In the wise words of W. Edwards Deming, "Without data you're just a person with an opinion."

Let's talk about metrics that you should be tracking on Instagram. And I'm not talking about likes, comments, or saves, which are not nearly as important as these.

1. Engagement rate

This is the #1 most important metric—more than likes, comments, or anything. Engagement rate is generally defined in two different ways depending on who you’re talking to:

Method #1

Method #2

Regardless of the definition, this metric is important because it levels the playing field by scoring posts at a percentage. It also tells you if a post did well even if it wasn’t seen by many people. It helps you get an actual understanding of what’s working on your page.

As a rule of thumb, an engagement rate of 3% is considered to be good, but I recommend using your own engagement rate as a benchmark that you try to continue to improve month over month.

2. Impressions

The more eyes you get on your post, the more of a chance you have of growing. I like to see a summary of total impressions so I can see just how far my page is reaching. Keep an eye on this metric because you’ll want this to go higher and higher as your account grows.

3. Followers

Who doesn’t love new followers?! I love this metric because it helps you tangibly see if your efforts are leading to a larger audience. If you drop in followers, that’s okay, drill down on your posts and try to understand what worked and what didn’t. And if you gain followers, you can keep doing what you’re doing!

In conclusion

These certainly aren’t the only things you should be tracking, but they’re the most important. There are other things you can keep an eye on (and many are described in this Later blog post), but at a minimum, these three are the best measures of your success.