Instagram Analytics Explained: Walking You Through My Q1 Analysis

Instagram analytics is created to spur confusion & frustration.

If that thought has ever crossed your mind, know you are definitely not alone. Between the number of times changes come to the Professional Dashboard to how complicated it is to get information on your posts, sitting down & trying to analyze your Instagram data might sound like death.

I’m here to pull back the curtain & invite  you to Instagram analytics explained.

A blog post dedicated to walking you through my own Q1 analysis of Instagram data to help you see what “analyzing your data” actually means so you can understand exactly what type, style, and topic of post is driving your audience to take action.

Step 1: Collect the Data

Now, I don’t just jump feet first into analyzing my data.

First, I have to move it from Instagram to something a little more analysis friendly.

That’s simply because Instagram LOVES to make it hard to find pieces of data you might be really curious about (like any number connected to helping you see how content is bringing you conversions).

So, to make it less of a memory game trying to remember which post had 4 profile visits and which one had 0, I throw everything into a spreadsheet.

I have a tab for the monthly overview data points, and one for the specific post by post type of content. 

(And yes…those are little snapshots of the still image from Instagram. My free little Instagram tracker is pretty fancy, I will admit!)

To keep things simple, I throw both my spreadsheet & Instagram insights for each post up on my computer, and grab the data points for each post. I’ll also provide a bit of information on the posts in terms of their style, type, topic, and overall CTA.

Google Chrome’s new split screen feature has made this 1000000x easier to accomplish!

Once all the data has been logged, we’re ready to move into step 2.

Step 2: Hunt for Patterns

This is probably where you’ve been dying for some Instagram analysis explained.

Because what does “Analyzing data” actually mean, right??

I’m here to tell you it isn’t anything fancy – you’re just looking for patterns.

Now, the pattern I’m after this month is any post that brought in some profile activity – profile visits, link clicks, follows, etc.

That’s because my goal is connected to wanting to create content that moves my audience one step closer to purchasing a Data Drop.

And to make looking for patterns easier, I use the Looker Studio dashboard I’ve created to SEE the data, instead of hunting through spreadsheets.

From these graphs, I can see that March has had MORE profile visits compared to the rest of the year, but WAY fewer link taps.

I’m going to make a note of this because that’s an interesting find. Normally, I would expect to see more link clicks if I’m getting more profile visits. Because this isn’t the case, I want to keep an eye on it.

I know I was not as active on stories or encouraging people to check out the links in my bio in March, so I’m going to be very aware moving into April to encourage people to check out the link in my bio.

And I’ll be keeping tabs on this number in the coming months, because if this trend continues, it might mean it’s time to change up the links in my bio or the copy in my bio to encourage people to actually click on something.

I also am going to look back to August to figure out what I was doing in stories or in content because that was a HUGE surge in link clicks.

Then I’m ready to move on to my post-by-post level analysis to see what types, styles & topics are causing people to click & check out my profile.

The first thing that stands out in this hunt for patterns is ALL of the posts getting profile activity are carousels.

This doesn’t surprise me because this is generally how my content goes, and it’s one of the reasons why I will create more carousels than anything else.

The next thing I notice is the type of post seems to be following a pattern for Q1 this year also.

Pain point and nurture types of posts are bringing in almost 75% of the profile activity.

So, I jot that down because I’ll definitely be including Pain Point & Nurture types of posts as I sit down to plan content for April & the rest of Q2.

Then, I jump down & find the posts that brought in that profile activity.

Now, I’m hunting for patterns in topics & maybe even specific ideas or words that I’m using within these three posts.

With these three, I don’t see any huge connections between them, so I’m going to make a list of content I could create that falls within the ideas of: why going viral won’t bring you sales, instagram strategy that works, and behind the scenes of a data nerd.

And that pretty much wraps up an Instagram analysis session for my own content.

The goal with providing this Instagram analysis explained is really to help showcase the true simplicity at the core of hunting through your data.

Now we start looking forward: what type, style, and topics should I be creating content around for Q2?

Step 3: Using My Instagram Analysis Notes to Plan Q2 Content

Ultimately, the whole goal of analyzing your Instagram data is to be able to more easily plan & create content you are confident will bring your audience one step closer to buying from you.

Based on everything I have seen in my Q1 analysis, I’m going to be creating:

• Carousels. All the carousels

Now, I might throw in a reel here or there to see how it performs, or because a trend looks fun, but I’ll focus my time & energy on creating carousels.

• Hot Takes These seem to be grabbing people’s attention & encouraging them to come check out other pieces of content I have created by coming to my profile.
• A blend of nurture & pain points My audience loves it when they get to see ME – the things I am doing for work and off the clock. Showcasing the different projects I’m working on, analyses I’m performing and more gives them a great picture into what working with me would look like.
• Talking up what really matters when it comes to Instagram data Because it’s SO easy to get lost in the sauce of views, likes, and what Instagram is putting in front of us every day. But these things really aren’t going to get you sales, and my audience is wanting to hear more about that.

And these plans don’t look any more fancy than this bulleted list I made for you right here.

I drop some content ideas in my blog & content creation hubs and allow that to inspire future content for Q2!

Key Takeaways from an Instagram Analytics Session

One of the largest “ah-ha” moments I hope you take away from this Instagram analytics explained session is that it doesn’t have to be crazy complicated, or take your entire day.

I spent 20 dedicated minutes looking at a specific question: What content is driving people to my Instagram profile? And what is connected between those posts?

And I’m walking away with a clear game plan for April content that aids in my overall marketing goals – book Data Drops from my Instagram content.

The best part of taking the time to look into your Instagram analytics is you know what type of content is working, so you are confident that you’re spending your time creating posts that will bring in the clients & sales, not just take up space.

If you’re still unsure what type, style, or topics should be included in your content planning for this next month, clarity is only going to come from looking back on what’s been doing well.

And if you desperately want the clarity, but can’t find a second to collect the data, let alone analyze it, it’s time to book a Data Drop.

You’ll give me access to your email or Instagram, and I’ll fill out your spreadsheet, set up a visual dashboard with graphs & charts, and walk through your most recent 12 emails or posts to help you see exactly what’s working.