Instagram impressions refer to the number of times a post is seen in someone’s feed or when your profile is viewed. It provides an indication of how many people your content on Instagram has reached. Impressions are a key metric used by influencers, businesses and creators to track the performance of their Instagram content.
When a photo or video you’ve posted shows up on someone’s screen as they scroll through their Instagram feed, that counts as one impression. If the same follower sees that post multiple times, each view counts as a separate impression. In addition to feed impressions, your Instagram posts can also get impressions when:
- Someone views your stories or profile. Each view of your story or profile counts as an impression.
- Your post shows up under the hash tags you’ve used. When someone clicks on a hash tag and your post appears, that’s another impression.
- Your post appears as a suggestion when someone is looking at similar content. Suggested posts also count towards your impressions.
- You run Instagram ads. Paid ads generate impressions based on how many times the ad is displayed.
Essentially, an impression means your content had the opportunity to be seen by another Instagram user. It doesn’t necessarily mean they engaged with your post in any way such as liking, commenting or saving it. Impressions indicate reach while engagement metrics like likes and IG comments indicate how interesting your audience found your content.
Why do impressions matter for Instagram marketing? Here are some key reasons:
- Measure reach: Impressions help you gauge how far your content is reaching and how many people it’s being served to. This allows you to track growth in your audience and content reach over time.
- Benchmark performance: By comparing impressions across different types of posts and campaigns, you can identify what content resonates most with your audience. This allows you to refine your Instagram strategy for greater reach and impact.
- Optimize content: Monitoring impressions can reveal what types of posts, filters, captions and hash tags perform best. You can use these insights to create content tailored for your audience.
- Analyze campaigns: Impressions allow you to compare the performance of different ad campaigns or sponsored influencer content. You can determine the best platforms, partners and targeting for Instagram campaigns.
- Set goals: Instagram impressions enable you to benchmark your current reach and set goals for growth. This provides a quantified metric to track progress as you build your Instagram presence.
- Demonstrate value: High impression numbers demonstrate your ability to reach a large, targeted audience. This brings value to your brand partnerships and influencer marketing rates.
Tracking your Instagram impressions is easy within the app itself or using third-party analytics tools. Here are some tips to boost your impressions:
- Post at optimal times when more of your audience is active on Instagram
- Use relevant hash tags, especially less-competitive niche ones that will help you get discovered
- Run both photo and video content
- Engage regularly with your audience by commenting on your posts
- Use Instagram stories for additional reach
- Promote your best-performing posts as ads
- Partner with compatible influencers or brands to expand your audience
Consistently monitoring your Instagram impressions provides valuable insight into how well your content strategy is working. Paying attention to this key metric helps guide decisions that will increase your Instagram reach over time.
