Have you ever wondered what are impressions on Instagram? Don’t worry — we have the answer to your query. The impression count on Instagram is the total number of times your content has popped up on any individual’s feed. Not to be confused with reach, impressions are not unique views. If the same person views your content 10 times, your impression count will be 10.
Like any other social media platform, IG offers a variety of metrics to track account growth. This guide will explain Instagram impressions, reach, engagement, and other actionable insights.
What are Impressions on Instagram?
IG impressions are a metric used to evaluate the visibility of your content. It refers to the number of times your content has been shown to a user. Simply put, impressions reveal how often your content is seen. Mastering this can skyrocket your social media game.
If you’re trying to figure out how to improve metrics like impressions, understanding other features such as Instagram Reels length or learning how to reset your Instagram Explore page can also make a significant difference in optimizing your visibility.
Moving forward, if you are still confused about what are impressions in Instagram, let me break this down for you. It is an essential criterion to gauge the overall performance and exposure of the content you publish, even if the users don’t engage with it.
How to Find Instagram Impressions?
The number of impressions on your post plays a key role in strategizing your content. Here are the steps to check your Instagram impressions.
- Open the Instagram app.
- Tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
- Tap on the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper right corner.
- Select Insights from the list of options.
- Scroll down, and you will see a row that reads Impressions.
Similarly, you can keep track of other parameters also to analyze your overall posting performance and what changes you need to make to increase those metrics.
If you’re analyzing these metrics, you might also encounter issues like Instagram not refreshing feed or need to learn how to see deleted messages on Instagram for better reach.
Engagement, Reach, and Other Metrics You Should Know About
Whether you have a business account or you are planning to make a creator account for yourself, it’s always good to make the most of Instagram analytics. All the insights give you a quick overview of how your content is doing and what steps you can take to make it more watch-worthy.
In the following sections, I will help you understand all the primary metrics that are necessary to track your social media success. Let’s learn about them one by one.
Engagement
You can say that engagement is everything on social media. But what is it? To put it in simple terms, it is how your audience engages and responds to your content.
Whether your posts, stories, or reels are liked or shared by the audience, how many stickers or story reactions you get, whether you’re content is saved by your followers; everything comes under engagement.
Engagement Rate
Your engagement rate is evaluated by how users respond to the content you publish. It is measured by how many people saw your content vs. how many interacted with it.
Reach
Instagram reach refers to the number of unique users who view your content. It is very unlikely that your content will reach all of your followers unless you spend a dime on your work. For example, if 10 people view your content 10 times, then your reach is 10 (unique users) but your engagement will be the number of times your content is displayed on the user’s feed.
Audience Impressions
This feature shows the analysis of your audience. It is not related to the impressions; instead, it shows the demographic details of the users, information about their gender, and more.
Content creators can use this information to plan their content accordingly. You can keep track of the days and specific timing when your audience engages actively and can publish your posts as per your analysis.
By learning about Instagram metrics, you can strategize your content appropriately and hit your social media goals. It allows you to have clarity about your target audience so that you can deliver the content as per the demands of ongoing trends.
Also Read: Instagram Reel Length Explained: How Long Should Your Instagram Reels Be and What Works Best?
Reach vs Impressions: Which One is More Important?
The common goal between a content creator and a social media marketer is whether their content is visible to as many people they have targeted or not. Both reach and impressions are important parameters to track your account growth and strategize your social media content calendar. The graveness of each metric depends on the goal you want to achieve. Although these metrics go hand in hand, both are used to achieve different aspects.
- Brand Awareness: If you want to increase your brand awareness, you should focus more on the impression count of your story, post, or product you published.
- Gaining Followers: Planning to increase your follower count? Start strategizing how to reach a larger audience, hence improving your reach count and gaining more followers.
Still not sure which is more important? Well, instead of focusing on the importance or value of merely two parameters, I would suggest improving your overall analytical skills and gaining in-depth knowledge about the type of content you are working on. And the tools that are supported by IG itself to help you flourish in the social media world.
Tips and Tricks to Increase Instagram Impressions
As per the Statista report, an increase of 5.5% has been noticed in Instagram’s post impressions, whereas the engagement rate decreased by 4.3%. These stats can vary depending on the relatability of your content or if there is any change in the market trends.
Moving forward, if you want to make sure that your picture-perfect post does not go unseen by your followers and other visitors, follow the below-mentioned tips and tricks to enhance your social media credibility.
- Build a credible and watch-worthy Instagram account. Your profile must look authentic and intriguing to your existing followers as well as to new audiences. A perfect profile photo and Instagram bio are the key to drawing more attention to your IG page.
- Experimenting with relevant and trending hashtags can draw more attention to your posts or stories. Make sure to use hashtags that resonate with your post so that when people search using that specific word, your business gets discovered and it boosts your brand awareness.
- Try to set a posting schedule and stay consistent with it. If you really want to increase your Instagram impressions, study the posting algorithm, understand when your audience is most active, and publish your content accordingly to reach out to more and more people.
- Wish to get engagement and responses on your content? Well, you need to do the same in other people’s posts. To increase your metrics and impression count, you need to like, share, and comment on other people’s posts as well.
Several tools are also there to help a creator increase the impression count. You can also go for collaborations with brands or fellow content creators to grab more attention. In-depth knowledge of various insights and parameters is very crucial to upskilling your Instagram game.
Final Words
In the world of Instagram analytics, impressions play a key role. To master your content strategy, it is very important to have a deep understanding of impressions on Instagram. By focusing on boosting this metric alongside other parameters like reach and engagement, anybody can increase brand awareness and publish more meaningful content.
Now that you know what are impressions on IG, you can use this knowledge to enhance your content strategy. You can identify trends and work on your content accordingly to reach the right audience. Don’t forget to experiment with hashtags, posting times, and different formats to uplift your overall performance.
FAQs
Can impressions be higher than reach on Insta?
Ans: Yes, impressions are mostly always higher than reach on Instagram because they count multiple views from a single user, while on the other hand, reach refers to unique users only.
What are story impressions on Instagram?
Ans: Story impressions refer to the number of times a person views your story, even if the same user watches your story multiple times.
Is impression and engagement the same?
Ans: No, impression only tells you the views or the number of times your content has been shown on people’s feeds whereas engagement means if the user has liked, shared, or commented on your post, story, or reel.
What does a low impression but a high reach rate mean?
Ans: A high reach rate means that more unique users have viewed your work but not viewed multiple times, which means a low impression count.
Sources
- About Instagram Insights — Instagram Help Centre
- Create engaging content — Creators Instagram
