Instagram Analytics and how to make it work for your business

Instagram has finally introduced Analytics for their platform, coupled with Ads now being available for their triumphant Stories feature, and promise to make advertising on Instagram much more comprehensive.

Facebook has offered detailed analytics for a quite sometime now, and it has played a significant role in turning the platform into an advertiser’s heaven.

These tips will help you make the most of Instagram Analytics, not only to gauge the performance of your business or blog on Instagram, but to make the necessary changes by looking at what worked, and how.

First things first, analytics on social media have a certain progression of things, which can be called the Social Media Analytics Cycle, a loop involving three steps.

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The first step in the Social Media Analytics Cycle constitutes referring to the collected data, and the next is understanding the strategy that you employed up until that moment, if not then better late than never. For a better understanding, compare your performance with competitors' performance and try to get a basic idea of their strategy.

As the Cycle is a constant loop, it involves devising a strategy and executing it, later gathering more data and analyzing it to verify its effect, positive or negative, on the performance.

Ever since Instagram has hit more than 600 million users, and Instagram Stories hitting more than 150m users, equalling direct competitor, Snapchat’s user numbers, businesses have taken notice of Instagram’s trailblazing statistics and appeal among the social media savvy population of the world.

With the Analytics from Instagram, businesses can check the numbers regarding followers gained, the number of posts and the number of interactions received.

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After you have concluded the analysis of how well you performed, it is time to make necessary changes or if the existing strategy has worked, enhancing it for better results.

Engagement and recognition is seldom achieved with a few posts on Instagram; it requires content with great visual appeal and regular posting, that keeps your audience interested. The frequency of the posts more often than not determines the number of interactions and followers for an account.

If it is not possible to churn out original content  that meets quality standards regularly, it is always a good idea to ask your followers to send in their content for a chance to be featured, which gives them a wider recognition and you, relevance and engagement on your account.

Assuming, your business, deals with interior decor, you can ask your followers to send in their best entries and it is a win-win.

Once you are posting regularly, the time to analyze the performance of these posts comes into play. Find the nature of posts and timing that are netting you the best results every week, and later use the information to pivot your strategy around.

Instagram also helps in understanding the amount of interaction at a specific time, and how often you have posted at a given time, for businesses to glean what works best for them and their followers.

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The best time to post has always been subjective, influenced by the nature of the posts, the platform of choice and the industry and most importantly, the time. There is no concrete mathematics to it, but can be better understood over a period of time by the brand to know what works best for their business on Instagram.