by following accounts) and algorithmically
suggesting content you may find engaging.

The Feed combines followed and recommended content. Your main feed is no longer
strictly chronological. It displays posts from accounts you follow mixed in with suggested
content based on your activity and interests.

Let’s hear from Dhariana Lozano, brand strategy consultant at Block & Ave., on how to
make sure your content gets seen.

Dhariana Lozano: When it comes to the Instagram algorithm and what people see, there
are several factors that come into play. One of the main ones is something that we can't
control, and it's how your customers are using Instagram. So, what kind of content they're
actually interacting with — that's what's going to get pulled into their explore feed. The
other factors that come into play are relevancy and if that person has interacted with your
content before. So the Instagram algorithm just takes a lot of different pieces and puts
them together in order to feed people what they think is going to be interesting for them.
To ensure that your content is being seen by the right people, there are different things
you can do. One of them is to use keywords in your content, in your captions, that are
going to be what your ideal audience is searching for. The other thing you can do is go out
and interact with people that fit your ideal client persona, and that should help you
appear more in the feeds that you want to appear in.

Interaction is paramount. The feed heavily prioritizes posts from accounts you often
engage with likes, comments, saves, and shares. This means that brands need to make
sure they're directly engaging with their audience for their content to show up more
organically in feeds.
Meta suggests posting a Reel, carousel, or static post at least 3-5 times a week to be
boosted by the algorithm. Stories don’t influence the algorithm, so keep that in mind.
They’re already great for engagement, so the algorithm doesn’t take them into account

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when boosting the content in other areas, such as Explore.

Timing and metadata also matter. While less influential than interactions, the algorithm
does consider how recently a post was shared, whether it includes location tags, and the
type of media (photo, video, carousel). Newer posts are generally favored, and location
tags can increase visibility in relevant searches.

Dwell time is important, too. The algorithm tracks how long you spend looking at specific
posts. Longer viewing times, especially on videos or carousels, suggest higher
engagement, potentially influencing that content's reach.

The final algorithm works with the Explore Page — a powerful discovery tool within
Instagram, tailored to each individual user. It's where you'll likely encounter new accounts,
content formats, and topics‌aligned with your interests. Understanding the algorithm's
workings helps you strategically engage for a more personalized and fulfilling experience.

Your interests shape Explore content. The Explore algorithm analyzes your past
interactions, like posts you've liked, saved, shared, or spent time viewing. It uses this data
to determine themes, topics, and overall aesthetics you gravitate towards, suggesting
similar content.

Rapid engagement boosts visibility. The algorithm tracks how quickly other users engage
with a post (likes, comments, shares). Content gaining rapid traction is more likely to
surface in Explore, as it signals the potential for wider appeal.

Network connections also matter. Instagram may suggest content from accounts that
multiple people you follow also interact with. This social aspect can lead you to discover
popular creators within your extended network.

Hashtag and location relevance help tailor content. The algorithm learns your preferences
when you interact with posts containing specific hashtags or location tags. It'll then
suggest related content, increasing discoverability within your niche or geographical area.

Meta suggests the following when it comes to hashtags:

● Use 3-8 hashtags for optimal engagement.

● Always incorporate hashtags directly into the post's main caption, not in the first
comment.
● Choose hashtags that align with your specific niche or intended audience.

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 ● Using viral or generalized tags doesn't affect the algorithm.

And surprisingly, don’t use more than 8 hashtags or it might backfire on you. If you stack
more than 8 hashtags, the algorithm doesn't always disperse your content effectively,
especially towards the latter hashtags. Therefore, choose your tags wisely and stick to the
golden number between 3 and 8.

Remember, ‌Instagram algorithms are always adapting. Stay informed by following official
Instagram accounts for updates and analyzing your own performance data. Focus on
creating consistently high-quality content, building community, and using strategic
optimization techniques. This creates a solid foundation for success regardless of minor
algorithm shifts. With dedication, you can thrive on Instagram well into the future.

Video: Making the Most of Instagram Insights

Instagram Insights is a treasure trove of data hidden within your Instagram Business or
Creator account. It's your analytical best friend, revealing not only how many people see
your content but also who they are and how they interact with it.

Understanding Instagram Insights is crucial for anyone aiming to grow and optimize their
presence on the platform. It holds the keys to unlocking a deeper understanding of your
audience and crafting a more effective content strategy, no matter if you're a business
owner, influencer, or simply curious about your social media impact.

To access Instagram Insights, you'll first need to have either a Business or Creator
account. Switching is simple within your Instagram settings. Once you've converted your
account, there are two ways to access Insights:

The first is from your profile. Select the top right corner dropdown, then scroll to Insights.
This will give you a 7-day and 30-day view of all your content, outlining overall
engagement trends, follower increases and decreases, and your profile reach.

You can also see Insights on an individual post by clicking the link right below the image.
You can find out how many engagements, saves, DMs, and comments your post
generated. You can see if the post is driving people to your profile or if they’re clicking
through on the link to your website embedded in your profile. You can also see the
accounts reached by this post and whether they were following you or not beforehand.
You can even find out where the audience is finding your content from.

If you need a walkthrough on how to switch to a business account, or how to use

Instagram Insights step-by-step, check out the resources for a link. Note: Your Instagram

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ad campaign results aren’t viewable in Insights — they’re viewable in Meta Business Suite,
which has additional functionality for managing metrics.

Let’s go over how you should be thinking about the data you collect using Insights.

Instagram Insights are organized into five main categories:

● Account: This is information about your Instagram account, including the number
of followers, follower growth rate, and the top countries and cities your followers
are located.
● Posts: This section gives you data about your individual posts, including the
number of likes, comments, shares, and impressions. You can also see which types
of posts perform best and which days of the week and times of day tend to
generate the most engagement.
● Reach: This provides information about the number of people who have viewed
your posts, including the number of impressions and the reach of each post.
● Engagement: This area gives you data about the interactions your followers have
had with your posts, including likes, comments, and shares.
● Followers: This is information about your followers, including their age, gender, and
interests.

Kara Boatner, social media manager at Sock Club and Frank Emanuele, social media
manager at Wistia, share their thoughts on how to think about Instagram Insights:

Kara Boatner: Some key metrics that you should be looking for on Instagram, especially,
is the engagement rate. Simply looking at like count doesn't accurately paint the picture
for the performance of your posts. For each Instagram post, I aim to reach an
engagement rate of at least 5% to ensure that content is resonating with our audience.

In addition to the engagement rate, reach is also a good indicator of how content is
performing. It gives social media managers a good idea of how the algorithm is pushing
their content and testing different strategies, such as different formats and posting at
different optimal times, can help increase your reach across the board.

Lastly, take a look at your top posts on a regular basis to help shape future content
calendars. If your audience is already responding to certain posts, don't reinvent the
wheel, simply revamp it. Turn some popular posts into a post series to keep them coming
back for more.

Frank Emanuele: When we think about analytics and insights on Instagram, the big thing
to focus on is the metrics that directly align with your business's specific goals. There's no

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one metric that's the cure-all or the right answer for everyone; it's going to be specific to
what your needs are. So whether that's driving website traffic, increasing brand
awareness, or boosting engagement, if you're closely monitoring these KPIs, you can start
to optimize and continually optimize over time for maximum impact.

Some of the key metrics you might want to look at are how many accounts have you
reached? That's a good indicator of your ability to drive awareness. You also want to look
at your engagement rate — what percentage of your followers are actively engaging with
your content by liking, commenting, sharing, saving. A high engagement rate is going to
signal that we're doing something right and we're getting through to the people that
matter to us most. T

hen you also want to look at things like your website clicks, if that's a major goal for you.
See where the clicks are coming from, what's your CTR, how does that go up and down
over time. Of course, things like follower growth are going to be helpful as well. What are
the audience demographics looking like? Do they align with your ideal customer? And how
is your content performing overall?

But really, at the end of the day, it's about what are the metrics that matter most to your
business? What does success look like for your business? And what are the ways that
Instagram can help bolster those things? Keeping track of that and consistently looking at
the analytics, looking at what you're posting, and seeing how you can make changes in
real time to optimize. That's how you're going to make the best use of Instagram insights
for your business.

Now, let's get tactical. Here's how to turn raw data into meaningful growth:

First, let’s discuss reach vs. impressions. Reach is about exposure to new eyes.
Impressions are the total times your post was seen (including repeat views). Ideally, you
want both to grow. High reach indicates new audience potential, while more impressions
mean existing followers are deeply engaged.

Next, consider how you’re using Instagram to drive traffic. Do your Instagram efforts pay
off? Track website clicks and profile visits to see if you're successfully encouraging people
to take the next step, whether it's learning more on your website or exploring your profile
further.

Don’t just measure vanity metrics such as likes. Instead, consider the different types of
engagement you receive. Many comments mean you spark conversation, while lots of
saves might indicate people find your content valuable enough to reference later. This tells
you what to create more of.

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Here’s Jenny Li Fowler, social media director atMIT and author of “Organic Social Media”
with more on Insights:

Jenny Li Fowler: When it comes to Instagram insights. I tend to look at the public
interactions — meaning the shares, the comments, the reactions, and the likes. But one
that I look for in particular is the “from explore option,” which you don't always see. So if
you see that feature, it means that your post is doing well enough that the algorithm
decided to feed it to other users for for explore pages, which means that there's a new
audience that's seeing your content for the first time, so I always tend to look for that one.

You also need to determine if you’re reaching the right audience. Follower demographics
help you tailor content with their age, interests, and activity patterns in mind. Content that
feels tailor-made for your followers will perform better organically.

If you have a sense of what your audience wants, and when they’re online, you’ll be able
to shift your strategy to be there when they’re ready to hear your message. For example,
many B2B brands on Instagram find that the weekends aren't a great time to post. It
makes sense, logically, since many businesses are closed on the weekends. Don’t fight
against your audience’s tendencies in an effort to post every day. If you don’t think you’ll
get engagement on a Saturday post, then skip it. Conversely, consumer-facing brands on
Instagram might find the weekends are when a majority of their sales are happening via
the platform because that’s when their audience has free time to go shopping.

One thing to keep in mind is that data alone won't grow your account. Ask yourself why
certain posts do well. Why'd it grab attention? Was it the topic? The visual style? The time
of day it was posted? Use these insights to replicate success, not just copy random posts.

Regularly monitoring these insights will help you identify important details about your
audience, which content resonates best with them, and how your promotional efforts are
doing. Understanding these metrics is a crucial component to your Instagram marketing
strategy, so make sure you're looking at them regularly and adjusting your strategy along
the way.

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