The Internet – endless expanses. And yet, statistics prove that users spend most of their time on social networks. Therefore, these networks offer great marketing potential. Officially, 21 million people have been active on Instagram since 2021 – in Germany alone; worldwide there are over 1.2 billion. Marketing pays off here. And with great advantage: the social media monitoring. Every activity on Instagram can be examined for its success using a wide variety of key figures.
Instagram metrics?
KPIs, as key figures are called in technical jargon, provide information about how successful a marketing activity on Instagram is. The Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon defines the key performance indicators as (quote): general key figures […] that relate to the success, performance or utilization of the company, its individual organizational units or a machine.
Social media KPIs evaluate your account and its success using different analysis units.
Here are the most important Instagram KPIs from our point of view:
- Range
When monitoring your brand’s social media success, reach is one of the most important metrics. The reach of a post is subordinate to its impressions. Reach describes the number of unique accounts that saw your post. If the post is viewed several times by one account, it only counts once. The reach reveals how much attention and potential you actually achieve.
Important: Don’t confuse reach and impression. The number of impressions of a post is the total number of times a post or story has been viewed by Instagram users.
So if you want to optimize your brand presence and reach as many users as possible, then pay attention to reach.
- conversion rate
If a link placed – in the account or in the story – leads to a landing page that generates leads for you, a relative size can be calculated. This makes a statement about the relationship between link clicks and conversions .
However, conversion can also mean sales on Instagram. The platform has done a lot to help corporate accounts sell. One of the most effective: The clickable link in your story. Because links can be placed in your own profile description and in stories. Provided it is a verified (or has more than 10000 followers) account.
- interaction rate
or engagement rate. The interaction rate is a relative value and describes the relationship between the number of followers on an account and the interactions with certain posts . This gives an idea of how much their community actually likes to interact. He also gives feedback on the accuracy of your content.
Paying attention to your engagement rate is a step towards the long-term success of your social media marketing. Knowing what engages your audience on Instagram is invaluable for optimizing your strategy.
The click-through rate (ie clicking a link and new interaction at its destination) is just as much a part of your visitor’s engagement as likes, shares, saves and comments. More on that in a moment.
All users who actively follow a profile are bundled under followers. They are listed under “Followers” in the profile. “Followed”, on the other hand, summarizes the accounts that the user of a profile follows himself.
- Comments
In a comment, the user can express his opinion on a post directly. They’re a great indicator that your content has struck a chord . That’s why we didn’t scroll any further, but rather interacted.
Comments are a great way to start building a relationship with your community. That’s what makes them so valuable. That’s why so much conversation happens in the comments section of certain posts. Here you meet followers, answer their questions and get to know them better.
Therefore: Do not leave comments unanswered. Engage with prospects and value their input. You could be your next customer.
- Share and save
Surprisingly for many, important KPIs 2021 are also how often your post was shared or saved. Especially since some posts can no longer be given likes. And videos are also less liked than simply viewed.
In addition, the KPIs Sharing and Saving are of particular interest to companies that want to significantly increase their visibility or study users who have carried out a successful conversion . And here is the rationale:
- If a post is shared, it means your community is helping you to increase your reach and reach new people. Most likely people you wouldn’t have reached otherwise.
- Saved posts are a strong indication that your content is valued and therefore saved for later.
- answers
Before you ask: yes – getting the followers of your stories to your inbox by message is one of the goals of the entire social media concept. It’s the meaningful next level of interaction.
Direct messages are the best way to generate new leads and attract new customers to your business via Instagram. They can be viewed as part of the sales process. That’s why you can also find this KPI in the metrics of your Instagram account.
- growth
All users who actively follow a profile are grouped under followers . They are listed under Subscribers on the profile. Of course, it is the declared intention to increase their number. And Instagram, of course, measures success. But the opposite – unfollowing – is also recorded as a measured value. This creates a whole new field of tension in which you can determine exactly what actually increases – or decreases – the number of your subscribers.
Two things should be noted here:
- A smaller but high-quality following does more for most businesses than too many, anonymous followers. Real fans talk about you, interact, give you insights into how customers think.
- However, if you are worried about losing followers, keep in mind that there can be a very wide range of reasons.
These 4 points are Instagram KPIs to better evaluate your success.
- traffic and sales
Even if you love social media, at the end of the day, your business is about getting more traffic to (and more sales from) your website.
And Instagram is currently the best way to showcase your products and services.
It is like an ideal showcase of big brands , in which you too can present yourself. And the opportunities to drive conversions and sales are constantly increasing here.
- Instagram Stories Views
Instagram Stories are great for deepening the connection with your audience even more. And measuring views accurately gives you unique insights. Each tap forward or backward deepens the learnings about your audience.
Each individual story slide that you post gets its own metrics. Namely about answers, impressions and behavior when navigating.
Have you always wanted to know what captivates or scares your followers ? Find out here.
- customer satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction (or CSat) is a metric that shows how satisfied people are with your product or service . And that too can be found out via Instagram.
Invite customers and followers to rate their satisfaction with your brand on a linear scale (e.g. from 1 to 10) or emotionally (e.g. bad/ satisfactory/ good/ very good).
CSat is now a widely used way to understand how customers feel about your brand. Mainly because it is clear, concise and easy to apply, especially on social media.
The last 3 points are current examples of the use of KPIs via Instagram.
Conclusion
With analysis to success – that is a credo in digital marketing. And this credo proves to be true with Instagram KPIs: The analysis of your social media marketing is an indispensable tool if you want to constantly improve your strategy and your subordinate activities.
While in the past it was more about raw numbers about visitors, followers and the use of your content, today it is more about getting to know each other, interaction, market research, brand communication or sales.
Analyzing the right KPIs on Instagram helps to push your brand , deepen your customer knowledge and boost your sales .
3 things are worth noting:
- KPIs are constantly changing. But the purpose remains the same, which is to optimize your strategy and bring you closer to customers.
- KPIs only become really meaningful in combination. Only you can find out which key figures are the right ones – yours.
- It is even more worth looking at KPIs if they are not only made for one department of your company. The insights and learnings from the social media analysis can be relevant for different departments at the same time – right up to product development.
The present list therefore does not claim to be complete. Instead, use them as inspiration. Because the meaning, composition and depth of information of Instagram KPIs for a company account must be determined individually for each company.