Numbers don’t lie, but there are definitely numbers that carry more weight than others in the grand scheme of things. Not to play favorites, but Instagram stats definitely have a hierarchy. Between bots and purchased followers, it’s hard to keep track of what is and isn’t important when looking at statistics.
You should be looking at stats for a variety of reasons – whether it be working with an influencer, checking your client’s stats, or checking your own, the numbers provided can shed a lot of light on the success of a page or post.
Engagement
Engagement is the number one stat you should be looking at. Engagement is calculated in a few ways, the most popular being engagement rate. Engagement rate, as defined by Origami Logic, is “the measure of quality or efficiency of a post and is calculated as engagement volume divided by the number of users or events that could have triggered the action.” So why is this the most important number?
Engagement rate essentially tells you what percentage of your audience interacts with your posts. Whether it be through likes, comments, retweets, or shares, engagement rate displays how many users are actually engaging with your content, not just seeing it. If you could use any stat to demonstrate ROI, this would be the one.
Making up the engagement rate is your likes, comments, retweets, and shares. Those numbers are important on their own, but individually do not hold the same weight as your engagement rate. These numbers are definitely important to look at, but you should always total your engagement rate as well!
Reach
This number is going to tell you how many people your post is reaching (duh). The important thing to note, is that each person is only counted once. So if John Doe sees your post six times, and he’s the only one who sees it, your reach will only be one.
Impressions
This is where that “seeing your post six times” number comes in. The number of impressions is calculated by how many people are seeing your post and every single time that they looked at it. If John Doe & Jane Doe look at your post six times each, your impressions number would be 12 and your reach would be 2.
Written by our Digital Specialist, Nora Henick.
Let us know if you have any questions about your social media stats! Tweet us @somethingsoc_la or tag us on Instagram- @somethingsocial.
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