Stories are still relatively new on Instagram, but they’ve proved a massive hit with users and businesses alike. Since the launch of Instagram stories back in 2016, the 24-hour slideshows have become a vital part of all the best social media strategies. Instagram stories are viewed by an incredible 500 million users every day[1], and the top third of viewed Instagram stories are all from business accounts.
Stories are an excellent resource, and they’re at the disposal of every single brand with an Instagram account. It costs nothing to create engaging, visual content via Instagram stories, and if brands use the platform to its fullest they can benefit hugely. Digital marketing professionals will be pleased to hear that those benefits are entirely quantitative, and can be easily tracked and measured via the insights provided by Instagram.
How to access Instagram story metrics
Instagram knows that businesses are using the platform to promote products, engage with consumers and improve their exposure. Thankfully, the social media giant has made it easy for brands to make full use of the Instagram story product, by providing valuable insights at the touch of a button.
Every video, image, poll or Q&A posted on Instagram stories comes complete with its own insights button. To access the insights of a live story, you just need to open the story, click the eye icon and then hit the chart button to view story insights in real time.
You can also check out insights on past story content, by going to your profile page, hitting the menu icon and then clicking on insights. Here, you’ll be able to navigate to the content screen where you’ll see insights for all your stories. Historical data is provided here, and you can easily examine information relating to a current story too.
The Instagram story metrics that matter
Instagram provides a goldmine of data for all its users, and brands making full use of instagram stories on a daily basis will have plenty of information at their fingertips. Instagram’s insights page reveals all the metrics that brands will want to know about, as well as many metrics that are unique to the story product. The extensive range of data available can be overwhelming however, so it’s worth narrowing down the metrics that matter.
When it comes to analysing instagram story metrics, there are several that we recommend brands take into consideration. The first one is impressions. Impressions relate to the number of users who have viewed a story, and if a user has viewed a story more than once the impressions will rise to reflect this. Another metric well worth recording is reach. Reach will show the number of users who have viewed a story, without taking into account those who might have viewed a story more than once.
Taps forward will show the number of users who have tapped to move to the next slide, and taps backward will show those who have paused and gone back to the previous slide. This is particularly useful as it will clearly demonstrate numbers of users who have found a story particularly interesting, and have fully engaged with the content.
Instagram shows the numbers of users who have replied to stories, and this is another metric worth measuring. Replies show that an audience is engaged, responsive and communicative. Other metrics worth considering are the numbers of users who swipe away or exit. These figures show a lack of interest in the content in question, and can be used constructively to inform marketers of which content appeals to their audiences, and which loses their interest.
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Instagram is a powerful social platform, and its stories are fast becoming one of the most important aspects of top social strategies. To make sure you’re getting the best results from your social content, take the time to analyse Instagram story metrics and fully understand the preferences of your target audience. Metrics matter, and if they’re used well they can drastically improve the results of Instagram campaigns.
[1] https://business.instagram.com/
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