What metrics should you be looking at?
Your data tells a story and it’s time for you to listen to it!
But first, off let’s get one thing clear, likes and comments are not the be-all and end-all in your Instagram metrics.
If you’re letting them get the better of you… STOP.
I’m only joking, don’t worry - if you’re obsessing over likes and comments I totally get you.
Believe me, been there. Done that.
Of course, if getting the most likes and comments is the purpose of you creating content, then great! But as a business owner, I know that these aren't the metrics I want. For me, I want a network. I want website clicks. I want people on my podcast, people using my services.
So when you go to look at the vanity of your content, I want you to ask yourself "what is the purpose of this piece of content?" Then you can look at whether that purpose was served.
The data tells you a story, probably more than you realise, and this is why it is so important to start looking at it. Not only does it tell you about your content, it tells you a lot about your audience as well which can be so helpful for your business.
I want you to stop holding yourself to likes and dive deeper than the surface to really know if your content is "working", this is why I wanted to walk you through how to do it!
Measurement and why it is important
As business owners and entrepreneurs, I’m sure you know why you need to look at your statistics and measure your content, but if not then let’s break it down.
Your data, metrics, statistics (or whatever else you’d like to call it), all tell a different story. Sometimes, as creators, we can allow these different stories to determine our worth especially when we are not looking at our metrics from different angles.
One piece of data, just like how I mentioned likes and comments earlier, does not determine how “good” your content is - this is why it is important to measure all aspects of your social platforms, to get a full scope of what you’re posting.
There will be times you’re creating content to get content out there, which is completely fine, but there will also be times you’ll need to focus on that quality content, measure and apply changes to really see results in your business.
The types of metrics on Instagram
So you're looking at your IG metrics and they seem great, but do you actually know what they're telling you?
Most of you would be in the online business realm, not just because you love your brand, but because you want to create a purpose around the content you post. An extension of this is metrics and how they help work towards that purpose.
So, because of this, it's super important to know what you are actually looking at when measuring your reach, engagement, taps, and more!
We wanted to create a little summary for you on all of the different metrics you can measure and what they are telling you about your content:
Reach: Is the total number of people who see your content.
Content interactions: The comments and likes on each post
Saves: How many people have saved the content you created
Shares: How many people have sent your content to others
Follows: The number of people following you
Your audience: What time they are active and who they are
Impression: Reach is the total number of people who see your content. Impressions are the number of times your content is displayed, no matter if it was clicked or not.
Profile visits: Visits to your profile
Website clicks: Actions to click on the “link in your bio”
All of these aspects of your content measurement are so valuable to take notice of. Whether it is weekly, fortnightly, quarterly, before/after a launch, or even just to check up - make sure you are keeping an eye on these things, noting down significant changes, and working your content towards the things that work!
What should you be looking at?
When it comes to each different business, brand, company, or entrepreneur, everyone has a different purpose when considering their content.
Maybe it’s to grow your following, to build up hype for a launch, promo your email list or increase engagement. Whatever your purpose is, the overall idea is that everyone should have one.
When you’re looking for a place to start when analysing your content, start by looking at your purpose. Where do you want your audience to go? What do you want them to do? Then from there, you can properly analyse if your content is working or not to get your audience to do that one thing.
This is why call-to-action (CTA) statements are important to have, if you have these statements in your content to click the link in your bio to visit your website and your website clicks are low - then from here you see what isn't working.
This leads me to my next point which is website clicks and profile visits. Looking at these specific metrics rather than likes and comments is so much more efficient in determining the effectiveness of your post.
At the end of the day, people going to your website is the ultimate goal if you’re an online business because this is where you sell from. Ask yourself if your content is doing enough to get people to your website and if enough of your target audience is being reached, then question what you can do to increase this.
Make sure to be realistic, look at the benchmark, and think about the steps it takes for someone to land on your website from your Instagram. Check on your CTAs and website taps to really paint a picture of the buyer's journey for yourself and make any changes or create any links that may be needed.
What if I don’t like the numbers?
The numbers in your metrics don’t always reflect the quality of your content. If you aren't happy looking at the numbers then it’s time to switch it up!
Have a look at the qualitative data instead; look at what messages you are receiving from your followers or people who come across your page, look at where your audience is coming from, and what that tells you.
More importantly, ask yourself how you feel about creating your content. Are you passionate about it? Does it light you up? Do you get feedback on your content outside the platform? The answers to these are more important to ask than just simply looking at the data.
If you aren't passionate about the content you’re creating, there is no point in posting it!
What should I do next?
So after you’ve tackled having a look at your metrics, what can you do moving forward?
Take a look at your Google Analytics as an extension of your Instagram metrics and look at where your traffic is coming from. Wherever your website visits are coming from, make sure to have a thing about what you can do to optimise this.
Test, trial and measure! Try out new ways of promoting your content, try new CTAs or whatever other strategy you see fit - whatever you choose to do though, make sure to give it time!
Simplify your strategy and go back to basics sometimes - you don’t always have to be juggling everything to get the most out of your content.
Evaluate monthly - visit your stats each month, see what does well and and note down what isn't going well, from there you can make smart decisions about the direction of your content in the future.
Final thoughts
Hopefully you can now see that your Instagram metrics are so much more than just likes and comments, there is a whole world of data out there that can help you evaluate your business and improve your content.
Although numbers are very important, don’t forget to ask yourself if what you are creating brings you joy - it is just as important to recognise how you feel about your content as well as how others view your content.
If you need any guidance or support in getting the most out of your content creation and platforms, make sure to download our content strategy template so you can map out the metrics and what works!