Instagram Stories might be ephemeral, however, that does not make measuring them any less necessary. More than 500 million accounts interact with Stories daily, and Instagram Stories analytics provide brands with the tools to know how followers are engaging with them.
There are lots of brands utilizing Instagram Stories to great effect. Actually, one-third of the most-viewed Stories are from companies. However, the best brands on Instagram Stories are not just pointing and shooting; they are monitoring efficiency and replicating their successes.
Be sure to perceive easy methods to measure Instagram Tales, and which metrics matter the most when building a method for this increasingly popular channel.
How to use Insights to view your Instagram Stories analytics
Insights on Instagram Stories are available up to 14 days after Stories are posted. There are two primary methods to access Instagram Stories insights:
From your profile
1. Go to your profile.
2. Tap the menu in the top right corner.
3. Tap Insights.
4. Choose Content.
5. Scroll down to Stories.
From your Story
1. Click on your Story.
2. Swipe up.
3. Click on the graph icon. From here you could toggle between this tab and the views tab, which is labeled with an eye symbol.
Stories are only available for 24 hours, however, you could view them and their insights from your archive. To visit your archive, go to your profile, click on the clock icon in the top left corner, and then choose the correct Story.
In order to have access to analytics for Instagram Stories, you must have a business account.
Understanding Instagram Stories metrics
Instagram Stories analytics are divided into 3 classes: Interactions, Discovery, and Navigation.
Each section offers a summary and a breakdown of different engagements.
Interactions
The interaction metric represents the whole actions people take once they see a Story, including replies and profile visits.
- Replies: The number of times people reply to your Story.
- Profile Visits: The number of times people go to your profile from your Story.
- Sticker Taps: The number of times people have tapped on a geotag, hashtag, mention, or product sticker on your Story.
Why interaction stats matter: Interaction analytics measure viewer engagement with your Stories. Positive replies and profile visits are a great indicator that viewers like what they see and are keen to share and learn more.
Tip: A great way to boost interaction metrics is by sharing questions, poll, or emoji slider sticker. These stickers offer fast and simple methods for viewers to engage and also deliver valuable feedback to brands.
According to 99 Firms, hashtags could enhance Instagram Story engagement by 12 %.
Discovery
Discovery measures the number of accounts that view your Instagram Story. Instagram cautions that this metric is an estimate, and might not always be exact.
- Impressions: The total number of times your Story was seen.
- Follows: The number of accounts that began following you.
Why discovery stats matter: Discovery and impression metrics are key to helping you appreciate the scope of your viewers. These metrics can be utilized to calculate the rate of engagement with your Stories content.
More importantly, they track how many people are discovering your content. New followers gained via Stories show you how Stories are contributing to brand awareness.
Tip: Utilizing stickers could enhance the discoverability of Instagram stories. They could help Stories show up in more searches, or be included in bigger stories which are curated around certain stickers.
Navigation
Navigation stats track the overall completion price of your Instagram Story. Under Navigation, you will see the whole number of navigational actions people have taken from your story.
- Back: The number of taps to see the previous story.
- Forward: The number of taps to see the next story (before the current story was completed).
- Next Story: The number of swipes to the next account’s story.
- Exited: The number of times people closed your story.
Why navigation stats matter: Like interaction analytics, navigational stats additionally track actions viewers take, however, they tend to be less positive. The more people who forward, exit, and skip your Story for the next one, the more likely it’s your content is not connecting.
If lots of people are clicking back, it might mean they want another look, or they feel like they missed something.
Tip: Including a call to action in your Instagram Stories could help audiences stick with them. Ensure your photographs or videos offer viewers enough to engage with. If they could use some help, consider adding text or stickers.
More things you can measure with Instagram Stories analytics
How to measure hashtag and location stickers on Instagram Stories
Stickers are the overarching term used to describe the location hashtags, mentions, geotags, and product stickers that could be added to Instagram tales.
To measure the effectiveness of stickers, look under the Interactions section in your Instagram Stories analytics. If people are tapping on them, they are probably of interest to your viewers.
How to measure engagement on Instagram Stories
There is not a widespread normal for calculating the engagement rate of Instagram Stories, however, there are a few methods to track engagement.
One method to measure engagement with your Instagram stories, in general, is to divide reach by the number of followers to see what percentage of your followers are viewing your stories.
The interactions part is the primary area to take a look at for engagement with your Instagram stories. Fortunately, Instagram story analytics gives a total tally of all actions taken from a story. Meaning you could calculate the engagement rate for the story as follows:
Total actions / Total reach (Discovery) * 100
How to measure discovery on Instagram Stories
More than 60 % of people say they uncover a new product on Instagram, and stories play a significant role in fueling that discovery.
Impressions and reach are a great way to keep tabs on the discovery, however, Instagram does not differentiate between accounts that comply with you and accounts that don’t. In case your total reach exceeds your total follower account, that is a very good indication that your stories are being seen by new users.
Maybe the best gage for discovery is Follows. A Follow from a story sometimes means that a person is new to your account content and liked what they saw.
How to measure Swipe Up on Instagram Stories
Between 15 and 25 % of Instagram story viewers will swipe up on a story if the option is available. However, Instagram analytics do not track link clicks. The best way around that is to use UTM parameters. These short text codes which are added to URLs will permit you to track site visitors and traffic sources.
The swipe-up link function is currently only available to accounts with more than 10K followers.