Want to know how to see Instagram analytics? Look no further – I’ve rounded up a list of the top apps for desktop and mobile users. These tools are great for those beginning their Instagram marketing journey as well as experienced pros, so be sure to check out my recommendations in order to stay ahead of the curve in 2023 and beyond.
The Importance of Instagram Analytics
Without a doubt, analytics is the key to unlocking your Instagram growth. Without data & analytics tools, you’d probably be looking at your Instagram profile saying:
“Why am I not seeing results from Instagram marketing?”
“Hmm am I losing my followers?”
“Why people don’t like my posts anymore?”
Instead of being confused or googling ” Am I being shadowbanned?” — look at your Instagram insights. They can tell you a quick story about your profile without letting you get panicked for no reason.
Let’s say you’re wondering: “Is my Instagram profile losing followers?” Of course, you’ve noticed your account isn’t growing, but are your really losing followers or your existing followers are inactive??
Analytics can show you this in a chart that’s easy to understand by beginners. Once you learn how to look at various metrics you can understand why you’re losing followers.
In this post, I will show you how to use Instagram analytics and a few tips on how to improve your content strategy with the right metrics and tools.
Top 4 Ways Instagram Analytics Helps You In Marketing
Instagram Analytics can be used for a range of different purposes:
#1: Analytics Helps You Learn ALL About Your Customers
Level of difficulty: Beginner, Easy
One of the ways to use analytics is to understand your customers. Knowing exactly who follows your Instagram profile can help you launch products & services they’re most likely to buy.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when analysing your audience:
- What are your follower’s demographics?
- Which locations do your followers come from?
- Are you attracting the right followers?
Metrics to track: Followers, Locations, Age & Gender, Interests
Tools to get customer insights
The Instagram app, Facebook insights and most free social media analytics tools show you stats about your followers.
#2: You Can Spy On Your Competitors’ Instagram Strategy
Level of difficulty: Expert, Hard
Knowing your competitors’ strategy and tactics used on social media is a little more complicated than measuring your own profile analytics. That’s why you need better tools (usually paid), templates and a process of using that information.
Here are some important things you need to know when spying on your competitors:
- What is their posting strategy (time, location, frequency)
- The types of posts (topics, format, hashtags) they’re doing well
- What content can you adopt & do it better?
Metrics to track: engagement rate, engagement vs competitor, best times to post, competitor hashtags, top posts vs competitors
Where to find data about Instagram competitors?
Here’s the main problem. You can’t log into an analytics tool using your competitor accounts’ and check their stats. However, some analytics apps offer competitor analytics features that allow you to spy on your rivals (including Pallyy, Notjustanalytics).
PS: If you want to learn how to spy on your competitors, I have a tutorial that teaches you how to do a Competitive Analysis on Instagram (+FREE Template). Check it out below.
#3: You Can Improve Your Strategy By Doing an Instagram Audit
Level of difficulty: Medium, Some marketing knowledge
If you’re looking to optimize your Instagram profile, an audit is a great place to start. An Instagram profile audit looks at your profile settings, content performance, and other data and provides helpful optimization suggestions. You can do a manual audit by using a checklist or spreadsheet template or auto-generate a report using an Instagram analytics tool.
Metrics to track:
The metrics you track will be different depending on your goal with Instagram marketing. For example, if your main goal is to increase lead generation, you’ll be tracking traffic to the website.
Here’s how to do an Instagram audit:
1: Set a marketing goal (eg. increase leads generation)
2: Identify metrics to track your goal (eg. no of leads from Instagram)
3: Profile optimization checklist (eg. Optimize CTAs in all posts to point to a lead generation form)
4: Identify growth strategies (eg. Influencer marketing, paid ads, guest posts)
Learn my process for auditing Instagram accounts and download the template I use for free (Free template)
#4: Analytics Help You Measure Performance Against Goals
Difficulty level: Medium, Some marketing knowledge
Analytics are a tool for marketers to track performance against a goal. As I mentioned above, the first step in building a marketing strategy is to set a SMART goal. But setting goals without measurement & tracking would be a waste of time.
Choosing the right metrics is essential to track your performance.
How do you know which metrics to track?
It all depends on the goal you’re trying to achieve. The table below is an example of metrics used to measure Instagram goals from brand awareness to lead generation.
| Instagram goals | Metrics to track |
| Brand Awareness | Followers Growth, Audience Reached, Stories Views, Reels Views |
| Leads Generation/ Sales | Product views (for Instagram Shops), Link in bio clicks, No of Enquiries in DMs, Website traffic from Instagram |
| Community Building | Engaged Audience, Story replies, Comments, Saves & Shares |
Top 3 Instagram Analytics Tools To Track Your Goals
How to see your Instagram analytics on mobile devices
#1. Instagram App
One of the best tools for beginners who want to analyze their Instagram content is the Insights feature available on the Instagram app itself. You can access it by going to your profile and clicking the [Insights] tab under your bio.
Pros:
The Instagram app has a good variety of insights, including:
- Followers stats (followers growth, location, age & gender, peak activity times)
- Account insights (accounts reached, accounts engaged, total followers)
- Post insights (sort posts by reach, likes, comments, etc.)
- Profile activity (profile visits, website taps, email button taps)
- Includes charts to help you visualise your performance
- It’s free to use
Cons:
- Only available for Business accounts
- Can’t check your competitor’s stats
- Can’t download analytics reports
- Insights up to 90 days only
How to see your Instagram analytics on desktop
If you want to access Instagram analytics on a desktop you’re going to have to use an analytics platform. Here are a few tools I’ve tested and recommend:
2. Iconosquare
This app is specifically built for Instagram marketers looking for detailed insights. It also has a unique feature called Instagram Audit where you can download a FREE status report of your Instagram performance. And for this alone, I would recommend you try this app.
Pros of Iconosquare:
- Easy to use dashboard, good variety of stats presented in a visually appealing way.
- Beginner friendly, and even experienced marketers will enjoy the simplicity.
Cons of Iconosquare:
- This app only offers insights for Instagram.
3. Pallyy
Pallyy is a social media scheduling app that comes with a complete Instagram analytics tool. You can check Instagram stats, track competitors’ performance and find your best times to post. If you’re a social media strategist, you can generate custom analytics reports and send them via email to your clients.
Pros of Pallyy:
- Customization for analytics reports.
- Includes competitor analytics tools.
- Tracks followers’ growth in multiple locations.
- Download & send email reports.
- Offers scheduling for all social media platforms.
- The workflows feature allows you to use drag-and-drop planning boards (Trello style)
Cons:
Insights and analytics are only available for InstagramUpdate: as of May 2022, Pallyy offers Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter analytics.- Does not have a free plan, but allows you to schedule 10 posts per mo. for FREE.
Conclusion: How to see Instagram analytics
Tracking Instagram analytics is key to succeeding on the platform and meeting your goals. With the help of a good analytics tool, you can measure your progress, identify weak points and optimize each post for higher engagement. By understanding the relevant metrics, you can develop an effective strategy to achieve success on Instagram.
I wish you a happy analysis and optimization!
PS: If you want to learn how to build a successful Instagram Strategy from zero, check out my online course below and get started!
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