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Finally hopping aboard the Stories bandwagon is just the start of your Instagram Stories journey. The real challenge is in figuring out what Instagram Stories metrics matter. Below is a guide on how you can measure your Instagram Stories’ effectiveness, which Instagram
Finally hopping aboard the Stories bandwagon is just the start of your Instagram Stories journey. The real challenge is in figuring out what Instagram Stories metrics matter.Below is a guide on how you can measure your Instagram Stories’ effectiveness, which Instagram Stories metrics you should monitor, and how those metrics should shape your Instagram strategy.
Importance of tracking your Instagram Stories metrics
When it comes to Instagram Stories, there are a number of KPIs that allow brands understand how their audience is responding to it. The goal of any marketing strategy is to build lasting relationships, and Stories are a great way to do so on a more personal level.Measuring these performance indicators allow you to:
- Tackle pain points
- Analyze Stories that drive the most engagement
- Segment your audience and deliver the right message to the right people
- Increase brand awareness
But before you’re able to do the above, you need to understand the basic Instagram Stories metrics.
Instagram Stories metrics
Number of views
When you click on your own Story, the eye icon tells you how many people viewed a particular story. Clicking the eye icon will show you exactly who the viewers are – an extremely helpful tool to help you target a specific type of audience.Recently, Instagram introduced a feature that also lets you know which viewer took a screenshot or recording of your Story. If you find that a significant number of people took the time to save your Story, then that’s a good indicator of what kind of stories you should create more of.
View percentage
Essentially, this tells you what percent of your followers are viewing your Stories. All it takes is some basic math:No. of story viewers/ Total no. of followers x 100 = view percentage %What this metric does is give you an idea of how many of your followers have adopted Instagram’s Stories feature. If you find that only a small percentage of your followers view your Stories, then maybe you should cut back on the number of stories you post, and focus more on regular posts.Posting time is a huge factor in posting your Instagram stories. Although your Stories will stay on the top part of your followers’ Instagram feeds, Instagram’s algorithm arrange the featured stories by the time it was posted. This allows the most recent update to be the most noticeable.According to Oberlo, make sure to optimize your posting time to the usual time your audience engages (which you can find out through organic data analysis and using social media tools), and use geo-tags and hashtags so that your stories may be discovered by new people.On the flip side, if you see that a significant percentage view your Stories, then you could focus more of your resources on creating even more engaging stories.
Completion rate
It’ll take a bit more complicated math, but this metric will show you how many people watch your entire Story. Here’s how:Number of viewers of your last Story / Number of viewers of your first Story x 100 = Completion Rate %74 viewers / 100 viewers x 100 = 74% completionThis stat lets you know how effective your Stories are at not only grabbing, but retaining attention. Additionally, what’s important to note is how your completion rate holds over an extended period of time.For example, you can compute your average completion rate over a 14-day period. Looking at those numbers, identify which Stories have the highest and lowest completion rates. Was it a discount promo that drove engagement? A behind-the-scenes video of an event?This will give you a good enough idea of what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t.
Number of replies
Viewers can’t comment on Stories, but they can do something better—send you a direct message. The ability to have personal conversations with your followers complements the authentic nature of Stories, and allows you to strengthen relationships on an even deeper level.Make sure you reply back to every message to encourage them to keep engaging with you.Another additional feature to boost engagement is Stories polls, which allow your viewers to vote between two choices. You can use polls to not only gauge interest in a Story, but get valuable feedback from your audience.
Advanced Instagram Stories metrics
Swipe-through rates
Perhaps the most valuable feature of Instagram Stories when it comes to measuring ROI is its swipe up CTA. Basically, when users swipe up, they're taken to a website of your choice through the Instagram app.According to SWAT.IO, since the feature was introduced, swipe-through rates have ranged between 15-25 percent—an incredible conversion rate for anyone. You can use Stories CTA to:
- Drive viewers to your online store
- Link to full versions of your Story videos
- Share valuable content
- Tease a new product, linked to its landing page
There are a plethora of possibilities you can tap into with this feature. And by using third-party software (like Google Analytics), you can track just how much traffic is driven by Instagram to your website.To really make Stories effective for your brand, you need to leverage it into something that doesn’t depend on a proprietary algorithm. And Instagram just made it easier with swipe up CTA.
Instagram ads insights
Stories ads have all the benefits of regular Instagram ads—targeted reach, driving traffic, conversions—the feature not only allows you to engage your audience, it aids driving business results.More importantly, business profile users can see how their Stories ads perform in the Insights section. And with Ads Manager and Power Editor, additional metrics like reach, impressions, and video metrics can be gleaned.
Graph API
Last year, Instagram introduced new features to its Graph API, which according to them, helps businesses manage their organic presence more effectively by upgrading to Facebook’s API. This allows them to keep track of their performance even on third-party tools.Additionally, the new API features allow for comment moderation (including the ability to hide comments/ toggle them on and off). According to Instagram, this is in line with their commitment to keeping the platform a “safe place for self-expression.”It’s important to note that the features are available exclusively to users with business profiles. They will also be required to use a Facebook Login when giving permission to third-party tools.
Instagram strategy
Consistently monitoring the metrics mentioned above should lead towards crafting a sound Instagram Stories strategy. But before you dive deep into Stories analytics, it’s crucial that you set realistic goals and objectives.And again, the real objective of Stories goes beyond number of views or swipe-through rates. It’s about how many of your followers you’re able to build strong connections with. Stories is a door you need them to step through, getting them to stay in touch through other channels is the ultimate goal.
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