Anyone who has worked on their social media strategy knows that success goes beyond the words, the colors, the photos and the grid. It’s also a numbers game, and your strategy relies heavily on several trackable metrics. Good news: It’s not that difficult. In fact, it’s even user-friendly for non-math folks. We’re going to cover 8 Instagram key metrics that you should be tracking — follow along and see if you’re getting the most out of your profile. 

1. Engagement

    
   
   
   
   We hear a lot about engagement, but what exactly is it? Engagement shows you how people are reacting and responding to your content, whether it be through likes, comments or shares. To put it bluntly, it tells you if your post flopped or if it was successful. Needless to say, it’s important to track this — and you can easily track it from the Insights tab of your Instagram. 
   
   

2. Saves

   
   
   
   
   Saves weren’t always included in the top Instagram metrics, but they are trending in 2021. As you probably know the Instagram algorithm changes on a regular basis, but there’s a belief that saves play a big role in getting your content seen. So start taking a look at how many people are saving your posts! 
   
   

3. Story views

   
   
   
   
   Some people like scrolling; others like watching. In order to be fully aware of all of your social touchpoints with your followers, you should be tracking story views. This will show you how well they’re performing, especially if you keep tabs on views over time. If you see a decrease in views, you may want to make a change. On the flip side, an increase may signal that you’ve created the winning formula for your brand’s stories.
   
   

4. Audience

   
   
   
   
   Of course you’ll want to look at your followers. One of the biggest Instagram goals is reaching more and more people, but another thing to look at is the spread of your audience. Are they mainly male or female? What is their predominant age group? Where are they from? While these answers aren’t numbers, you can see the breakdown in percentage for each category, which tells you if you’re reaching your target audience or not. 
   
   

5. Reach

   
   
   
   
   While we’re talking about “reaching,” let’s talk about reach. This gives you an idea of your awareness level. Reach shows how many people are seeing your content, so your goal should be to continually increase that number. If you have a high reach but a low follow count, that means your brand is getting recognized but the content isn’t drawing people in. Or if you have a low reach, you’ll need to pick up new strategies to get your content in front of more people.