blog post

Top KPIs You Need to Track for Instagram in 2023

Florian Cabirol
October 10, 2023
Top KPIs You Need to Track for Instagram in 2023

Quick steps to create a Instagram report with Google Sheets:

You can easiliy create a Instagram report following this step :

  1. Get informations from the data integration from our Instagram connector.
  2. Create a source on catchr.io.
  3. Download our Google Sheets extensions.
  4. Configure and run your request
If you need more informations, you can follow the tutorial.

How to install Google Sheets Catchr Add-on.

To start exporting your Instagram data to Google Sheets, you need to install the Catchr add-on. You currently have two options :

Option A: Via the marketplace:

  1. Visit the Catchr Add-on page on the Google Workspace Marketplace and click "Install."
  2. Grant the necessary permissions for the add-on.
  3. Upon successful installation, open a Google Sheets to proceed.
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Install Catchr Google Sheets Add-on

Option B: Directly within a Google Sheets:

  1. Open a new Google Sheets.
  2. In the top menu, click "Extensions", then hover over "Add-ons" and select "Get add-ons."
  3. Search for "Catchr" and choose "Catchr - data connector."
  4. Click "Install" and grant the required permissions.
  5. Close the installation pop-up when completed.
  6. Start using the Catchr add-on.
Install Catchr Add-on for Google Sheets
Install Catchr Add-on for Google Sheets

Once you have installed the add-on, you can start making requests.

The tutorial

Quick steps to create a Instagram report with Looker Studio:

You can easiliy create a Instagram report following this step :

  1. Get informations from the data integration from our Instagram connector.
  2. Create a datasource and new report on Looker Studio.
  3. Choose your metrics and dimensions.
  4. Use charts with your metrics and dimensions.
If you need more informations, you can follow the tutorial. You can also find a template for Instagram at the end of the page.

The tutorial

Quick steps to create a Instagram report with PowerBI:

You can easiliy create a Instagram report following this step :

  1. Get informations from the data integration from our Instagram connector.
  2. Create a source on catchr.io.
  3. Configure your request on the PowerBI request manager.
  4. Copy the given URL in PowerBI
If you need more informations, you can follow the tutorial. You can also find a template for Instagram at the end of the page.

The tutorial

Successful marketing teams utilize metrics and analytics, like KPIs, to determine trends and strategize campaigns to grow their business and apply a data-driven marketing strategic approach. Social media, like Instagram, provides a platform for you to successfully market your product or service to an audience of more than 4+ billion people as of 2021.  

There has never been a better time for businesses to utilize social media marketing, with users averaging around 147 minutes daily on social media platforms. Keep reading to learn how to use analytics, like KPIs, to help you market your business. We'll tell you which ones to follow and how to improve them. 

What are KPIs?

Tracking the progress of your business or personal brand is integral to evaluating present growth and future projections. Identifying patterns can help you optimize your growth, pivot goals when needed, and set targets. 

KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are a set of metrics used to measure the progress of your business or personal brand toward a specific goal it's attempting to achieve. KPIs are measurable values you can track over time to see how effectively your business or personal brand is reaching targets.

KPIs are used in various industries and platforms, even social media like Instagram. In the same way you track a business's progress over time, you can use Instagram KPIs to track the performance of Instagram marketing strategies and campaigns. 

Why track KPIs on Instagram?

Using social media, like Instagram, as a digital marketing and analytics tool requires progress reports—a tangible way to measure performance and track success. KPIs will help you succeed in achieving your objectives.  

Tracking Instagram metrics, like KPIs, allows you to keep your content focused, identify trends and patterns, monitor progress on Instagram marketing campaigns, pivot strategy when goals aren't being met, and plan ahead. 

Every Instagram strategy has a goal: leads, sales, brand awareness, or engagement. Your desired goal will determine what kind of KPIs you will need to track to be successful. 

How to access the analytics on Instagram

Accessing the analytics on Instagram is simple, but to view these insights, you must have an Instagram creator or business account. You can access this information in several ways, but remember that they are specifically for the mobile app and not for the desktop.

Here are two ways to access your Instagram insights on the mobile app:

  • On your profile, tap on "Professional Dashboard." The very first option in the menu is "Account Insights." Tap "See All" to access your metrics.
  • Another option is to click on the three black lines in the top right-hand corner of the profile. In the menu, click on "Insights."

Keeping up with your metrics and making sense of them can be challenging, especially if you have multiple social media accounts. You can use tools, like Catchr, to connect all your platforms and have all your data on metrics in one concise location.

Top KPIs You Need to Follow on Instagram

There are a good number of stats and metrics you can access on Instagram. If you're a business owner or creator, you might wonder which KPIs to follow to track progress and meet targets. Common metrics that users typically follow, like follows and likes, won't exactly provide the data you need to move toward your business goals. So, here is a list of the top KPIs for Instagram:

Reach & Impressions

Reach tells you the number of users seeing your content. If this metric sounds a lot like impressions, it's because the two are very similar. The most notable difference is that impressions are how many times your content is seen without generating some form of alternative engagement, while reach equates to actual views.

Engagement Rate

Your engagement rate will show how well your content resonates with viewers relative to your follower count. Measuring engagement relative to your followers lets you put your performance into better perspective and avoid getting carried away with comparisons to larger brands with larger audience sizes.

A few categories fall under the engagement umbrella, including likes, comments, and saves. In addition, engagement applies to posts and reels on Instagram and can be calculated similarly. However, there is some debate about how to calculate engagement and whether categories should be divided by followers or impressions.

The following is considered the most accurate of the options for calculating the engagement rate:

  • Engagement = (Likes + Saves + Comments) / Impressions x 100

Story Views

Stories were introduced to Instagram after the popularity of a competing platform, Snapchat. Eventually, stories on Instagram became the more popular option, with brands posting twice as many on Instagram as on Snapchat. Stories are an excellent way to engage with your target audience and build relationships with your followers.

A high view rate coupled with forward or back taps will let you know how your content resonates with users. Typically, Instagram story view rates are tracked by the watch-through rate metric. This metric gives you the percentage of individuals who watched your story to the end. Watch-through rate equates to final story view/first story view x 100.

Follower Growth 

Calculating your growth rate is about tracking both increases and declines in followers on Instagram. Remember, spikes or follower drops could be due to promotions or marketing ads that expose your business or brand to users and provide an incentive to follow. So when you calculate your growth or decline of followers, keep it within the context of current promotions and ads, so you can track what is or isn't working in terms of Instagram marketing strategy. 

While some believe that follower growth wastes time and only amounts to a vanity metric, it has much to do with how the public perceives your business or brand. Often, Instagram pages with a lot of followers are perceived as credible sources, experts, or authorities. Brand perception directly impacts revenue, as the more the public loves and enjoys your brand, the more inclined they will be to follow and utilize your products or services.

Comments and Mentions

Comments tell you how your audience really feels about your content. Likes can be fairly easy to come by, as they require minimal effort to dish out. Comments, whether positive or negative, show your content's impact on the audience. Tracking comments is an easy way to assess the success of the content and provides an opportunity to engage with your audience and establish a community with your followers. 

Mentions are not to be overlooked and should be tracked by all brands as they help build brand awareness. A positive mention attests to the excellent products and services you are already delivering to your consumers. It also allows you to get ahead of any negative reviews and provide the type of customer support that wins over many of the consumers you would have otherwise lost.

Referral Traffic 

Referral traffic monitors how many people click on the link to your website in your profile bio, in the caption of a post, or on a story. This metric gauges how many users are taking action and going to your website, eCommerce store, landing page, or app via Instagram.

Referral traffic allows you to generate more revenue for your business. Typically, 4–5% of the visitors to your website will purchase a product or service. So, for every 100 site visitors, 5 will become clients or customers. Review the data on referral traffic via Insights > Accounts Reached > Profile Activity.

Sales

Instagram has allowed businesses to integrate their products and services into their profiles through various features like integrated product tagging, creator-led shopping, and an easy-to-use checkout system. It's important for businesses to be able to track sales and trends that will help increase sales.

Best Time to Post

Timing is an integral factor in the success of content on Instagram. You want to post when you have the best reach to your target audience, and there is a limited window since Instagram's algorithm prioritizes new posts over older posts. The way the algorithm functions also necessitates that you often post, so your content is continuously pushed to your target audience. You can find the best time to post content in your insights on your Instagram profile.

How to improve the KPI on Instagram

It is speculated that no matter what you do, your content on Instagram will not reach 100% of your audience because the platform wants you to pay for ads. Regardless, there is content that performs well on Instagram and has a broader reach, namely entertaining and highly educational posts.

Key things you can do to improve KPI on Instagram include:

  • Optimizing your Instagram profile
  • Creating engaging and educational posts that target your ideal audience
  • Posting regularly to your Instagram profile
  • Having a call to action in your posts
  • Posting at the best times for your Instagram profile
  • Sharing your posts on your stories
  • Exploring Instagram stories
  • Posting reels regularly to your Instagram profile
  • Blocking bots and inactive users
  • Collaborating with influencers and other brands
  • Utilizing Instagram ads 

As you build your reach and create goals for your business, continue to monitor your KPI on Instagram. Look for trends and patterns that are working in your favor and hone in on the components that make that content successful. Then, take that data and use it to focus and improve your content. On the flip side, pay attention to the metrics that aren't performing as well and adjust your strategy in these areas using these suggestions.

Start Tracking your Instagram Analytics Now

Equipped with the knowledge of the essential Instagram metrics your business or brand should follow and how to improve them, you can start monitoring them now. Connect your platforms and have your data pulled live into Looker Studio connectors for Instagram or Google Sheets with Catchr. Try it out risk-free with a 14-day free trial; no credit card is required.

Bonus : Your free Instagram Followers Template

In this Instagram template, you will find all the metrics and dimensions you would need to get a better view of your data.

If you need more templates, you could look at our looker studio template gallery.

Bonus : Your free Instagram Followers OverviewTemplate for PowerBI

In this Instagram template, you will find all the metrics and dimensions you would need to get a better view of your data thank to our integrations.

If you need more templates, you could look at our PowerBI template gallery.

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