How to Use Your Instagram Stories Analytics

Instagram Stories is a great way for businesses to connect with new audiences, boost engagement, and drive sales! Especially with over 500 million users every day.

But, before you can get the most out of your Stories, let’s chat about how to properly understand the Instagram stories analytics.

Similar to the analytics for your Instagram posts and account, your Instagram Stories analytics can found by tapping the “Insights” button in the top right corner of your Business Profile.

Once you open your Instagram Insights, switch to the “Content” tab at the top of the screen. Here you’ll see data for both your regular Instagram posts as well as your Instagram Stories.

Reach and Impressions

Reach and Impressions both help you understand the size of your Instagram Stories audience.

Reach is the the number of visits a unique account viewed each slide in your story, while impressions is the total number of views on each of your individual Instagram Stories.

Impressions tell you when someone has watched your story more than once. If your total impressions are higher than your reach, this means your stores are being watched multiple times. Yay!

Taps Forward

Taps Forward is the number of times a viewer tapped the right side of the screen to jump to the next story. Since a lot of people quickly run through Instagram Stories, Taps Backward, Next Story, and Exits are all better indications of how your Stories are performing.

Taps Forward is a great way to determine what type of content our audience is most engaged with. Do they respond better to behind the scenes videos, personal stories or product photos?

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Next Story & Exits

Exits are the number of times someone has swiped out of your story, while Next Story indicates the number of taps to, well, the next story.

While similar, exits are a little easier to swallow. If someone exits your story, they may have either run out of time to watch or, better, clicked on whatever link you provided for them to follow. 

Next Story is more of an indicator that the viewer wanted to skip to the next story because they were not interested in watching yours. It may be a result of making your Stories too long or a chance to change your content.

Taps Backward

Taps Backward is the number of times a viewer tapped the left side of the screen to rewatch the previous story.

When someone taps backward, they want to re-watch your story! If a post has a lot of taps backward, make note of the type of content, and keep testing it in your future Stories!

Swipe-Ups

Note, this feature is only available to users with 10,000 or more followers. Tracking the number of times users “swipe up” on your Instagram Stories is a great way to figure out what kinds of content are best for your audience.

If your swipe-ups are low, try adding text letting users know to “Swipe up” or an arrow pointing to the bottom of your screen. There are also “swipe up” Instagram Story GIFs you can use.

Replies

Replies are the number of times someone has directly responded to a portion of your story. Encouraging responses and engagement in your Instagram Stories is a great way to gain points with the Instagram algorithm.

As with all Instagram engagement, replies will help keep your Instagram Stories at the top of your followers’ feeds and also encourage better connections with them as well.

Conclusion

Many businesses are incorporating stories into their content strategy. Start tracking your data over the next week/month and experiment with different content. Use your stories analytics to measure your performance and determine what to methods to keep and what to ditch!