Instagram Insights Usage Examples
Practical recipes for analyzing Instagram accounts.
Recipe 1: Audience Growth Over 28 Days
Task: track the dynamics of follower and reach growth.
Parameters:
- Period:
days_28 - Metrics:
follower_count, reach, impressions
Analysis:
follower_countfor the current period vs the previous one — absolute growthreach / follower_count— percentage of audience reached (norm: 20-40%)impressions / reach— frequency of contact (norm: 1.5-3.0)
Interpretation:
- High reach with low follower growth — content is being seen but not converting to follows
- Low reach with high growth — external sources are at work (ads, collaborations)
Recipe 2: Content Engagement
Task: assess how the audience interacts with content.
Parameters:
- Period:
day(last 7 days) - Metrics:
engagement, likes, comments, saves, shares, impressions
Calculated metrics:
- Engagement Rate:
engagement / reach × 100(norm: 1-5% for small accounts, 0.5-2% for large accounts) - Save Rate:
saves / reach × 100(the higher, the more useful the content) - Share Rate:
shares / reach × 100(content virality)
Interpretation:
- High ER with many saves — useful content
- High ER with many shares — viral content
- Low ER — content isn't resonating with the audience
Recipe 3: Audience Demographics
Task: understand your audience's profile.
Parameters:
- Period:
lifetime - Metrics:
audience_gender_age, audience_country, audience_city
Analysis:
- Gender and age:
audience_gender_age— distribution by gender and age groups - Geography: top 5 countries and cities
- Comparison with target audience: does the actual audience match the target one?
Interpretation:
- Audience older than the target group — content is attracting the wrong group
- One gender predominating — normal for niche topics
- Unexpected cities — potential for local targeting
Important: demographic data is available only for lifetime and requires ≥ 100 followers.
Recipe 4: Comparing Multiple Instagram Accounts
Task: compare the performance of several accounts (e.g. a brand + regional accounts).
Parameters:
- Period:
days_28 - Metrics:
follower_count, reach, engagement, profile_views, website_clicks
Normalization: divide metrics by follower count for a fair comparison:
reach_per_follower = reach / follower_countengagement_per_follower = engagement / follower_count
Interpretation:
- The account with the highest
reach_per_follower— best organic reach - The account with the highest
website_clicks / profile_views— best profile conversion
Recommendation: compare accounts within the same niche and with comparable audience size.