Top 7 Instagram Metrics to Track

With all the data available, let's narrow down which ones are most important for tracking your success on digital platforms. 

​To help make it easier, we’re sharing 10 Instagram metrics to track for a stronger social media strategy:

1. Reach
2. Engagement Rate
3. Instagram Stories Views
4. Instagram Reels Engagement
5. Traffic
6. Saves
7. Shares

#1: Reach​

Reach shows how many unique accounts have seen your post, and therefore how much awareness and value you’re gaining.

So if your objective is to increase brand awareness and reach the highest number of users possible, you should be focusing on growing your reach on Instagram.

​Reach vs. Impressions: Which Is More Important?

If you're wondering what the difference between reach and impressions is: Reach reflects the number of unique views on a post, while impressions reflect the total number of views on a post (even if the same person viewed it five times).

​So from a brand perspective, keeping tabs on your reach (rather than impressions) is the best way to track how much brand awareness each post or story delivers.

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#2 Engagement 

Track the ratio of views and impressions and number of interactions, such as likes, comments, shares and saves. 

Your goal is to increase the percentage of viewers that choose to interact in a trackable manner. 

Your Instagram engagement rate is a key indicator for how well your audience is responding to your content. If your followers are commenting, liking, saving, and sharing your content, your engagement rate will show it.

#3 Instagram Stories Views

Instagram Stories are one of the best ways to build a stronger relationship with your audience.  Their placement at the top of the Instagram feed means you automatically at the top of all posts and other content. 

"Watch Through Rate" is one way to calculate this success. Remember, this only applies if you have more than one story slide.

To calculate this metric: Watch through rate = Final story number of views / First story number of views x 100

#4 Instagram Reels Engagement 
When it comes to Instagram Reels, they are in fact, the real deal – a surefire way for brands and creators to increase their reach. Also, Instagram currently promotes the Reels content in an effort to sustain viewers on the app for longer time periods. 

To calculate this metric, you’ll have to do a tiny bit of math: Reels Engagement Rate = # of Reels interactions / Reels Plays x 100
TIP: By using Plays to calculate your engagement rate you’ll have a better understanding of how your Reels are stacking up against one another.


#5 Growth
Keeping tabs on your profile growth has always been important, but now — thanks to Instagram’s “followed” and “unfollowed” metrics — you can see exactly how many followers you gain and lose each day.

That being said, don't get too hung up over your follower count. Followers can fluctuate due to a number of reasons, and ultimately, having a smaller but more engaged audience is often more valuable.
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#6 Saves
​Instagram saves are a useful metric that brands are taking stock of.
With Instagram saves, users can collect and save a post for later, simply by tapping the “bookmark” icon in the bottom right corner of an Instagram post.

SAVE-BOOSTING TIP: Consider the type of content that your audience would be likely to save as a reference to come back to, such as motivational quotes, or carousel posts with tips or educational resources.



#7 Shares
Shares are the name of the game when it comes to getting more eyeballs on your content!
So by keeping a close eye on what content is being shared with other users you can have a better sense of what’s keeping your audience actively engaged.