Instagram Insights – What’s New and Why It Matters for Your Social Strategy

If you’re managing Instagram accounts, you’ve probably noticed that Instagram has been shaking things up in 2024 with some exciting updates to its Insights/analytics tools.

These changes are designed to give you a deeper understanding of your content’s performance and help you fine-tune your strategies.

Let’s dive into what’s new, why it matters and how you can leverage these insights to boost your Instagram game…

90 Days of Data – A New Horizon for Trend Tracking

One of the biggest changes Instagram has rolled out is extending the date range you can access within Insights.

Previously, you were limited to viewing data from the last 30 or 60 days. Now, you can analyse up to 90 days of data!

Top tip: Use this extended timeframe to identify patterns/spot trends in your engagement, peak posting times and follower growth. You can plan your upcoming content calendar around these insights to help improve performance.

New Metrics – Digging Deeper into Content Performance

Instagram has also added some new metrics to help you get more detailed data analysis.

These include detailed analytics for live video performance and more refined data on how different content types, like Reels, Stories and posts, are engaging your audience.

Top tip: If you’re big on Reels (which really everyone should be for reaching a wider audience), you can now track metrics like drop-off rates and interaction levels. These insights can help you tweak your content to keep viewers hooked until the very end.

Audience Demographics – Know Who’s Watching

Understanding your audience is key to crafting content that resonates.

Instagram’s updated Insights now provide even more detailed demographic information, including your followers’ age, gender and location.

Knowing who’s engaging with your content helps you tailor your messaging, choose the right hashtags and even decide when to post.

Top tip: If your audience skews younger or comes from a specific location, consider tailoring your content themes and posting schedule to match their preferences and active times.

Engagement Metrics – Quality Over Quantity

While likes are nice, Instagram is shifting the focus towards more meaningful interactions like comments, shares and saves. These metrics are now front and centre in your Insights, helping you understand which content truly resonates with your audience.

Why does this matter? Because these types of interactions tell Instagram that your content is valuable, which can boost your visibility in the algorithm.

Top tip: Encourage your followers to engage with your content by asking questions in your captions, creating posts that invite discussion and encouraging them to save for future reference. The more comments, shares and saves you get, the better!

Stories and Reels Analytics – Maximising Your Short-Form Content

With the rise of short-form content, Instagram has beefed up its analytics for Stories and Reels.
You can now track completion rates for Stories, giving you insight into how engaging your content is from start to finish.

For Reels, keep an eye on metrics like average watch time and interactions to see what’s hitting the mark.

Top tip: Use the completion rate data from your Stories to experiment with length and content structure. If you notice drop-offs, try leading with a stronger hook or shortening your Story.

Let’s Chat

These updates are more than just new numbers to look at, they’re powerful tools to help you refine your Instagram strategy and connect with your audience in a more meaningful way.

By taking advantage of the extended data range, new metrics and detailed demographic insights, you can create content that not only reaches your audience, but truly resonates with them.

If you would like help navigating these changes and developing your overall social media strategy, or would just love a brief 1-2-1 training session to enable you to feel confident creating reels (it’s easier than you think!), please get in touch.

We can help you marketing strategy, creating marketing action plans and implementing some or all of your digital and traditional marketing activities.

Our marketing agency is based in Eastbourne and we work with clients across Sussex, Kent, Surrey and across the UK due to client recommendations.