Using an Instagram analytics tool is one of the best ways to understand your audience and improve your content strategy.
Analytics provide enhanced features to help you maximize engagement, visibility, and hold the potential to grow your follower count.
But with so many gadgets and gizmos on the market, which tool is your perfect fit?
We’ve got you covered with the five best Instagram analytics tools that should be on your radar:
5 Best Instagram Analytics Tools:
Let’s face it, growth on Instagram doesn't happen overnight.
To see a spike in followers, engagement, and sales on the platform you’ll need some mighty Instagram analytics tools on your side. Here are a few of our faves to help get you started:
#1. Instagram Analytics Tool: Later’s Instagram Analytics
Not to toot our own horn but if you’re looking to increase engagement, optimize your stories, and drive traffic, Later's Instagram Analytics feature is your new best friend.
If you’re not familiar with the tool, Later’s Instagram Analytics gives you a visual overview of how your posts and stories are performing – all in an easy-to-use dashboard.
The tool lets you track up to 12 months worth of Instagram feed posts and stories, so you can see exactly what's performed best – and filter by key metrics, such as likes, reach, comments, and more.
Plus, Later’s Instagram Analytics have separate “Post Performance” and “Story Performance” dashboards, so you can see exactly how each channel is driving unique value for your brand.
On top of those detailed analytics, Later’s Analytics also show your personalized best time to post on Instagram.
ICYMI: posting content when your audience is most active = higher engagement!
The tool automatically calculates your top seven posting times based on previous activity, that you can use to guide your scheduled posting times.
Simply drag and drop posts onto your Later calendar in the highlighted slots, and voila! You’ll now be catering content to your community when they’re most engaged and most likely to click-click-click.
Plus, Later's analytics tools allow you to track the clicks (and revenue) driven through Linkin.bio by Later (a mobile-optimized, fully clickable landing page you can add to your link in bio).
“Being able to filter posts by our link in bio clicks gives us a clear indication of what our audience is most interested in," shares Mel Mckechnie, Later’s Social Media Manager.
"Analytics pulled from our Linkin.bio page shows us exactly how our posts are successfully moving users elsewhere – it’s an absolute game-changer.”
Level-up your Instagram strategy today with Later's powerful analytics tools today!
#2. Instagram Analytics Tool: Instagram Insights
Instagram’s free native analytics tool, Instagram Insights, is full of useful data.
Whether you’re looking for information about your followers or data on specific posts or Reels, Instagram Insights has got you covered.
And it’s all conveniently located within the Instagram app!
“Instagram’s Insights are super visual and easy to interpret. Being able to look at two years worth of data to compare each of our posts is such a brilliant bird's eye view of what type of content performs well and in what ways,” shares Mel.
To access the feature, you’ll first need to switch to a business or creator account.
Once you’ve taken care of that, tap “Insights”. It will then bring you to a page with a full breakdown of your account’s analytics.
Landing on “Insights Overview,” you can filter by dates and peruse a myriad of metrics ranging from accounts reached, accounts engaged, and follower growth.
TIP: You can also open an Instagram post and tap the “View Insights” button in the bottom left corner to see metrics for that specific post.
#3. Instagram Analytics Tool: Iconosquare
FYI: Iconosquare has a free Instant Instagram Audit tool that’s tailor-made for business accounts.
And it’s super simple to access! Start by connecting your business’s Instagram account and providing your email address.
Within minutes, you’ll gain access to a full report on what’s working on your account and actionable ways you can improve.
Source: Iconosquare
Plus, the feature gives you tips and tricks to help step up your Instagram’s performance. From engagement and page performance to hashtags and a competitive analysis on at least three of your competitors.
#4. Instagram Analytics Tool: Later's Hashtag Analytics
If you're serious about growth, it pays to have a solid hashtag strategy.
With Later's Hashtag Analytics, you can see exactly which hashtags are driving the most value for your account.
Plus, you can also see the top trending hashtags for your industry – and how their usage trends are changing week-over-week.
Get savvy with your Instagram hashtags! Later's Hashtag Analytics are available on all Growth and Advanced plans.
#5. Instagram Analytics Tool: Social Blade
When it comes to Instagram, working with on-brand influencers or creators is a surefire way to grow your audience and reap tons of rewards (cough, engagement!).
But finding the right influencer to partner with – that your brand’s social goals – can present a bit of a challenge.
To combat this, you’ll want to check up on an influencer’s social stats before joining forces. Social Blade is your best bet.
Marketed as a statistics website, Social Blade lets you track user data and growth trends across multiple platforms, including TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Once registered, head to Social Blade’s homepage and type in the name of an account, select Instagram from the drop-down menu, and peruse through valuable insights and analytics – it’s that easy!
Source: Social Blade
This type of data can help narrow in on quality talent and help expand your audience to drive a ton of traffic.
TIP: Don’t forget to check out the Historical Data feature which lets you see the number of followers an account has gained and lost every day across a period of time.
6 Key Metrics to Keep an Eye Out For:
Jumping head-first into the world of analytics can be overwhelming, but if you focus on the below metrics to track, you’ll be able to reach new audiences and grow your community.
Reach: The number of unique views on a post.
Impressions: The total number of views on a post (even if the same person viewed it five times).
Saves: Refers to the number of users who “bookmark” your content.
Shares: This number indicates how many times a piece of content was shared with another user.
Growth: How many followers you gain and lose each day.
Engagement rate: When users comment, like, save, and share your content, that’s engagement. Typically, to calculate your engagement rate, divide your total number of likes and comments by your follower count, and then multiply by 100 to give you a percentage.
TIP: If you use Later, your engagement rate is automatically calculated for you. So you can put down the calculator!
When it comes to improving your marketing strategy, metrics are a no-brainer.
Numbers speak for themselves. So what are the stats telling you?
By understanding what motivates your audience through Instagram analytics tools, you can better tailor your content and make game-time moves!
Ready to start improving your Instagram performance with analytics? Sign up to Later today and explore the Instagram Analytics dashboard!
