You view Instagram analytics with a professional account: a creator account or business account. Open your profile and look for analytics or Insights. There you can view figures about your account and individual posts. Start with reach, views and interactions. They tell you how many accounts you reach, how often your photo or video is viewed, and what actions people take on it.
Below, you will read where to find the figures and how to use them for your next photo, Reel or Story.
Where do you find Instagram analytics?
Look for analytics, Insights or a professional dashboard on your profile. The name and location may vary between app versions. So follow this route, but do not expect every menu to have exactly the same name.
- Open your own profile. Find the entry point to your analytics.
- First, view your account overview. Check which period you are viewing and note it alongside the figures.
- Then open an individual photo, Reel or Story. Look for the analytics for that post.
- Write down the figures you need. Were you trying to ask a question, for example? Then look at the comments.
Cannot see any analytics? Check whether you have a personal or professional account. With a personal account, you can look in the account settings for the option to switch. Do not expect to receive all your old data afterwards as well.
Do you have a professional account but a figure is missing from the overview? Also check the individual post. A missing figure is not the same as zero. Write ‘not available’ if you cannot see a value.
What do reach, views and interactions mean on Instagram?
Reach is about different accounts, views are about how often something was viewed, and interactions are about actions. You therefore need these figures for different questions.
| Analytics | What does it mean? | What are you looking at? |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | The number of unique accounts that have seen your post. Each account is counted once. | How many different accounts you reach. |
| Views | How often your post has been displayed or played. The count depends on the type of post. | How often your photo or video appears on screen. Repeated viewing may count. |
| Interactions | Actions on your post, such as liking, commenting, saving and sharing. | What people do with your post. |
| Profile visits | The number of visits to your profile. | Whether people look beyond your post. |
Fictional example: your photo reaches 200 accounts and has 310 views. That does not mean 310 different people saw the photo. Also, 200 accounts are not always 200 people. Someone may have multiple accounts.
Which figures are more important than likes? Look at what you wanted your post to do. Are you sharing an explanation that people may need later? Then it is useful to see how often it was saved. If you ask a question, look at comments. Do you want people to view your profile? Then use profile visits, if that figure is available.
Also read what people write. Ten comments containing only an emoji tell you something different from ten questions about your explanation.
How do you calculate your Instagram engagement rate?
You can divide the number of actions by your reach and multiply the result by 100. This gives you an engagement rate: the number of actions per 100 accounts reached. You may also see the English term engagement rate used for this.
There are also calculations where you divide by your number of followers. These produce a different result. So always note which number you are dividing by and which actions you are counting.
Fictional calculation example for one post:
- Reach: 500 unique accounts.
- Likes: 40.
- Comments: 8.
- Saved: 12 times.
- Shared: 10 times.
First add up the actions: 40 + 8 + 12 + 10 = 70 actions.
Then divide by the reach and multiply by 100: 70 ÷ 500 × 100 = 14%.
That is 14 actions per 100 accounts reached. It does not mean that 14% of people responded. One account can perform multiple actions, such as liking and saving your post.
You can also use the tool for calculating Instagram engagement Always check which actions are included and which number you divide by when comparing.
Want to know whether your percentage is good? First compare your own posts of the same type. The Instagram comparison figures from Socialinsider come from the company’s own research. They provide context, but are not a percentage your account must achieve.
Which Reels analytics are useful?
For a Reel, look at more than views. Reach tells you how many different accounts saw your video. The number of times your Reel was shared and the comments show what viewers do with it.
Is watch time available? Then you can see how much time people spend watching. Average watch time indicates how long people watch on average, according to Instagram’s count. For this comparison, focus on videos that are about the same length.
Fictional example: you make two Reels about repotting a houseplant. The first begins by gathering all the supplies. The second immediately shows the plant in its new pot. Compare the available viewing figures and how often the videos were saved. Give both videos the same amount of time before recording the figures.
Then try one change. For example, start your next video immediately with the result. Do not change the opening, length and subject at the same time. That makes it harder to see what caused the difference.
Want to test the posting time? Read more about the best time to post ReelsKeep the subject and length as similar as possible during this test.
How do you read Story analytics, and what is missing in Europe?
For a series of Stories, view the reach of each part. Also look at which actions you can see, such as replies or link taps. Not every overview contains the same figures.
Fictional example: the first Story reaches 120 accounts and the last reaches 84. The difference is 120 − 84 = 36 accounts. That is 36 ÷ 120 × 100 = 30% less reach for the last Story.
This does not prove that exactly 36 people stopped watching. The viewers of the first and last Story do not have to be the same accounts. Still, consider whether you want to structure the series differently. For example, is the most important explanation only at the very end?
According to the Metricool explanation of Instagram analytics some Story replies in Europe are not available because of privacy rules. Metricool also describes the move from impressions to views.
A blank field in a connected tool therefore does not mean that nobody replied for your account in the Netherlands or Belgium. Where possible, also check Instagram itself. This limitation does not automatically apply to all figures in the app.
Are you comparing old and new overviews? Pay attention to both the name and the meaning of each figure. If a figure has a different name, the way it is counted may also have changed.
What do Instagram analytics tell you about your followers?
Your total number of followers does not show how many changes occurred in between. So check how many followers were gained and how many left, if those figures are available.
Fictional example: this week, 25 followers join and 18 leave. The difference is 25 − 18 = 7 more followers. If you look only at those 7, you miss how many people joined and left.
A decline does not immediately tell you why people leave. Read more about possible causes in why you are losing Instagram followers.
Do you see countries, ages or times when your followers are active? Use this data to get a general picture of your audience. It does not tell you how one person behaves. If it is missing, you can still compare your own posts.
It also matters how you get your followers. Are you considering buying Instagram followers? Keep purchased numbers separate when assessing your results. More followers do not prove genuine attention, customers or growth without paid help. Your engagement rate also changes if you divide it by the number of followers. To compare quantities and prices, explore our Instagram services, including packages for views and followers.
How do you compare Instagram analytics over four weeks?
Start with one question, such as ‘Which photos do people save more often?’ or ‘Which Reels lead to more profile visits?’ Choose the figures that match that question. Then run a small test for four weeks.
| Week | What do you do? | What do you record? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | View several recent posts of the same type. | The subject, posting date, reach and actions relevant to your question. |
| 2 | Change one thing, such as the opening sentence. | What you changed and what you kept the same. |
| 3 | Repeat the test with a comparable post. | Whether you see roughly the same difference again. |
| 4 | Compare the results side by side. | What you want to try again and what you do not yet know. |
For example, always record the figures for ordinary posts seven days after posting. This is an agreement with yourself, not a limit on how long Instagram stores data. For Stories, choose a separate, fixed measurement time when the data is available.
A note or simple table is enough. Include whether you paid to show a post more often. Otherwise, you may compare an ordinary photo with a post that received paid distribution.
You cannot draw a firm conclusion from only a few posts. It is better to write ‘try this opening again’ than ‘this opening always works’.
Which mistakes can you avoid when using Instagram analytics?
- Comparing posts published at unequal times. Yesterday’s photo has had less time than last month’s photo.
- Counting only likes. Also look at an action that matches your question, such as saving or visiting your profile.
- Counting actions as people. One account can like, comment and share.
- Writing down a missing figure as zero. Write ‘not available’ if you cannot see a value.
- Comparing different percentages. A calculation using reach is not the same as a calculation using your number of followers.
- Drawing too much from one striking result. Repeat your test before changing your entire approach.
Want to read more about this year’s figures? Then read the explanation of Instagram analytics in 2026.
To begin, take two comparable posts. Note their reach and one action that matters to you. Based on that, choose one thing you want to try in your next post.
