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Know your Reels insight-out
Instagram Reels have become a staple in every brand and business’s social media strategy. With social media’s pivot to a video-focused approach in recent years, it’s more important than ever to ensure short-form video (like Reels) are a part of your content marketing mix.
But simply hitting publish on Reels isn’t the way to go. Instead, you need to know how your Instagram Reels are performing and what video styles resonate with your followers.
Insights and Analytics are a great way to analyze the performance of your videos and understand how your audience is responding to them.
Since Instagram has continued to push the focus onto video content, now is the perfect time to up your social media game by having everything you need to know about Instagram account insights in your toolbox.
Whether you’re a social media manager, content creator, small business, or influencer, having a good content strategy is essential to achieving growth on the platform.
So, we’ve rounded up all the must-know information on all things Instagram Reels analytics, how to use them, what they tell you about your videos, and some best practices to boost engagement.
What are Instagram Reels?
Instagram Reels are short-form video content that can be up to 90 seconds long. These videos are highly edited and shot in vertical dimensions for an immersive, full-screen viewing experience.
Instagram made the move to prioritize video content in 2020, essentially to rival its competitor TikTok which has seen mass success and popularity, particularly amongst Gen Z.
Instagram Reels currently engage around 2.35 billion active users every month and Reels get 22% more interactions than your standard video posts, so they’re hugely important for social media marketing.
As Instagram continues to pivot and evolve, the platform has been pushing the focus to a Reels-first algorithm. Reels have not only earned their own tab within the Instagram app but are also central to the full-screen feed experience that emphasizes Reels content.
Why should businesses be using Instagram Reels?
Ultimately, Reels are a must for any brand or business using social media in 2024. These videos offer stacks of powerful benefits to anyone using Instagram for business, including:
What are Instagram Reels insights?
Since Instagram has been pushing video content on the platform for quite some time now, in an effort to compete with TikTok, it’s only right creators and small businesses have everything they need to understand their engagement metrics.
In 2021, Instagram rolled out its Instagram Reels Analytics and Live Video insights in an effort to help content creators and small businesses understand their Reels performance better and achieve greater growth on the platform.
These insights give you stacks of data on how your content is performing as well as what you can do to improve your results moving forward. It’s another clear sign that Instagram is investing heavily in the Reels format, and that it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
What Reels metrics should you be tracking?
The performance of your Instagram Reels is based on a stack of different factors.
Instagram allows you to measure how well your Reel performed based on engagement as well as views - meaning you will be able to understand how engaged your audience actually is by measuring metrics such as comments, saves, and shares.
So, what stats can you track when sharing Instagram Reels? Instagram shows you key metrics including:
These metrics and new insights allow you to see now just how many users are viewing your Reels, but also how many users are taking high-value actions such as saving or sharing your content.
Benefits of using Instagram Reels insights
We used to know Instagram as just a photo-sharing app, where we posted a picture of our weekend, travel adventures, and brunch spread with our friends and family. In recent years, Instagram has transformed from a simple photo-sharing app into a comprehensive multimedia platform.
Instagram’s decision to prioritize video content through Instagram Reels was a bit of a controversial one but nonetheless, it is certainly here to stay.
Here are some of the ways Reels insights can help content creators and small businesses achieve growth on the platform:
Basically, using Instagram Reels insights allows you to make data-driven decisions about your social media strategy to drive real results for your business from Instagram.
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How to view your Reels insights
Ready to dive into your Instagram Reels insights?
There are two ways you can view your Reels insights and analytics: one for a specific Reel and a separate tab for an overview of your recent Reels content. It’s important to note you must have a business account to view your Instagram Reels insights, which is pretty easy to set up.
Tips for boosting your engagement using Instagram Reels
So, we’ve covered what Instagram Insights are and how to use them. Instagram is rewarding creators who are posting Reels, so now’s a good time to get creative and start pumping out those Reels videos.
Here are some of our best practices and tips for boosting engagement using Reels.
Tip 1. Utilize trending formats
Just like TikTok, Instagram has its own Reels trends (but they usually come from TikTok a couple of weeks later) which helps your visibility on the explore page.
Plus, with Instagram Reels templates you can easily replicate the exact format and structure of the most popular Reels. This not only streamlines your content creation process, but it ensures you’re producing engaging content every single time.
Tip 2. Harness Trending audio tracks
This is a great way to boost engagement and enhance your chances of growing through the Instagram explore page.
To find trending audio on Instagram, all you have to do is scroll and browse videos on the Reels tab. If a piece of audio has a little arrow next to it, you’ve found you’re next Reels sound! Tip: save all the trending audios you find to make them easier to use when you have the time.
Tip 3. Add on-screen captions
Instagram Reels are a little different from TikTok, where sound plays a central point. Although sound still plays a role in Reels, there does seem to be a preference for watching Reels on mute - a similar trend found on Facebook with 85% of users watching videos on mute.
To boost your engagement and appeal to users who prefer watching Reels on mute, include those on-screen captions! It’s also way more inclusive of anyone with hearing impairments so they can still consume and enjoy your content.
To add captions to your Reels videos, click the sticker button in the top corner after you’ve recorded your video and click ‘Captions.’
Tip 4. Use 3/5 hashtags to increase content interactions
Over 200 million Instagram users visit the Instagram explore page daily to find new content, creator accounts, products, and businesses that align with their interests.
If you’re looking to boost your engagement and growth on Instagram, taking advantage of relevant hashtags can do just that.
There’s no right way to use hashtags and no set rules on how many you should include in your Reels videos, but current advice suggests that using between 3-5 hashtags per Instagram post is optimal for engagement. Instagram's own guidance has shifted towards fewer, more relevant hashtags, which helps in categorizing content effectively for the Explore and Reels tabs.
However, some studies indicate that using more hashtags, up to 20, can yield better reach and engagement, especially when these hashtags are highly relevant to the content and audience.
Tip 5. Post consistently
Posting Reels consistently will help boost your reach and engagement rates. Posting between 4-7 Reels a week is a good rule of thumb to follow, but make sure to find a suitable cadence that you can follow for weeks and months to come.
And that’s a wrap! When it comes to nailing Instagram Reels, leveraging Insights and Analytics will help you power up your marketing strategy. By regularly checking your Insights and pivoting your approach, you’ll be able to develop an Instagram Reels strategy that drives strong results for your brand.
We know it can get a little bit hectic and overwhelming to always remember to film a Reel and post it. To save you time and energy, try batch-making your content on one or two days out of the week and use Sked Social to schedule your posts. We’re here to make life a little easier with our 7-day free trial.