Instagram Insights Unveils New Features to Help You Fine-Tune Your Content
Team Orso in
News & Insights 4 min read • 4d ago
Welcome to Social Media September! Instagram released a bumper crop of updates over the summer, so we’re covering them in a four-part series. In this first installment, we’re giving you insight (pun fully intended) into some changes to Insights, Instagram’s analytics for business accounts. Check back later for stories on the new Reposts feature, the Edits app, and a change to your posts’ SEO results.
Instagram Insights Unveils New Features to Help You Fine-Tune Your Content
Does navigating the Instagram algorithm as a business owner or content creator make you feel like this?
Well, Meta just released some new analytics in Instagram Insights that may help you feel a little less lost. And luckily, our Orso social media expert Melanie is here to help guide us through the changes.
“Now that Instagram is leveling up their insights, marketers will be able to see exactly when a user engages with their Reel or carousel post—so you can see what’s working (and what’s not)!”
Pin down the moment your reel caught someone’s attention
Insights now displays an interactive chart that shows you the exact moment when someone liked your reel. This is a powerful tool that can help you fine-tune your content. For example, if you post a reel that shows off a group of new products, you can pinpoint which one piqued the most interest.
“Prior to this update, you could only see how long someone watched the Reel, with no indication of whether they enjoyed the video and engaged with it before scrolling, or if they just dropped off because they weren’t interested. Now we’ll get a better look at video performance in a very detailed way.”
See which photo in your carousel earned that like on your post
Similar to the Reels change above, Insights now gets more specific with likes on your carousel posts, showing you which photo in the carousel prompted the like. This is another great way to determine exactly which content is driving the most engagement.
“We always want to know what makes someone like a carousel post—and how far they are scrolling through it. Is it instant interest or does it take a few slides to win them over? This will be really helpful for determining what types of content in a carousel are most engaging, as well as how many slides should be included in future carousels.”
Get visibility into the demographics of your audience on the post level
Because your content can reach people outside of your usual audience, Instagram fine-tuned its demographics reporting. Now, you can see the demographics of people who viewed specific posts and reels (previously, you could only see these demographics for your account as a whole). If a post is reaching a whole different audience from who you’d expect—and it’s performing really well!—that’s really useful information to have.
“While the overall audience insights have always been useful, being able to see detailed demographic information per post will allow us to see who we are actually reaching on a post level, especially as Reels and carousel posts often reach a larger percentage of non-followers. The results might surprise you too!”
Review which content has performed the best and attracted the most new followers.
On this theme, Insights now shows you which posts and reels have been the top engagement drivers for your account. Combined with the demographics change above, you can now zero in on and replicate the type of content that helps you reach your ideal audience—or a new, unexpected one altogether.
Get more specific data on how many accounts have viewed your content.
Insights is getting more specific with its analysis on your content’s impact. Previously, you could see how many accounts a post or reel reached, meaning how many accounts it was served to in the algorithm. Now, it measures actual views of that content, so you can be more assured that this number represents people who have spent some time with your post or reel.
Taken together, these changes give you a much more in-depth understanding of your audience by collecting measurable data on:
- Who exactly your content is reaching,
- which content is driving the most engagement,
- and when, specifically, that content grabbed someone’s attention.
And measurable data is always a great starting point for creating and replicating content that will actually stand out in the algorithm.
“These changes to Insights will give social media marketers a clear look into when a post resonates with users so they can tweak their strategy accordingly. I will definitely be using these data points to adjust the types of content I’m sharing on behalf of clients to make the most impact.”
If you’d like some more guidance on interpreting your social media metrics—or if seeing these new, more detailed metrics has convinced you to fine-tune your social media presence—we’d love to help.