The social media app Instagram is always trying to push video content. Reels, Stories, and feed videos are front and center in the app, and users who know how to use their Instagram tend to grow faster than users who simply post and hope for the best! If you are a creator, owner of a small business, or contributing to the marketing of a small business, you do not need a complex understanding of data theory—instead, you need clear next steps, simple habits, and a basic comprehension of what your numbers might say about your videos!
Step 1: How To Access Instagram Analytics Related To Your Videos
You cannot improve something you cannot see, so step 1 is making sure you have full access to video metrics on Instagram.
Instagram calls its analytics section “Insights“. Instagram will only provide full access to the whole section for Professional accounts, either Creator accounts or Business accounts.
Switch to a Professional Account to access video insights
A Professional account is still a standard Instagram profile; it just has additional tools for people who create content for a special audience or for a brand.
There are two types of Professional accounts:
- Creator account: This is built for influencers, content creators, and public characters.
- Business account: This is built for companies, retail stores, and organizations.
The significant difference between the two account types is how the account itself looks and what tools are available in regards to contacts and ads. For video analytics, both types of accounts work equally well.
Key benefits of having a Professional account include:
- You can access insights for Reels, Stories, and feed videos.
- You can have additional options for ways to contact you, like an email or a call button.
- There are added tools for the business’s promotions or branded content. You can return to a personal account at any time, but you will no longer have access to most insights.
Where To Find Instagram Insights For Reels, Stories, And Feed Videos
Instagram has two levels:
- Account level (general Insights).
- Post level (data points for one video).
To find insights from one video:
- For Reels and feed video: go to the post and click on View insights under any video.
- For Stories: view your Story while it is active and either swipe up or click on the viewer number.
Story insights do have a time limit. Instagram only holds complete story data for a limited time. Generally, this is around fourteen days. Meaning you should look at Story performance soon after posting, instead of weeks later.
Step 2: Major Instagram Analytics Metrics You Should Know
Instagram insights have a lot of numbers on them, and not all of them are weighted equally when it comes to video growth.
Focus on a core set of metrics for Reels, Stories, and feed videos.
- Views or Plays
- Reach
- Watch time and retention
- Engagement (likes, comments, shares, saves)
- Profile activity and followers
These metrics show you whether or not others viewed the videos you created, watched long enough, and took some sort of action.
Views, Plays, And Reach: How Many People Are Watching Your Videos
- For video, it is common to hear about both Plays and Reach.
- Plays: The number of times your video was played.
- Reach: The number of unique accounts that saw your video.
Some simple signals to know:
- High reach with low engagement could mean your hook or content is weak.
- High plays with low reach could mean the same people watched your video multiple times, which could indicate something good about retention.
A healthy pattern for many accounts is a strong video getting a good amount of its reach to convert to plays. You don’t have to chase a perfect ratio, but if you’re almost getting everyone that sees the video to scroll away without having played it, it’s likely the cover image or opening second needs attention on quality.
Watch time and retention: How long people watched your video
Views are just the beginning. The extended test is how long people actually watch your video.
Two important metrics:
- Average watch time: the average number of seconds people watch.
- Retention rate: the percentage of your video that people watched on average.
Instagram wants to keep people on the app. If people stick around for your video, the algorithm is more likely to show it to others.
Engagement (Likes, Comments, Shares, Saves) And What Each One Tells You
- Likes indicate a level of interest or support, without too much effort—it is an effortless engagement.
- Comments indicate a stronger engagement. The user expressed enough interest that they cared enough to reply or ask.
- Shares are an indication of how many new users are seeing your video, and they often push reach fast.
- Saves show long-term value, and the user wants to come back sooner or later.
Shares and Saves are both significant. If a lot of users share or save a video, Instagram identifies it as higher-value content and distributes it to a larger audience.
When you think of video quality, that is to say, did you make a “good” video?
- Do not focus on Likes.
- Pay particular attention to Shares and Saves for each Reach number.
- Consider which videos got engagement that further your own goals, such as tips to share, or building saves on how-to information.
Step 3: Using Instagram Analytics To Identify Patterns Within Your Top Videos
Data is of no value unless you learn and grow from it. Guessing will lead to random outcomes. Testing and Learning will lead to periodic improvement.
There is no need for anything complicated. A simple system is enough.
Identify Your Winning Reels, Stories, & Feed Videos
- Begin with the Insights screen.
- For posts & Reels:
- Access Insights from your profile
- Touch the content you shared
- Filter (if available) by Reels or Posts
- Rank by the critical metric of your choosing, Reach, Plays, Likes, etc.
If options for sort are limited, scroll through the items, and use your note-taking skills to isolate the ones that tallied a higher Reach, Plays, or Engagements. For each type of format, choose:
- Your top 5 to 10 Reels.
- Your best 5 to 10 feed videos.
- Recent Stories that got views, replies, or link taps.
Each format may play its own role. Reels may draw new people in, while Stories may solidify the relationship with your current followers.
Look For Common Hooks, Topics, And Styles That Get The Most Watch Time
Now, like a detective, it’s time to study your best videos closely.
- For each of your best videos, notice:
- The start of the video (the hook).
- The topic.
- The format (face to camera, text on screen, screen recording, or demo).
- The length.
- The style (music used, text, pace, humor, tone).
Just write simple notes down in a notebook or file. Look for common traits in your strongest videos. Perhaps you realize that a hook with short, clear text keeps more viewers in your Reels, or that behind-the-scenes looks on Stories are drawing in more replies.
Compare Underperforming Videos To Learn What To Avoid
Next, choose 3 to 5 videos that performed poorly. The videos could have low watch time, little engagement, or low reach compared to your average.
Then, compare those videos to your strongest videos and look for similarities for what the issues could be:
- Slow or confusing start.
- No hook in the first few seconds.
- Weak, noisy, or confused audio.
- Dark or cluttered visuals.
- No captions for any spoken words.
- Clickbait hook that doesn’t match the content.
If you see a pattern in your Insights data where the viewership drops sharply in the first 3-5 seconds, that is a strong indicator that the ook did not work. In the event that the decline occurs later, the video may have lagged, shown a repeating nature, or not lived up to what the hook professed.
Step 4: Change Instagram Analytics Into A Simple Video Content Plan
By this point, you know how to interpret the numbers. The next step is to translate it into something reasonable and straightforward.
You do not need to create a fancy content calendar. A content calendar only needs goals, themes, and light experimentation.
Define Your Video Goals (Reach, Engagement, Or Sales)
Each video will likely have one main goal in mind that will drive the narrative. Before you record, determine what that goal is.
- Reach new people: the intent is to be found – focus on reach and plays
- Build trust and connection: To build trust and connection, focus on saves, comments, and replies
- Drive clicks or sales: Here you will be tracking profile visits, taps to websites, and DM’s.
Match your metrics to what your goal is:
- For reach: reach, plays, and shares
- For trust: comments, saves, and replies in Story
- For sales: Profile visits, taps to the website, and follows.
Plan Topic Ideas And Formats That You See Worked
Go back to the running list of things you began in Step 3. You will see themes in topic ideas, hooks, and formats.
Choose 2 – 4 regular formats that align with the time and the engagement of your audience.
- Quick Tips.
- Common myths and mistakes.
- Before and After.
- Quick demos or screen shares.
- A brief story and/or case studies.
You don’t have to create new content every week. Reuse what works, change what doesn’t, and keep testing minor improvements.
Establish A Weekly Review Habit In 15 Minutes
Consistency is better than intensity. A quick review weekly will improve your videos’ performance in a few months.
A quick 15-minute routine:
- Gather your last 5 to 10 videos (Reels, Stories, feed).
- Select the top video according to your preferred goal.
- Select the weakest video according to your same goal.
- One thing that performed well that you will carry on repeating.
- One thing that performed poorly that you will amend or eliminate.
- Use these notes to adapt the following week’s content schedule.
You can record this in a notebook, a simple spreadsheet, or a notes application. The format is unimportant. The habit is essential.
Step 5: Tips to Improve the Performance of Your Instagram Video For Advanced Users Of Analytics
If you already use these basics… You will be able to continue deeper without putting too much stress on yourself. The following ideas enable you to refine your style and intensify what works.
Use Audience Insights To Develop Your Video Style And Topics
Audience Insights lets you see who is following you and where they live. You can use this to develop how you speak and what you display.
Local followers may enjoy local examples, local references, and place names in your content. People who follow you from other places, in general, prefer a universal topic instead of a mention of a location or place when viewing your content.
Measure How Reels, Stories, And Feed Videos Provide Mutual Support
All of your formats do not work in isolation from one another but create mutual support for each other.
Look at your overall Insights with Reels to watch if the range of reposts is quick. For example, check things like vetting:
- Story views
- Profile visits
- Follows
When you put a Reel up, you will get a good bump in story views because people who had not followed you previously started finding you. People started to go back into your account to view the Stories as well, where they have a new place to learn about you and not strictly just August.
You can build content synergy as well between Reels and Stories posts.
Over time, you will have theories in place and the rhythm will reveal itself as to what your audience like the most from engagement.
Conclusion
Instagram is pushing video, but growth should not be tied to luck. When you have analytics in mind and use them, you are building more control over what is efficacious and what is not.
Over time, your hooks will tighten up, your watching time will go up, your footprint will grow in measures, pacing, and accountability, and eventually you’ll be growing steady with engagement and viewing patterns.
